Description: One of the most creative and consequential collisions in Western culture involved the encounter of Judaism with Hellenism. In this widely acclaimed study of the Jews who lived in Hellenistic Egypt, "between Athens and Jerusalem," John J. Collins examines the literature of Hellenistic Judaism, treating not only the introductory questions of date, authorship, and provenance but also the larger question of Jewish identity in the Greco-Roman world.First published in 1984, this landmark study by one of the world's leading experts in Hellinistic Judaism is now fully revised and updated to take into account the best of recent scholarship.
Brief description:
John J. Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation Emeritus at Yale Divinity School. He has served as editor of the Anchor Yale Bible series and president of the Society of Biblical Literature. In 2019, he was awarded the Burkitt Medal for Biblical Studies. His many publications include Apocalypse, Prophecy, and Pseudepigraphy; Beyond the Qumran Community; The Bible After Babel; and Apocalypticism as a Worldview in Ancient Judaism.
Review Quotes: David E. Aune in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly
"A remarkable book. . . Collins has provided us with an exceptionally well-crafted discussion of the variety of religious self-definitions that characterized Egyptian diaspora Judaism." Journal of Biblical Literature
"This important work is fresh and suggestive. . . An impressive display of insight and careful scholarship. . . Exemplary in both its design and its execution." Religious Studies Review
"As an introduction and an exegetical tool, this book is indispensable for study of the ancient literature and especially of the fragmentary material. It provides us with an innovative perspective on Jewish religion, theology, and culture in the Greco-Roman period." Choice
"This book should be in libraries of all colleges and universities where the Bible, ancient Israel, Christian origins, formative Judaism, or classical culture are taught to upper-level undergraduates." Society for Old Testament Study Booklist
"This is a very useful and reliable introduction to those Second Temple Jewish writings in Greek. . . All students of Second Temple Judaism and related areas will be pleased to have an updated edition in a handy and affordable form." Martin Goodman in Journal of Jewish Studies
"Scholars and students who have benefited immensely from this work will. . . be delighted to see it re-emerge in a second edition. . . Collins's mastery of the range of material treated in this book is awesome, and his close engagement with these Diaspora texts and their cultural meaning is a model for all. Minor Diaspora authors who have long been neglected, or even generally unknown, are here again brought to the attention of the scholarly world in a way that should ensure their recognition in future debates about Second Temple Judaism. . . Students and scholars will be immensely grateful for this guide, which will play a central role in future discussion of the Diaspora."