Exemplarity, Exegesis, & Ethnography: Abraham in Pseudo-Hegesippus as a Test Case for Biblical Reception in Christian Late Antiquity

Bay, Carson (2021). Exemplarity, Exegesis, & Ethnography: Abraham in Pseudo-Hegesippus as a Test Case for Biblical Reception in Christian Late Antiquity. Journal of the bible and its reception, 8(1), pp. 35-59. De Gruyter 10.1515/jbr-2021-0010

[img] Text
Exemplarity_Ethnography_Exegesis_Bay_JBR.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to registered users only
Available under License Publisher holds Copyright.

Download (588kB)

Exemplarity, ethnography, and exegesis are three forms of cultural practice well known to the ancient Mediterranean world. The use of role models, the ‘writing’ of peoples, and the interpretation of authoritative writings (i.e. “Scriptures”) were ways in which many authors of Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian antiquity situated themselves and others within history. Here I argue that the biblical patriarch Abraham, as received within the late antique Christian text called Pseudo-Hegesippus (On the Destruction of Jerusalem), provides a quintessential example of these scribal-rhetorical habits in action. The upshot of this study is that key figures like Abraham were integral tools for doing the things that certain interested ancient writers were trying to do, and as such these figures constitute appropriate, even necessary, objects of research for those seeking to understanding ancient Mediterranean texts, authors, and readers.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

01 Faculty of Theology > Institute of Jewish Studies
01 Faculty of Theology > Institute of Historical Theology

UniBE Contributor:

Bay, Carson Michael

Subjects:

200 Religion
200 Religion > 220 The Bible
200 Religion > 230 Christianity & Christian theology
200 Religion > 270 History of Christianity
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 390 Customs, etiquette & folklore
400 Language
400 Language > 470 Latin & Italic languages
400 Language > 480 Classical & modern Greek languages
800 Literature, rhetoric & criticism
800 Literature, rhetoric & criticism > 870 Latin & Italic literatures
800 Literature, rhetoric & criticism > 880 Classical & modern Greek literatures
900 History > 930 History of ancient world (to ca. 499)

ISSN:

2329-4434

Publisher:

De Gruyter

Funders:

[4] Swiss National Science Foundation

Projects:

[UNSPECIFIED] Lege Iosephum! (SNF 180217)

Language:

English

Submitter:

Carson Michael Bay

Date Deposited:

08 Apr 2022 11:01

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:16

Publisher DOI:

10.1515/jbr-2021-0010

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/167900

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/167900

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback