This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
This article examines the function of epiphany in Joseph and Aseneth. Though central to the narra... more This article examines the function of epiphany in Joseph and Aseneth. Though central to the narrative, this literary device and theological phenomenon is frequently overlooked or only indirectly included in other studies. This reading argues that the mode of epiphany is central, not only to the plot, but to the main themes and messages of Joseph and Aseneth; epiphany operates as a boundary marker between two groups in Joseph and Aseneth. These two groups are insiders and outsiders, and mortal and (quasi-)divine beings. While epiphanies are used to distinguish between these groups, they also invite the narrative’s heroine, Aseneth, to transcend these boundaries. The story’s numerous epiphanies signpost Aseneth’s transition from a mortal outsider to a quasi-divine insider. Used in this way, the epiphanies build a worldview wherein the divine intercedes directly on behalf of, and grants particular dispensations to certain individuals.
This article studies the use of "ta pragmata" in Jewish literature written in Ptolemaic and early... more This article studies the use of "ta pragmata" in Jewish literature written in Ptolemaic and early Imperial Egypt. While there was no Greek term for “empire” that aligns with the modern sense of an empire as a territorial polity, "ta pragmata" most closely resembles our modern notion of empire. First, we analyze the range of meanings of "ta pragmata" in Ptolemaic documents and literature. Next, we examine the uses of this concept in Jewish sources from Ptolemaic Egypt. Then, we investigate the shifting understandings of "ta pragmata" in the Jewish sources from Roman Egypt. We conclude that Jewish texts have much more complex views of empire than the descriptors pro- or anti-empire allow. This approach redirects our attention from empire as a static and tangible entity to a dynamic suite of practices through which power is exercised and derived.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
This article examines the function of epiphany in Joseph and Aseneth. Though central to the narra... more This article examines the function of epiphany in Joseph and Aseneth. Though central to the narrative, this literary device and theological phenomenon is frequently overlooked or only indirectly included in other studies. This reading argues that the mode of epiphany is central, not only to the plot, but to the main themes and messages of Joseph and Aseneth; epiphany operates as a boundary marker between two groups in Joseph and Aseneth. These two groups are insiders and outsiders, and mortal and (quasi-)divine beings. While epiphanies are used to distinguish between these groups, they also invite the narrative’s heroine, Aseneth, to transcend these boundaries. The story’s numerous epiphanies signpost Aseneth’s transition from a mortal outsider to a quasi-divine insider. Used in this way, the epiphanies build a worldview wherein the divine intercedes directly on behalf of, and grants particular dispensations to certain individuals.
This article studies the use of "ta pragmata" in Jewish literature written in Ptolemaic and early... more This article studies the use of "ta pragmata" in Jewish literature written in Ptolemaic and early Imperial Egypt. While there was no Greek term for “empire” that aligns with the modern sense of an empire as a territorial polity, "ta pragmata" most closely resembles our modern notion of empire. First, we analyze the range of meanings of "ta pragmata" in Ptolemaic documents and literature. Next, we examine the uses of this concept in Jewish sources from Ptolemaic Egypt. Then, we investigate the shifting understandings of "ta pragmata" in the Jewish sources from Roman Egypt. We conclude that Jewish texts have much more complex views of empire than the descriptors pro- or anti-empire allow. This approach redirects our attention from empire as a static and tangible entity to a dynamic suite of practices through which power is exercised and derived.
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