Will the Prophetic Texts from the Hellenistic Period Stand Up, Please

Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

There are scholars who see the entire Hebrew Bible as a Hellenistic endeavour, and there are scholars who maintain that no biblical text was written after the Persian period. Rather than taking any such extreme standpoint, the present paper seeks to survey the texts that a significant amount of scholars date to the Hellenistic period and furthermore to evaluate the arguments for or against this Hellenistic dating. The aim of the paper is to establish the range of texts within the Hebrew Bible that are likely to constitute textual sources for the Hellenistic period. The paper will first briefly discuss the commonly held arguments for dating books such as Daniel, Ecclesiastes, and Chronicles to the Hellenistic period. The bulk of the paper will then address the prophetic textual corpus, with focus on those passages in Isaiah (Isa 24-27; 34-35; 56-66) and Joel (2:28-3:21) and Zechariah (9-14) that several scholars regard as Hellenistic compositions, and assess in each case whether or not there are sufficient grounds for this relatively late dating. Finally, the paper will make a suggestion as to which texts are likely to have originated in the Hellenistic period and which texts are likely to have been composed earlier.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationJudah between East and West
Subtitle of host publicationThe Transition from Persian to Greek Rule (400-200 BCE)
EditorsO. Lipschits, L.l. Grabbe
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherT. & T. Clark
Pages255-279
Number of pages24
ISBN (Print)9780567046840
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jul 2011
EventJudah between East and West: The Transition from Persian to Greek Rule (ca. 400-200 BCE) - Tel Aviv, Israel
Duration: 17 Apr 200719 Apr 2007

Publication series

NameLibrary of Second Temple Studies
PublisherT&T Clark International,
Volume75

Conference

ConferenceJudah between East and West: The Transition from Persian to Greek Rule (ca. 400-200 BCE)
Country/TerritoryIsrael
CityTel Aviv
Period17/04/0719/04/07

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