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a wide variety of Samaritan and Christian sources. All of them together bring us closer to a deeper knowledge of the words of the Bible, even if much remains unknown.

      For Further Reading

      Aitken, James K., ed., T & T Clark Companion to the Septuagint, London, 2015.

      Beattie, Derek R.G. and Martin J. McNamara, eds., The Aramaic Bible: Targums in Their Historical Context, JSOTSup 166, Sheffield, 1994.

      Cross, Frank M. and Shemaryahu Talmon, eds., Qumran and the History of the Biblical Text, London/Cambridge/MA 1975.

      Fischer, Alexander A., Der Text des Alten Testaments: Neubearbeitung der Einführung in die Biblia Hebraica von Ernst Würthwein, Stuttgart, 2009.

      Flesher, Paul V. M. and Chilton, Bruce, The Targums: A Critical Introduction, Studies in the Aramaic Interpretation of Scripture 12, Leiden/Boston/MA, 2011.

      Karrer, Martin and Wolfgang Kraus, eds., Septuaginta Deutsch: Erläuterungen und Kommentare zum griechischen Alten Testament, Vols. I–II, Stuttgart, 2011.

      Lange, Armin and Emanuel Tov, eds., Textual History of the Bible, The Hebrew Bible, Vols. 1A–C, Leiden/Boston/MA, 2016–17.

      Penkower, Yitzhak, »The Development of the Masoretic Bible,« in The Jewish Study Bible, ed. Adele Berlin and Marc. Z. Brettler, Oxford, 2004, 2077–84.

      Tov, Emanuel, Scribal Practices and Approaches Reflected in the Texts Found in the Judean Desert, STDJ 54, Leiden / Boston/MA, 2004.

      Tov, Emanuel, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3^rd ed., rev. and enl., Minneapolis/MN, 2012.

      Tov, Emanuel, The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research, 3^rd completely rev. and enl. ed., Winona Lake/IN, 2015.

      Ulrich, Eugene, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Developmental Composition of the Bible, VTSup 169, Leiden / Boston/MA, 2015.

      Jewish Literature in the Hellenistic-Roman Period (350 BCE–150 CE)

      Michael Tilly

      1 Introduction

      1.1 Judaism and Hellenism

      Following the conquests of Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE), for the majority of the population in the eastern Mediterranean, life was lived under the deep influence of Hellenism, with Greek culture affecting all areas of life: in language and literature, religion and philosophy, science and the arts, politics and economics, training and education. Hellenism first placed its stamp as a universal model for civilization on the upper strata of society, and its influence was far more apparent in the urban metropolises than in the hinterland. In the long run, however, no one was able to escape. Cultures quickly became intertwined on practically every level. People enthusiastically grasped the opportunities for personal education now made available to them, and the individual social mobility open to them.

      Depending on their individual position and personal circumstances, Jews in the mother country and in the Diaspora saw the clash between traditional ways of life and the dominant Greek culture as a threat, a challenge, or an enrichment.¹ In the context of this diverse cultural encounter a rich Jewish literature developed, giving expression to a variety of Jewish positions from acculturation to demarcation.

      1.1.1 Koine

      In Greco-Roman antiquity, Koine Greek was the common language of commerce and the lingua franca throughout the eastern Mediterranean.² This »Hellenistic Greek« rapidly spread from the waning years of the fourth century BCE on, quickly becoming the international means of communication. Special features of the common Greek language of the Hellenistic period are its tendency to simplify, harmonize, and clarify both morphology and syntax, as well as a noticeable increase in neologisms and loan words.

      Koine Greek is not only the language of the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, but also of much Jewish literature of the period. The numerous Hellenistic-Jewish writings in Greek that have been preserved display a wide range of levels of linguistic sophistication. Local linguistic peculiarities, on the other hand, are relatively few and far between.

      1.1.2 Texts and Traditions

      The corpus of Jewish writings from Hellenistic-Roman times³ comprises different genres, styles, and linguistic levels: wisdom literature, legal, liturgical, poetic texts, historiography, secret knowledge, contemporary criticism, polemics, apologetics, philosophy, prophecies, oracles, and so-called »apocalyptic« literature—writings interpreting the course of history and unveiling the anticipated end of the world. Their functions consisted mainly in exhortation, consolation, reassurance, and consolidation of the Jewish community. There is often self-legitimation, criticism, and polemic in response to the issues of the time. All of these are of great historical value as documents of the different belief systems in ancient Judaism during the Hellenistic-Roman period.⁴

      Some of these writings became an integral part of Christian collections of standard sacred scriptures. These »apocryphal« or »deuterocanonical« writings, mainly doctrinal in character, seem to have been handed down in the three centers of ancient Judaism: the Land of Israel, Egypt, and Babylonia (Iraq). At no point in time did Jewish authors lend them authority and take them as normative or sacred by tracing their content compellingly to the written Torah or by asserting their inspiration—either directly or guaranteed by an unbroken tradition.

      From Late Antiquity, another portion of the literature also was handed down, translated, revised, and supplemented exclusively by Christianity. This applies to the two most important Jewish authors of the epoch, Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus, but also to religious literature which was initially acknowledged only within certain Jewish groups. Only modern-day manuscript discoveries (e.g. at Qumran) has made this literature accessible in an early textual form.

      Despite the lack of a clear definition of canon and also possibily due to prescribed readings in the synagogues, post-70 CE rabbinic Judaism showed a growing occupation with demarcating authoritative collections of writings.⁵ Because of their lack of antiquity or an absence of prophetic inspiration (cf. 1 Macc 9:27) such books as Sirach were viewed as Sefarim Chizonim (»outside books«), which were not suitable for liturgical reading (cf. t. Yad. 2.13; y. Sanh. 28a, 17f.). Particularly because of their high regard for the Hebrew tradition, the rabbis did not hand down Hellenistic-Jewish literature; in rabbinic literature we find mainly isolated quotations (although in some cases seemingly treated as authoritative scripture by their introductory formula), as well as references and thematic allusions. Nonetheless, this literature had a role to play as part of the rich haggadic tradition in rabbinic schooling, in liturgical practice in the congregations, and in Jewish popular piety (cf. b. Git. 57B; b. Sanh. 100b).

      2 Historical and Legendary Texts

      The Third Book of Ezra (= LXX 1 Esdras)⁶ contains an independent compilation of biblical excerpts, which mainly come from parts of the Hebrew books of Ezra and Nehemiah (= LXX 2 Esdras). This book, which came into being in the Egyptian Diaspora in the second century BCE, contains an accurate but linguistically free Greek translation, which probably emerged earlier than the Greek version of 2 Esdras, which stays close to the Hebrew text.

      3 Ezra presents a reinterpretation of materials from 2 Chr 35f. to Ezra 10 and Neh 7:72–8:3a in connection with the peculiar narrative of the »contest of the three servants« (Ezra 3:1–5:6), which is linked literarily with the reconstruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The book has pilgrimage festivals at the beginning and the end. Its two protagonists (Josiah and Ezra) are closely linked by the motif of the »rediscovery of the Torah of Moses,« which may explain the historical bridge from Josiah’s Passover to Ezra’s reading of the Torah in 3 Ezra. At 9:55 the narrative is interrupted in mid-sentence (»and they

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