Forschungsprojekte

 

Ancient Jewish Quotations and Allusions

 

Available Lists of Quotations and Allusions

AJQA_01_Gen, AJQA_02_Exod, AJQA_03_Lev, AJQA_04_Num, AJQA_05_Deut, AJQA_06_Josh, AJQA_07_Judg, AJQA_08_1-2Sam, AJQA_09_1-2Kgs

 

Introduction

This webpage is a partial publication of the work of a research project (“The Meaning of Ancient Jewish Quotations and Allusions for the Textual History of the Hebrew Bible”) which is sponsored by the Jubiläumsfonds der Österreichischen Nationalbank and is conducted at Vienna University’s Institute for Jewish Studies by Armin Lange (director) and Matthias Weigold. We would like to take the opportunity to express our gratitude to both the Jubiläumsfonds for financing our work and to the staff of Vienna University’s Institute for Jewish Studies for supporting us.

Ancient Jewish texts often quote or allude to Scriptures. The research project “The Meaning of Ancient Jewish Quotations and Allusions for the Textual History of the Hebrew Bible” tries to study the textual history of the Hebrew Bible before the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 c.e. in light of quotations of and allusions to passages of the Hebrew Bible in Second Temple Jewish literature. One of the main tasks of the project is to identify and locate the quotations of and allusions to scriptures in ancient Jewish literature. While we continue to search for quotations and allusions, this webpage makes first results of our work available to the scholarly public. Feedback is warmly welcome (please refer to ajqa.judaistik@univie.ac.at).

 

Project Description

The project takes earlier research by Armin Lange (“From Literature to Scripture: The Unity and Plurality of the Hebrew Scriptures in Light of the Qumran Library,” in One Scripture or Many? Canon from Biblical, Theological, and Philosophical Perspectives [eds. C. Helmer and C. Landmesser; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004], 51–107) as its starting point. To search for quotations and allusions we use the new search capabilities of the software Accordance 8 as well as existing, but incomplete, indexes and lists of quotations and allusions. Examples of the latter include:

 

Lists of Quotations and Allusions

As it is often difficult to distinguish between an allusion and a quotation, our lists comprise both allusions and quotations without differentiation. As a rule of thumb we recognize any parallel of at least two rare or three more common words to another text as an allusion. Exceptions to this rule are formulaic and idiomatic expressions. Although formulas and idioms echo intertextual relationships it remains often unclear to which attestation of a formula or an idiom an ancient Jewish text refers or whether it refers to a particular attestation at all. Hence, formulaic and idiomatic expressions cannot be analyzed for text-critical purposes and are not included in our lists of quotations and allusions.

For the purpose of our research project, we systematically search for quotations of and allusions to Jewish scriptures from Second Temple Jewish literature, i.e. excluding documentary texts. Quotations of and allusions to non-biblical texts are disregarded, since they do not contribute to the understanding of the textual histories of the books of the Hebrew Bible. Moreover, for practical reasons quotations and allusions from paratextual (parabiblical) literature and commentaries are recognized only if they are not part of their principle base texts. There are sound analyses of the textual nature of the principle base texts of the Qumran Pesharim available which justify a summary treatment in the evaluation of our variant-lists (see, e.g., T.H. Lim, Holy Scripture in the Qumran Commentaries and Pauline Letters [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997]; Lange, Handbuch, passim). To provide a text-critical analysis of the principle base texts used in ancient Jewish paratextual literature would be a research project in its own right. Furthermore, several individual studies on this question have been published which can be employed in the evaluation (see, e.g., J.C. VanderKam, Textual and Historical Studies in the Book of Jubilees [HSM 14; Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1977]; idem, “The Textual Affinities of the Biblical Citations in the Genesis Apocryphon,” JBL 97 [1978]: 45–55; E. Tov, “The Temple Scroll and Old Testament Criticism,” Eretz-Israel 16 [1982]: 11–27 [Hebrew]; G.J. Brooke, “The Temple Scroll and LXX Exodus 35-40,” in Septuagint, Scrolls and Cognate Writings [ed. G.J. Brooke and B. Lindars; SBLSCS 33; Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1992], 81–106; L.H. Schiffman, “The Septuagint and the Temple Scroll: Shared ‘Halakhic’ Variants,” in Septuagint, Scrolls and Cognate Writings, 277–297; Lange, Handbuch). Likewise, we do not include the works of Philo of Alexandria in our search, because, on the one hand there is a list of quotations and allusions available (Biblia Patristica, suppl.: Philon d'Alexandrie [ed. J. Allenbach et al.; Paris: Éditions du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1982), even though it is incomplete. On the other hand, the textcritical use of quotations of and allusions to Jewish scriptures in the work of Philo is especially complicated, because the manuscripts do often not reflect the original quotations and allusions. In a recent article, R.A. Kraft has reaffirmed that the quotations of Jewish scriptures in Philo’s work have been revised toward Aquila in late antiquity (“Philo’s Bible Revisited: The ‘Aberrant Texts’ and Their Quotations of Moses,” in Interpreting Translation: Studies on the LXX and Ezekiel in Honour of J. Lust [ed. F. García Martínez and M. Vervenne; BETL 192; Leuven: Peeters, 2005], 237–253; cf. also the earlier studies by P. Katz, Philo’s Bible: The Aberrant Text of Bible Quotations in Some Philonic Writings and Its Place in the Textual History of the Greek Bible [Cambridge: University Press, 1950], and D. Barthélemy, “Est-ce Hoshaya Rabba qui censura le ‘Commentaire allégorique’? À partir des retouches faites aux citations bibliques, étude sur la tradition textuelle du Commentaire Allégorique de Philon,” in idem, Études d’histoire du texte de l’Ancien Testament [OBO 21; Fribourg: Éditions universitaires, 1978}, 140–173, 390–391). This theory warrants further study but goes beyond the scope of our current project. As for early Christian literature, the only Christian texts which can be dated with any certainty to the time before the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 c.e. are the Pauline letters (Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon). Because Paul’s quotations of and allusions to Jewish scriptures have been collected and text-critically well researched we will not analyze this material anew but will resort to existing research in the evaluation of our variant-lists (see, e.g., “Appendix IV: Loci citati vel allegati,” in NA27, 770–806; D.-A. Koch, Die Schrift als Zeuge des Evangeliums: Untersuchungen zur Verwendung und zum Verständnis der Schrift bei Paulus [BHT 69; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1986]; Vetus Testamentum in Novo, vol. 2: Corpus Paulinum [ed. H. Hübner; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1997]). At a later stage of the project, we plan to integrate also the principle base texts of the paratextual literature and the running lemmata of the continuous commentaries into our lists.

The resulting lists of quotations and allusions are presented according to book, chapter and verse of the passage which is quoted or alluded to. Upon conclusion of the project, a second set of lists is envisioned which will group the material according to the quoting and alluding texts.

 

State of Affairs

Until October 2009, we have compiled preliminary lists of quotations and allusions to the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua. We emphasize that these lists are still work in progress. Most notably, the books of the Hebrew Bible from the Second Temple period as well as the texts which are not preserved in either Hebrew or Greek versions (among them the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls) have not been systematically searched yet. As the project proceeds, we will continuously update our lists and add lists of quotations of and allusions to further books of the Hebrew Bible.

 

Copyright Note

The provided lists are copyrighted by Armin Lange and Matthias Weigold. Permission is granted for academic and personal use only. Printed or electronic publication of our lists or part of them without prior authorization is not allowed. For authorization please email ajqa.judaistik@univie.ac.at.