to praise every one of them for his sagacity. The translators then repaired
to the island of Pharos, where they went to work, periodically comparing
drafts, agreed upon a common version, and completed their task in pre-
cisely seventy-two days. The priests and leaders of the Jewish community
in Alexandria pronounced it a definitive version, not a line of it to be al-
tered. Ptolemy joined them in admiration, paid reverence to the new Bible,
and lavished gifts upon the Jewish scholars.
Such is the gist of the tale. None can doubt that it issued from the pen
of a Jewish author cloaked in the garb of a learned official at the court of
Ptolemy II. The particulars, of course, are largely, if not entirely, fictitious.
But the author’s creation holds high significance. TheLetter of Aristeasof-
fers a showcase for the familiarity of Jewish intellectuals with diverse fea-
tures and forms of Greek learning from ethnographic excursuses to textual
exegesis and allegorical interpretation. The author is plainly steeped in
Hellenic literature. On the face of it, this treatise would seem to be the
most telling attestation of a cultural convergence between Judaism and
Hellenism — at least as viewed from the Jewish side. The Hellenistic mon-
arch promotes the project, and the Jewish scholars carry it out. The trans-
lators act at the behest of the king to enhance the pagan library, while the
king pays deep homage to the sacred books of Israel. The pseudonymous
narrator, Aristeas, even declares to Ptolemy that the Jews revere God, over-
seer and creator of all, who is worshipped by everyone, including the
Greeks, except that they give him a different name, Zeus.
Yet cross-cultural harmony and blending do not tell the whole story.
Another dimension carries equal importance. TheLetter of Aristeas,while
fully conversant with Hellenic literary genres, adapted that knowledge to
advertise the advantages of Jewish tradition. The distinctiveness of the
Jews is never in question. The god to whom all bear witness, even though
the Greeks may call him Zeus, is the Jewish god. The high priest happily
sends Jewish scholars to Alexandria to render the Bible into Greek, but he
reminds the Greeks of the superiority of the Jewish faith, ridiculing those
who worship idols of wood and stone fashioned by themselves. He insists
that Mosaic Law insulated the Hebrews from outside influences, erecting
firm barriers to prevent the infiltration of tainted institutions. And the
high priest observes that the Jews offer sacrifice to God to insure the peace
and renown of the Ptolemaic kingdom — a neat reversal of the patron-
client relationship.
One can go further. The seven-day symposium may have been a fun-
damentally Hellenic practice, but the Jewish sages answered every query by105Judaism in the DiasporaEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:03:56 PM