Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

them into practice (Migr.90–93). Finally, inJoseph and Aseneth,Joseph re-

fuses to kiss Aseneth because she worships idols and eats impure food

(8:5). Jewish texts written in Hebrew and Aramaic take up the issue of di-

etary laws too, but they tend to focus on halakic aspects rather than on the

question of the laws’ implications for the relationship with pagans. And in

comparison with 2 Maccabees, 1 Maccabees is much less concerned with

the dietary laws.

To conclude on the theme of the relationships between Jews and non-

Jews, a few words should be said about the issue of conversion. Interest-

ingly enough, converts and conversions appear in rather late texts. Philo

praises proselytes who abandon idolatry or wrong conceptions about God

and join Israel (see especiallyVirt.179, 182, and 219). In theAntiquities,

Josephus reports the story of the conversion of the king of Adiabene, and

mentions other cases as well. InAgainst Apion,he follows Philo in stating

that Judaism’s openness to proselytes is a mark ofphilanthrZpia(2.261).

But in theAntiquitiesand theLife,Josephus also confronts the issue of

forced conversions to Judaism, in the context of the Hasmonean wars and

the war against Rome (seeAnt.13.257-58; 318-19;Life112–13). Other texts

that refer to proselytes areJoseph and Asenethand theTestament of Job,

whose main characters are converts. They both date from the first century

c.e.(if not later). This list probably reflects the fact that the very notion of

conversion and the ritual surrounding it — which should be distinguished

frommererecognitionoftheGodofIsraelastheonetrueGod—

emerged and developed only at the end of the Hellenistic period. Among

Greek translations of Jewish texts originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic,

Esther LXX (8:17) and Judith (5:5–6:20) allude to or explicitly deal with

conversions, but these translations are late as well (and the original version

of Judith itself only dates from the second centuryb.c.e.).

Judaism’s Superiority over Paganism

A third theme frequently found in Jewish texts written in Greek, perhaps

the most widespread of all, is the superiority of Judaism over paganism.

This theme has important biblical roots but received a new impetus in the

Hellenistic age. On the one hand, as in biblical texts, idols are condemned

and mocked as handmade objects with no power to save, and those who

worship them are depicted as foolish, wicked, or abominable. This is the

case in several texts, including theLetter of Aristeas(134–38 in particular),

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EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:06 PM