written in Greek, especially those of Aristobulus and Philo. Universalism,
though, is not based primarily on a willingness to welcome proselytes but
rather on a broad understanding of God’s law and of the cult at the Jerusa-
lem Temple. Some Jewish authors writing in Greek boldly conceived of the
Torah as a universal law that could appeal to every human being, mainly
through reason. Philo goes so far as to present Israel as a priest offering
sacrifices and prayers to God for the sake of all human beings (Spec.2.163-
67). It is especially in Jewish literature composed in Greek, then, that the
relationship between Israel and the rest of humankind is thought out in its
deepest and most positive way.
Scholars debate whether Jewish works composed in Greek should be
labeled “apologetic” literature. On the one hand, this is not a missionary
literature, even if the evidence shows that proselytes and God-fearers were
welcome in the Jewish communities of the Diaspora. On the other hand,
although the intended audience of the vast majority of these texts was Jew-
ish, apologetic interests are not to be denied in some cases. To claim the su-
periority of Judaism over paganism and Greek philosophy, or to provide a
rationale for dietary laws and circumcision, is to engage in apologetics. But
the apologia was an affirmation of the superiority of Judaism directed in
most cases to Jews themselves, to help them face the challenges of their
Greco-Roman environment and to strengthen and comfort them in their
religious and cultural identity.Significance
Jewish literature written in Greek is significant for several reasons. First, it
constitutes the main literary testimony to the ways people in the ancient
Near East rose to the challenge of Hellenism. Although other cultures pro-
duced important works in Greek, these works have not survived, or only in
fragments, as in the case of Manetho’sAegyptiaca,which is known mainly
through Josephus’sAgainst Apion.Jewish literature written in Hebrew or
Aramaic during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods also offers im-
portant testimony to the encounter of Judaism with Greek civilization, at
least in some cases. Moreover, the archaeological and documentary evi-
dence (inscriptions, papyri, coins, and other artifacts) sheds crucial light
on the processes of acculturation that took place during the Greco-Roman
period. However, Jewish works composed in Greek remain our main and
most explicit evidence for the Jewish engagement with Hellenism.248katell berthelotEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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