Στο τρέχον τεύχος του JQR / In the current issue of JQR

Jewish Quarterly Review 108:2 (2018)

Francis Borchardt, "The Temple Scroll in the Context of Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman Scholarly Texts," 139-158 

This study investigates the ways in which the Temple Scroll (11QT) transmits material shared with the Pentateuch in light of the particular models by which knowledge is preserved in the Hellenistic and Graeco-Roman scholarly milieu. It investigates the special role epitomes, commentaries, summaries, and other “derivative” text forms have in repackaging and preserving knowledge for changing settings. It illustrates the methods and motivations for scribal transmission and interpretation of material that already appears in other texts by focusing on the discussions provided in prefaces of contemporary scholarly texts. The Temple Scroll is best understood as performing much the same function of preserving knowledge as we can observe within the context of Hellenistic/Graeco-Roman literature, and may well have been used for the purposes of education in community or broader Judean settings. The argument is facilitated by concentration on the methods and attitudes reflected in a few specific examples of Hellenistic/Graeco-Roman scholarly texts (e.g. Galen’s De pulsibus, Justinus’ Epitoma of Pompeius Trogus), placing them alongside the Temple Scroll for comparison. The benefit of such a comparison is that in the case of the Graeco-Roman material we have empirical evidence for the relationship between such “derivative” texts and those that they preserve.