1. An interesting discussion is occurring under John Hobbins’ post, New Testament Only Christians. Eventually, John and Terri get into the subject of the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15. Terri states: When the council in Jerusalem makes its decision to approve of the gentile christians who are popping up everywhere, they make the move to release them from any obligation of the Law and only institute a few guidelines in regards to sexual immorality, eating food with blood, or food sacrificed to idols.
That brought to mind something in my reading today of Louis Feldman’s Josephus’s Interpretation of the Bible. The Romans believed that the Jews were aggressive missionaries, and Josephus tried to demonstrate that such was not the case. Josephus affirms, however, that the Jews welcome those who want to dwell among them. In Life 113, Josephus says that, “when the Galilean Jews tried to compel some non-Jews to be circumcised as a condition for dwelling among them, he refused to allow any compulsion to be used, declaring that everyone should worship G-d according to the dictates of his own conscience” (Feldman’s paraphrase on page 158). That’s somewhat like the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15: Judaizers want the Gentile Christians to be circumcised as a condition for becoming part of the Christian community, whereas Peter and Paul said “no.”
Yet, there are differences. As I look at Life 113, I see the context. The men were from King Agrippa, and apparently they were coming to Josephus’ army. I doubt that they were trying to become proselytes to Judaism. Perhaps they were simply seeking refuge. But Josephus’ point is that he didn’t try to shove Judaism down their throats, for he recognized that people should worship God according to their own consciences. You really can’t force religion on another person! Josephus allowed them to stay. And the fact that they brought arms and money probably elevated their appeal in Josephus’ eyes!
2. In my reading of John Van Seters’ Law Book for the Diaspora, which is about the Covenant Code in Exodus, I’m a little confused. Van Seters appears to question that the cuneiform law codes of the ancient Near East could’ve influenced the shape of the Covenant Code. On page 43, he says that those who posit such a connection must account for “the time of composition of the Covenant Code,” which many scholars place in the Iron Age (though Van Seters dates it later, to the exile). Before the Iron Age was the Late Bronze Age, which (I’m assuming) was when some of the cuneiform codes were prominent. For Van Seters, the problem with positing a connection is that there’s “cultural discontinuity between the literary, scribal tradition of the Late Bronze Age” and that of the Iron Age, so he doubts that the monarchies of Israel and Judah inherited the laws of the Covenant Code from the “previous ‘Canaanite’ civilization.” The scholars Van Seters criticizes may be arguing that the Canaanites mediated to Israel the cuneiform law codes (e.g., the Code of Hammurapi), which influenced the Covenant Code.
I don’t entirely understand what he’s getting at. Is he saying that the scribes of Iron Age Israel couldn’t understand the writings of the Late Bronze Age, since they were from a different culture, and that’s why the cuneiform codes didn’t influence the Covenant Codes?
3. In A History of Education in Antiquity, H.I. Marrou says that rhetoric was important in the democratic Greek city-states, where people could advocate for their positions, but it continued to serve a function when the city-states dissolved and became subordinated to a monarchy. Now, rhetoric was used to persuade kings. Yup, it’s always good to have the gift of gab!
4. On page 69 of Song of Songs, Marvin Pope discusses comparisons of the Song with other songs, such as the 1,001 Nights, Parting Songs, Consolation Songs, Vows, etc. Pope then says, “Happily, in Horst’s view, the rimed indecencies and praises of pederasty are also missing.” I’m assuming that pederasty means a sexual relationship between a male teacher and his boy students. Yup, I too am glad that the Song of Songs lacks that! But I’m surprised to learn that it’s in the 1,001 Nights.