Early Jewish Prayers in Greek (Commentaries on Early Jewish Literature)

316 Pages·2008·0.848 MB·English

by  Pieter W. van der Horst, Judith. H. Newman

Pieter W. van der Horst and Judith H. Newman
Early Jewish Prayers in Greek
Commentaries on
Early Jewish Literature
(CEJL)
Edited by
Loren T. Stuckenbruck
and
Pieter W. van der Horst · Hermann Lichtenberger
Doron Mendels · James R. Mueller
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Pieter W. van der Horst
and
Judith H. Newman
Early Jewish Prayers
in Greek
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
IV
Ü Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines
of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Horst, Pieter Willem van der.
Early Jewish prayers in Greek : a commentary / by Pieter W. van der Horst & Judith H.
Newman.
p. cm. – (Commentaries on early Jewish literature)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-3-11-020503-9 (alk. paper)
1. Judaism–Liturgy–Textes–History and criticism. 2. Prayer–Judaism. 3. Judaism–
Prayers and devotions–History and criticism. 4. Judaism–History–Post–exilic period, 586
B. C. – 210 A. D. 5. Jews–Civilization–Greek influences. I. Newman, Judith H. (Judith
Hood), 1961- II. Title.
BM660.H675 2008
296.4´509–dc22
2008022124
ISBN 978-3-11-020503-9
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Table of contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XIII
I. The Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers in the
Apostolic Constitutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. A Communal Prayer (Pap. Egerton5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
III. A Prayer for Protection against Unclean Spirits
(Pap. Fouad 203) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
IV. A Prayer for Vengeance from Rheneia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
V. The Prayer of Manasseh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
VI. The Prayer of Azariah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
VII. The Prayer of Jacob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
VIII. Appendix: The Prayer of Joseph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Indices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Index of References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Index of Names and Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Index of Modern Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Preface VII
Preface
During the past few decades a great amount of scholarly work has been
done on the various prayer cultures of antiquity, both Graeco-Roman and
Jewish and Christian.1 In Jewish studies this burgeoning research on ancient
prayer has been stimulated particularly by the many new prayer texts found
at Qumran, which have shed new light on several long-standing problems.2
The present volume intends to make a modest contribution to the ongoing
scholarly debate on ancient Jewish prayer texts by focusing on a limited set
of prayer texts, scil., a small number of those that have been preserved in
Greek. There are many Jewish prayer texts in Greek, those in the Greek
apocrypha and pseudepigrapha,3 those in Josephus,4 those in Philo,5 but
these will not be dealt with here. The prayers that have been inserted into
the Greek versions of the book of Esther also fall outside the scope of the
1 For bibliographies the reader is referred to G. Freyburger & L. Pernot (eds.),Bibli-
ographie analytique de la prière grecque et romaine(1898–1998) (Turnhout: Brepols,
2000), with the supplementary volume F. Chapot & B. Laurot (eds.),Bibliographie
analytique de la prière grecque et romaine. Supplément années 1999–2003 (Turn-
hout: Brepols, 2008). M. Harding, “The Lord’s Prayer and Other Prayer Texts of the
Greco-Roman Era: A Bibliography,” in J.H. Charlesworth, M. Harding & M. Kiley
(eds.), The Lord’s Prayer and Other Prayer Texts of the Greco-Roman Era (Valley
Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1994) 103–257. See also the bibliographies on
the many individual prayers in M. Kileyet al. (eds.),Prayer from Alexander to Con-
stantine: A Critical Anthology (London: Routledge, 1997). There is also a good bib-
liography in H. Löhr,Studien zum frühchristlichen und frühjüdischen Gebet (WUNT
160; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003) 532–614.
2 See, e.g., J. Tabory (ed.), From Qumran to Cairo: Studies in the History of Prayer
(Jerusalem: Orhot, 1999); E. G. Chazon (ed.), Liturgical Perspectives: Prayer and
Poetry in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls (STDJ 48: Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2003);
D. K. Falk, Daily, Sabbath, & Festival Prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls (STDJ 27;
Leiden: Brill: 1998).
3 See N.B. Johnson,Prayer in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (SBLMS2; Phila-
delphia: Society of Biblical Literature, 1948). Johnson’s book was out of print but is
currently available through the SBL Press as a print-on-demand edition.
4 See T. Jonquière,Prayer in Josephus (AJEC70; Leiden: Brill, 2007).
5 See J. Leonhardt,Jewish Worship in Philo of Alexandria (TSAJ84; Tübingen: Mohr
Siebeck, 2001).
VIII Preface
present book, not only because they will receive their own treatment in a
commentary on the Greek Esther but also because this volume focuses on
prayers that show signs of independent use in Jewish life. The same caveat
applies of course to the prayers in the book of Judith and other apocryphal
and pseudepigraphical works which appear to have been written as part of
their narrative contexts. The Prayer of Azariah, however, which is part of
the Greek Daniel, is dealt with here because it is clear from its contents that
its setting in Daniel is not original; it is loosely tied to the context;6 and it
may be safely assumed that originally it circulated independently, as is also
the case with the Prayer of Manasseh that is dealt with in the present com-
mentary as well. The Prayer of Jacob, too, is an independent composition
that was preserved on a Berlin papyrus (PGM XXIIb). Other independent
prayer compositions on papyrus are the communal prayer on Pap. Egerton5
(now in London), and the prayer for protection against unclean spirits on
Pap. Fouad 203 (now in Cairo). An excerpt from the narrative text entitled
the “Prayer of Joseph”, although not itself a prayer, is included as an ap-
pendix because it sheds light on interpretive traditions related to the Prayer
of Jacob. All these will be dealt with in the present work. A special case is
the inscription on a tombstone from Rheneia which consists of a Jewish
prayer for vengeance, a unique prayer on stone that could not be left out-
side this volume. The largest set of independent prayers is that of the six
synagogal prayers that have been incorporated in a christianized form into
the late fourth-century Church Order called Apostolic Constitutions and
are now generally regarded as originally Jewish compositions. Altogether
these are twelve prayer texts, with a chronological range from the second
century B.C.E. to the third or fourth century C.E. Since most of the
scholarly attention tends to be paid to the material in Hebrew and Aramaic
(mainly the prayers in the Dead Sea Scrolls, the rabbinic literature, and the
corpus of mystical Hekhalot treatises), these Greek prayers from Jewish
diaspora communities deserve a treatment in some more detail than they
have hitherto received.
The assembled collection reflects a wide range of early Jewish prayers in
terms of contents and geographical provenance. Such diversity is an impor-
tant dimension of the commentary in itself. Seen from the lenses of later
rabbinic Judaism, the prayers offer a syncretistic diversity. Including such a
6 In this respect it differs from the other prayer inserted in the same chapter, the elabo-
rate song of praise by the three young men who were saved from the burning oven
(Dan 3:52–90 LXX and Theodotion), which probably represents an adaptation of an
existing hymn of praise as a result of deliverance for the purposes of inclusion in the
book of Daniel and therefore falls outside the scope of this commentary.
Preface IX
range of prayers allows evaluation of early Jewish prayer not through the
more narrow retrospective standpoint of evolved Judaism or Christianity in
the present day, but provides a glimpse across the broad spectrum of Jewish
belief and practice in Graeco-Roman antiquity. So for example, considering
the Prayer of Jacob found in the Greek magical papyri, with its view of
human angelification resulting from the prayer ritual, side-by-side with one
of the Hellenistic Synagogal prayers,AC7.35.1–10, which includes an early
version of the angelic praise of the Qedushah, provides a broader perspec-
tive on the role of angels in the ritual life of Jewish antiquity than has been
considered. Contrasting views of Jewish theodicy are on display in the
prayers from Rheneia set alongside the Prayer of Manasseh.
Many studies have been shaped by the interests of a particular religious
tradition or a confessional tilt.7 One trend, for instance, has been to isolate
the origins of a particular prayer tradition whether in Judaism or Christian-
ity.8 In scholarship on early Jewish prayer, a focus has been to isolate the
origins and development of the fixed prayer forms of the Amidah, though
the relation of Jewish prayer to other aspects of Jewish observance in an-
tiquity has also been explored.9 Christian liturgical scholarship has focused
on the origins of eucharistic and baptismal prayers which are presumed to
be rooted in Jewish prayer practices.10 Other scholarship on prayer in an-
tiquity has considered only biblical prayers, whether in the Hebrew Bible/
Old Testament or New Testament.11 Our collection is broader in scope.
7 For more bibliography on the topics mentioned in notes 8–11, see note 1.
8 See, for example, R.A. Werline,Penitential Prayer in Second Temple Judaism: The
Development of a Religious Institution (SBLEJL 13; Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press,
1998) and the three volumes on the origins and development of penitential prayer
edited by M.J. Boda, D.K. Falk, and R.A. Werline,Seeking the Favor of God, cur-
rently being published in the same series.
9 The classic study of J. Heinemann remains of seminal importance to the field,Prayer
in the Talmud: Forms and Patterns(R. Sarason, transl.; SJ9; Berlin: W. de Gruyter,
1977). His view that the statutory prayer crystallized gradually has been challenged
by the work of Ezra Fleischer; see especially, “The Kedushah of the Amidah and other
Kedushot: Historical, Liturgical, and Ideological Aspects,”Tarbiz 67 (1998): 301–50
[Hebrew].
10 P. F. Bradshaw, The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship: Sources and
Methods for the Study of Early Liturgy (2nd ed.; Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2002).
11 M. Greenberg,Biblical Prose Prayer as a Window to the Popular Religion of Ancient
Israel(Berkeley: University of California, 1983); P.D. Miller,They Cried to the Lord:
The Form and Theology of Biblical Prayer (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1994);
S. Balentine, Prayer in the Hebrew Bible: The Drama of Divine-Human Dialogue
X Preface
The authors could offer only so much commentary upon each prayer
and interrelate them without going beyond the mandate of the commentary
series. Thus there are a number of issues arising from our work on these
prayers that suggest avenues for further research, from the significance of
Greek as the language of Jewish prayer to the nature of Jewish-Christian in-
teraction that resulted in some of the prayers’ adoption in Christian con-
texts, particularly in light of recent scholarship that has posited various and
later “parting of the ways.”12 Most of the scholarship done on early Jewish
prayer, including this commentary, has been done within an historical-criti-
cal methodological framework. Methods from the social sciences might
also fruitfully be employed to explore various ritual contexts and the com-
position of the prayers and the nature of their use as written texts in oral
cultures. These issues and more, we hope may be investigated by scholars
who are interested in the results of this commentary.
The two authors of this commentary had the privilege of being able to
spend a fellowship year (2006/7) on this project. Together we were able to
work on this commentary at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
(NIAS) in Wassenaar. The beautiful surroundings and the intellectually
stimulating atmosphere at NIAS have made this not only a fruitful but also
an enjoyable year. We thank the superb staff of NIAS for the various forms
of support, especially the library staff (Caroline Hagedoorn, Dindy van
Maanen, and Erwin Nolet) without whose unfailing help this project could
hardly have been brought to completion. We also wish to express our great
gratitude to the many colleagues who gave us their expert advice on a wide
variety of matters; we list them in a random (i.e., alphabetical) order: Mark
Boda (McMaster Divinity), Gideon Bohak (Tel Aviv), George Brooke and
the members of the Ehrhard Seminar (Manchester), Esther Chazon (Jerusa-
lem), Edward Dabrowa (Cracow), Daniel Falk (Oregon), David Fiensy
(Grayson), Dineke Houtman (Kampen), Jaap Mansfeld (Utrecht), Troy
Miller (Memphis), Joseph Mueller (Marquette), Hindy Najman (Toronto),
Stefan Reif (Cambridge UK), David Runia (Melbourne), Eileen Schuller
(Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1993); J. Koenig,Rediscovering New Testament Prayer:
Boldness and Blessing in the Name of Jesus (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse, 1998; orig.
pub., San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1992); O. Cullmann, Gebet im Neuen
Testament(Tübingen: Mohr, 1994).
12 E.g., J. Lieu,Christian Identity in the Jewish and Graeco-Roman World(Oxford: Ox-
ford University Press, 2005); A. Yoshiko Reed, Fallen Angels and the History of
Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature (Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 2005).