From Qumran to the Synagogues: Selected Studies on Ancient Judaism

306 Pages·2019·10.817 MB·English

by  Géza G. Xeravits

Géza G. Xeravits
From Qumran to the Synagogues
Deuterocanonical and
Cognate Literature Studies
Edited by
Friedrich V. Reiterer, Beate Ego,
Tobias Nicklas and Kristin de Troyer
Volume 43
Géza G. Xeravits
From Qumran
to the Synagogues
Selected Studies on Ancient Judaism
With editorial assistance of Ádám Vér
ISBN 978-3-11-061431-2
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-061561-6
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-061437-4
ISSN 1865-1666
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019931725
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.
© 2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck
www.degruyter.com
Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements | VII
Foreword (Friedrich V. Reiterer) | IX
List of Illustrations | XI
List of Original Publications | XIII
Part I: Dead Sea Scrolls
Some Remarks on the Early History of Qumran’s Messianic Expectations | 3
Wisdom Traits in the Qumranic Presentation of the Eschatological
Prophet | 17
From the Forefathers to the “Angry Lion” 
Qumran and the Hasmonaeans  | 29
Notes on 11QPsa Creat 7‒9 | 43
Part II: Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
The Figure of David in the Book of Ben Sira | 49
“Stranger in a Strange Land” 
Tobiah’s Journey | 63
The Angel’s Self-Revelation in Tobit 12 | 71
The Praise of the Widow? 
Changes in the Judith Narrative | 91
The Supplication of Judith (Judith 9:2–14) | 101
VI | Table of Contents
Some Common Themes in the Early Jewish Prophetic Biographies of Vitae
Prophetarum | 119
Some Remarks on the Figure of Elijah in Lives of the Prophets 21:1‒3 | 131
The Wonders of Elijah in the Lives of the Prophets | 141
The Crossing of the Sea in Pseudo-Philo | 149
Conflicting Ideas about the Temple in 2 Baruch 4 and 6 | 159
Part III: Late Antique Synagogues
Temple and Synagogue in Late Antiquity | 175
The Message of the West Wall of the Dura Synagogue | 199
The Figure of Moses in Ancient Synagogue Art | 215
The Reception of the Figure of David in Late Antique Synagogue Art | 233
The Figure of Daniel in Late Antique Synagogue Art | 253
A Possible Greek Bible Source for Late Antique Synagogue Art | 269

Indices | 283
Index Locorum | 283
Index of Names | 287
Index of Subjects | 291
Preface and Acknowledgements
The idea of this collection emerged in March 2018 when I was awarded the
Schweitzer Memorial Prize of the Hungarian Society of Hebraists. In his laudatory
address, my former teacher Géza Komoróczy, professor emeritus of Hebrew Stud-
ies and Assyriology at Eötvös Lóránd State University, Budapest, suggested that
the publication of such a collection would be appropriate. Happily enough,
Albrecht Döhnert at de Gruyter received the idea favourably. I thank both of them
for their enthusiasm towards my work.
The structure of the volume reflects the main directions of my scholarly in-
terest. The first part deals with the Dead Sea Scrolls. The study of the scrolls was
my first area of interest, which led me to the excellent universities of Leuven and
Groningen. Later on, I gave courses on the scrolls throughout my teaching career.
This research culminated in my PhD dissertation written under the wise guidance
of Florentino García Martínez at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, and a textbook,
which was published in Hungarian as well as in German with the kind coopera-
tion of Peter Porzig.1
The second part contains papers on the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha.
When I returned to Hungary and received a teaching position at the Theological
Academy of Pápa, I launched—together with my colleague and friend József Zsen-
gellér—the organisation of a series of yearly conferences on the Deuterocanonical
books of the Old Testament; a project that provoked scholarly interest for more
than a decade. The most important fruit of this period was the editing of eleven
volumes of conference proceedings,2 several books and a textbook in Hungarian,3
and a monograph on Baruch 4–5. While working on this monograph, I enjoyed
the support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, hosted by Tobias Nicklas
in the Regensburg University.4
||
1 King, Priest, Prophet. Positive Eschatological Protagonists of the Qumran Library (STDJ 47),
Leiden 2003; and G.G. Xeravits / P. Porzig: Einführung in die Qumranliteratur. Die Handschriften
vom Toten Meer, Berlin 2015.
2 On this, see http://www.4enoch.org/wiki4/index.php?title=International_Conference_on_
the_Deuterocanonical_Books_(2004-),_learned_society
3 I would like to mention the two most important of them, the textbook A deuterokanonikus
könyvek: bevezetés keletkezés- és irodalomtörténetükbe (Deuterocanonica 4), Budapest and
Pápa 2008, and a commented translation of the Lives of the Prophets, A Próféták élete: zsidó
szentéletrajzok az ókorból (Eulogia 3), Budapest 2010, both available at my academia.edu page.
4 “Take Courage, O Jerusalem…” Studies in the Psalms of Baruch 4–5 (DCLSt 25), Berlin 2015.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110615616-001
VIII | Preface and Acknowledgements
The third part deals with the Late Antique synagogues, which have been at
the centre of my research during the past half decade. The study of the reinter-
pretation of biblical figures in early Judaism naturally led me into this exciting
field. My research on this topic was greatly enriched by an Alexander von Hum-
boldt fellowship, hosted by Stefan Schorch at Martin Luther University, Halle.
The main result of this research was an exhibition at the Hungarian Bible Mu-
seum, Budapest, on “Jewish and Christian Holy Places in Late Antique Pales-
tine.”5
While working on the manuscript of the present volume, I benefited the
friendly assistance of a great number of people. I would like to single out some of
them. Zoltán Tringer, László Fejes and Kálmán Ajtay made possible the purchase
of a Tobii Eye Tracker that facilitates my work during my illness. Ádám Vér care-
fully assisted in editorial issues. Eszter Jakab helped finding a translator for one
of the papers, the original language of which was French. Attila Lévai, dean at
Selye János University deserves deep gratitude for his collegiality and friendship.
Special words of appreciation go to Beáta Tóth, for her tireless and heroic struggle
with my English for nearly twenty years. Finally, it is a great honour for me that
a real magister, Friedrich Reiterer, honorary president of the ISDCL—whose
scholarly erudition I have always admired—agreed to write introductory words to
the volume.
My family has always been a source of support. I thank my children, Ábris,
Sára, Dömi, Rézi for their cheerfulness. My dear wife, Krisztina, is a true ʾēšet
ḥāyil, she is strong, wise and tender. With her, life is full of hope and love—I ded-
icate this book to her.

Géza G. Xeravits

||
5 Zsidó és keresztény szent helyek a késő-ókori Palesztinában (Jewish and Christian Holy Places
in Late Antique Palestine; with a detailed English summary), Budapest 2016, available at my
academia.edu page.
Foreword
This collection of articles by the academic scholar Géza G. Xeravits provides an
overview of important publications by the author. The volume is subdivided into
three groups of areas: there are articles on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Deuteroca-
nonical Works (for the nomenclature, cf. SBL Handbook of Style, 125) and Pseud-
epigrapha, and Early Judaism, especially the Synagogues. Those who consult the
works of Géza G. Xeravits may gain a good insight into important issues of the

late period of the Old Testament and early Judaism.
The collection is exemplary in terms of the spirit of research, the wide range
of interests and outstanding scholarship. Currently, the pressure to publish in
great quantity has led many researchers to the construction of hypotheses con-
cerning various topics, often at the risk of getting lost in mere speculation. By
contrast, Géza G. Xeravits gratifyingly engages with the texts themselves, anal-
yses them methodically and, in this manner, achieves solid results. The individ-
ual contributions are good examples of how to analyse texts correctly. The results

will always be appreciated by scholars.
Géza G. Xeravits works interdenominationally and internationally. Many stu-
dents can benefit from his lectures in various universities in Hungary and Slo-
vakia. But above all, the scientific community owes his zeal to many conferences,
which he carried out with charm and, above all, great organizational skills, espe-
cially in Pápa and Budapest—often together with József Zsengellér, but also with
other colleagues. What is an admirable trait of Géza G. Xeravits’s personality is
the fact that he prefers cooperation with others to being a solitary scholar. Many
well-known scholars have gladly accepted his invitations, and what emerges
from the lists of contributors to the respective volumes (based on the conferences)
is the remarkable fact that almost all distinguished researchers have given papers

on the late period of the Old Testament.
It is particularly important to point out the invaluable zeal in the edition of
many collected volumes, for example, besides JSJSup, Brill especially DCLS, de
Gruyter. If one is familiar with the time-consuming nature of editorial work, one
can truly appreciate the value of these efforts. Particularly noteworthy in this con-
text is the tedious preparation of comprehensive indexes in the individual vol-
umes. They facilitate use for readers, and, at the same time, display the great va-
riety of questions and topics treated. What underlies these achievements is Géza
G. Xeravits’s deep devotion to biblical scholarship, which has yielded a signifi-
cant contribution in the field. Experts rely on these valuable editions with much

gratitude.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110615616-002
X
| Foreword
The aforementioned joy in cooperation has led Géza G. Xeravits to intensive
exchange with other research centers. The University of Salzburg is pleased to
have a particularly prominent place in this regard. And, besides the long-term
cooperation, the many international invitations to expert conferences and rele-
vant lectures must be noted, some of which have also found their way into this

volume.
Géza G. Xeravits, born in Budapest, is a renowned representative of Hungar-
ian exegetical scholarship, who demonstrates in this volume how valuable con-
temporary research is in Hungary. The publishing house de Gruyter—and espe-
cially Dr. Albrecht Döhnert, Editorial Director Theology and Religion—must be
thanked for making the contributions, which formerly appeared in various pub-
lications, available in a single volume. I am delighted to recommend this col-
lected volume to the community of researchers.

Friedrich V. Reiterer, Salzburg, May 2018