Figures Who Shape Scriptures, Scriptures That Shape Figures: Essays in Honour of Benjamin G. Wright III (Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature ... and Cognate Literature Studies, 40)

The papers of the volume investigate how authoritative figures in the Second Temple Period and beyond contributed to forming the Scriptures of Judaism, as well as how these Scriptures shaped ideal figures as authoritative in Early Judaism. The topic of the volume thus reflects Ben Wright's research, who—especially with his work on Ben Sira, on the Letter of Aristeas, and on various problems of authority in Early Jewish texts—creatively contributed to the study of the formation of Scriptures, and to the understanding of the figures behind these texts. Contents 5 Preface 7 Bibliography of Benjamin G. Wright III (1984–2017) 11 Part 1: Figures 29 Moses in the Septuagint 29 Adding Profile to Moses and Joshua 47 No Small Difference When Introducing Samuel in Sirach 46:13 56 David in the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum 82 The Reception of the Figure of David in Late Antique Synagogue Art 97 A New Suggestion Concerning the Enigmatic Elioud of the Book of the Watchers 117 Simon and the Actualization of Wisdom in the Jerusalem Temple 131 Part 2: Scriptures 153 The Book of Ruth as Social Commentary in Early Judaism 153 Glimpses into Ben Sira’s Society 166 Exemplars of Humility and the Discourse of Authority in Second Temple Judaism 177 Gibberish? 190 Die Idee von „Geschichte“ im 2. Makkabäerbuch 204 Where’s Rome? 223 King and God 237 List of contributors 257 Index 259 The papers of the volume investigate how authoritative figures in the Second Temple Period and beyond contributed to forming the Scriptures of Judaism, as well as how these Scriptures shaped ideal figures as authoritative in Early Judaism. The topic of the volume thus reflects Ben Wright's research, who - especially with his work on Ben Sira, on the Letter of Aristeas, and on various problems of authority in Early Jewish texts - creatively contributed to the study of the formation of Scriptures, and to the understanding of the figures behind these texts