HISTORY

EUPOLEMUS
(priorto First Century B.C.)
A NEW TRANSLATION AND INTRODUCTION
BY F. FALLON
illpolemus was a Jewish historian who composed a work, probably entitled On the Kings
I ofwhich only five fragments survive. In the first fragment, Eupolemus identifies
the first sage. who invented the alphabet and wrote laws. In a second, lengthy
Eupolemus traces Israelite history from Moses toSolomonanddiscusses in detail
of the Temple in Jerusalem. The third fragment completes the account of
in the fourth fragment, Eupolemus treats King Jonachim (see n. 39a),
whose reign Jeremiah prophesied and Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians.
the final fragment, Eupolemus tabulates the numberofyears from Adamand the Exodus
the fifth yearofthe reign ofDemetrius, the Seleucid king (15817 B.C.).
The preservation ofthese fragments is due mainly to the work ofAlexander Polyhistor,
Greekhistorian whoflourished in themid first century B.C. It seemsclearthat Alexander
faithful to the sources he used and in the main merely transposed them into indirect
. discourse.2
Although AlexanderPolyhistor's On the Jews is no iungel r::dant in its entirety, excerpts
have fortunately survived in Clement of Alexandria (c. A.D. 150-216) and Eusebius of
taesarea(c. A.D. 260-340). In his Stromata. Clement has preserved some ofthe material;
he has summarized the contents, rather than provided an exactquotation. On the
OOntrary, Eusebius in his Praeparatio Evangelica (PrEv) 9.25-39 has cited his source
literally and thus provides the text for ourtranslation ofthe first four fragments.J
The final fragment is preserved only inClement, Although previous scholars had argued
that this fragment, too, was transmitted through Alexander Polyhistor to Clement,' recent
by N. Walter and B. Z. Wacholder have suggested that this fragment may have
transmitted through anothersource to Clement.' Walter analyzes the largercontext in
Clement. i.e. Stromata 1.141.1-4. This passage contains a summary of.thecomputations
by Demetrius the chronographer (third century B.C.) ofthe numberofyears from the falls
of the northern and southern kingdoms 10 his uwn iime. The passage also contains a
I The title is given as such in Clement ofAlexandria. Slrom 1.153.4. where Clement is alsoquoting EupolemusW.
I) rrom Alexander PolyhiSior. Eusebius. quoting F. 2 in PrEv 9.30.1. however, gives the title as On the Prophecy
of Ella. which must be erroneoussince it does nO{ accord with the ,-ontenlS. See Freudenthal. Alexander Polyhi.flor.
p. lOS. n. 9.
l Freudenlhal, Alexander PolyhlslOr. pp. 17-34.
'Freudendull, AI .wnd., Polyhisror. pp. 3-14. The Fs. are conveniently collected in Jacoby. FGH. vol. 3C, I'p.
671-78. The texi from jacoby is used. but the F. on jeremiah is here numbered as F. 4 (Jacoby F. 5) and the
chronological F. as F. S(Jacoby F. 4).
Freudenthal. Alexa.nder Polyhistor. pp. 14-16; cf. E. SchOrer. Hi.rloT\!. div. 2. vol. 3. PI'. 203-(,.
'N. Walter, "Zur Uberlieferung einiger Reste frtiher jiidisch-hellenistischer Literarur bei Josephu,. Clemens lind
Eusebiu. " S.udla Palr;sf/ca 7(TV 92; Berlin. 1966). pp. 314-20. and "Eupolemus."JSHRZ 12(1976) 94.11. Z.
WadlOlder, Eupolemu.f,' ,4 "ita.d.- qr,'"dtu:o-(;reeA [.-j,:rQture :;:-m{'irmatL O ~ ~ n _ 1974J [!P 40--52. i 11- 14
reference to a certain Philo, who is said to disagree with Demetrius in the matter of
kings of the Judeans. Lastly, the passage contains the fragment ofEupolemus, which in
addition to its mention of Demetrius the Seleucid king (l58n B.C.) also has an updated.
referencetothe RomanconsulsGnaiusDometianusandG. Asinius(40B,C.). Inhis
Walter argues that this passage could not have come from Alexander Polyhistor,
Alexander'S floruit was in the sixties B.C. and since the final form of the fragment
Eupolemus must come from 40 B.C. He further analyzes the passage in Josephus (Apioll
1.23.218) in which Demetrius, Philo, and Eupolemusare also mentionedas Greekauthors
in this same order. He then argues that Josephus did not derive this notice from Alexander
Polyhistor, since otherwise Josephus would not have mistaken them for Greek authors.
Thus, according to Walter, Josephus also must have taken this reference from another
source. Walter further argues that Clement has not here drawn upon Josephus, since the
fonner is more extensive than the latter. He suggests thatthey inherited acommon source:.:
possibly this source was compiled by ahellenistic Jew who put in his book the lists of
Jewish kings according to Demetrius, Philo, and Eupolemus and compared them with
biblical account.'
Wacholder agrees basically with Walter that the passage in Clement of Alexandria
from a source otherthan the composition ofAlexander Polyhistorand suggests Ptolemy
Mendes (first century B.C.) as the author of this source. In his discussion, however.
Wacholderrevises the dates for Alexander Polyhistor and extends the Ifritidofhis
from about 80to 35 B.C.
lfWacholder is correct in his revised dating for Alexander Polyhistor, then the
support for Walter's hypothesis disappears and thereby casts doubt upou the hypothesis
a whole. The simpler theory still remains that Josephus and Clement independently
upon Alexander Polyhistor's On rhe Jews-perhaps on his chronological summary-fo\,
their reference and that the updated reference to the Roman consuls comes from him;
Provenance
It is probable that all five fragments ofEupolemus derive from the single work On
Kings in Judea. In the fragments and perhaps in the work itself, Eupolemus passes
quickly overthe earlyperiodofJewishhistory from Moses throughthe periodofthe
The kings from David to the exile are then treated more extensively. Becauseof
itseems likelythat the workconcluded with the fall Qfthe Judean monarchy. in which
the tinal fragment must be consideredas simply achronological appendage. However.
possible. if the chronographical note be considered an integral part of the work,
Eupolemus continued his treatise into his own, Seleucidera.'
For his material. Eupolemus has drawn especially upon the biblical accounts of
constructionofthe Temple in I Kings5-8and 2Chronicles 2-5. In his work, he has
more closely upon Chronicles than Kings. This preference is indicated by the agreement
wording between the blessing in Praeparatio Evangelica 9.34 and the Septuagint.of
Chronicles 2:II and by Eupolemus' use ofincidentsonlyrecounted in Chronicles, e.g.
the place for the altar was pointed out by an angel (IChr 21:18) and that David could
build the Temple because ofhis involvement in warfare (lChr 28:3).
Itis also clear that Eupolemus used the Septuagint for his work and thus that his book.
originallycomposed inGreek. Thisconclusion is show!! !o be correctby theagreement
in wording with the Septuagintof2Chronicles 2:II.mentionedabove, by the use ofproper
names in their Septuagint fonn (e.g. Jesous, Naue. Samouel) , and by the use oftechnical
terms that are found in the Septuagint for the Temple vessels (e.g. skene tou martyriou,
louter elul/kous). In addition, Eupolemus has also used the Hebrew text. as his rendering
ofthe nameHiramindicates. Thatnameappears Souron,whichdiffersfromtheSeptuagint
Chiram and derives from the Hebrew text's Eupolemus' use ofthe Hebrew text is
'Further. Waller notes the poem of Philo Ille Elder in AI...nder Polyhistor. II is heUeniSlic epic poem inwhich
one would nonnally nOl expect liSis and daleS ofkings. However. in the passage in tbe Slrom. Clement contrasts the
prose chronographic ""count< of Demeuius willl the disagreements in Philo and Eupolemus. Eupolemus then clearly
has a chronographic accoun!. Thus. he concludes tha' Illis Philo is IlOI the same as the epic poe. of lost prose
historical work
"I Wacholder. F.UpOJf'm.ll.{, p. 6
further indicated by his tranSlation of tenns that the Septuagint has merely tranSliterated
(e.g. LXX 2Chr3:16serserolh: Eupolemus IullusidOtoi).'
Inthe final fragment. the timefrom Adam and Moses is tabulated up to the fifth yearof
the reign ofDemetrius. Intended is the Seleucid king Demetrius I Soter (162-150 B.C.).
whose fifth regnalyearis thus 15817 B.C. The fragment thencorrelates the fifth regnal year
ofDemetrius with the twelfth year ofthe reign ofPtolemy. Intended here is Ptolemy VU
Euergetes UPhyseon. who began his rule in 170 B.C.
9
Ifthe work was composed in 15817
B.C., this referenceto Ptolemy mustbealateraddition for the following reasons,10 Ptolemy
VII began hls rule ascoregentwithhis brotherbut was sentshortly thereafter to Cyrene to
rule over that area. In 145 B.C. he returned to ruleoverallofEgypt. Only after his return
10 power were his regnal years. including the interVening years. computed from 170 B.C.
His twelfth year would thus be 15918 B.C., whichdoes not coincide precisely with the fifth
year ofDemetrius. It had previously been suggested by scholars that Demetrius UNicator
(145-139B.C.) was the intendedruler. Thatsuggestion. however, is impossible sincethere
Is no Ptolemy whose twelfth yearofreign will match the fifth yearofDemetrius U.
Presumably, therefore, the date ofcomposition is 15817 B,C. Since the authorhas dated
his work by reference to the Seleucids rather than the PtoleOOes and since the author has
the Hebrew as well as the Septuagint texts, the place ofcomposition was probably
..... rather than Egypt. Further, a Palestinian provenance makes more likely the
1lypoIhesis that the author, Eupolemus. is to be identified with the ambassador of Judas
MaccabeustoRome. who is mentioned in I Maccabees 8:17f. and 2Maccabees4:II.The
place are appropriate, and a member ofa priestly family who functioned as an
ambassador would be acquainted with Greek."
Ifthe identificationbetweentheauthorandtheambassadorbeaccepted.thenthefragments
Eupolemuscome fromonewho wascloseto the Maccabees and whowas yetconversant
illGreek. Possibly he is directly or indireCtly behind I Maccabees 8. In any case, he is
ilIterested in portrayingthegloryoftheJewish people. In contraSt withthebiblicalaccount,
presents Hiram. the king not only ofTyre but also ofSidon and.Phoenicia, as subject
David, and the king of Israel as on a level of parity with the Pharaoh of Egypt. In
Mdition. Eupolemus has magnified the splendorofthe Temple in terms ofits adornment
cost. Becauseofthe jjOOted naMeofthe fragments, only afew theological features of
ork are clearly visible, i.e. the Temple and its cult and also the significance of the
t1 Eupolemus survives. then. as the oldest hellenistic Jewish historian. whose writing
to presentthe Greek reading public with a short history of the Jewish people. The
Work probably served inner Jewish needs in the period after Antiochus IV as much as. if
not more than. any distinctive missionary orapologetic purpose.n
'l'Ieudenthai. Al<JUJIIder Polyhistor. pp. 106-14, 119-20; l.Giblet. L'Hi5loriograpltiedu Judaism<
Hellenistique." ETL 39(1963) 541f.
Freudenthal. Me:mruhr Polyhi,ror. pp. 124.
\0 A. von GutsChmid. Kleille Sellrif'en (Leipzig. 1890) pp. 191-94;WKholder. Eupo/emus. pp. 41-43.
1\ Freudenthal, AI,..aruhr Polyhislor. p. 121; Schum. Hisrory. p. 204: Wacholder, Eupolemus. pp. 1-22.
11 P. Dalber1, Die Theologie der helle.iSlisch.jiJdischen Missio1l$lirerarur IUIler Au.udrlllSs von Philo WId JQsephru
(Hamburg- Votksdorf, 1954).pp.36-42). Dalben.however.underestima"" !he significanceoftheLawfor Eupo\emus;
see Wacholder. Eupolemus. pp. 83-85.
"See V. Tcherikover. "Jewish Apologetic Uleranm, Reccnsidered." Eo. 4& (1953) 169-93; N. Waller. "Friibe
Ilegegnungen twiscbenjftdiscbemGlaubenundheUeniSliscberBildungin Alexandrien.Ntue Beitrage tur G.sdriclll.
der AI"n W.I, (Berlin. 19(4) pp. 361-18; M. Hengel. "Anonymitiil. Pseudepigraphie. und Lilerariscbe Fllschung
in clef jildiscb-bellenistischen Ulerftltll," P<eUtkpigrapha I (Entretiens sur I'AnLiquiu! Classique 18; Vandoeuvres
{leno!'. 191111'1' 219-32'1.
SELECTBIBLIOGRAPHY
Charlesworth, PMR. pp. 107f.
Delling, Bibliographie. pp. 53-55.
Denis, Introduction, pp. 252-55.
Clemens Alexandrinus. Werke. eds. Stiihlin, O. and Fruechtel, L. GCS 52(15); Berlin,
1960.' (The critical edition for Clement.)
Dalbert.P. Die Theologle der helienistisch-jtidischen Missionsliteratur unJer Ausschluss
Philo und Josephus. Hamburg-Volksdorf. 1954. (Adds to the study ofFreudentJ-uil
specific focus on the theology present in the fragments.)
Denis, A.-M. Fragmema pseudepigraphorum quae supersunt graeca. PVTG 3;
1970; pp. 179-86. (A convenientcollectionofthe fragments.)
Eusebius. Werke; Band 8:Die Praeparatio Evangelica. ed. K. Mras. GCS 43.1-2;
1954-56. (The criticaledition for Eusebius.)
Freudenthal, J. Hellenistische Studien J-Z: Alexonder Polyhistor. Breslau.
classicstudyofEupolemus.whichdemonstratesthatEupoJemuswtlSalewish-helleni.t
historian.)
Giblet, J. et L'Historiographie du JUdaisme Hellenistique,"
539-54. (A study that summarizes the discussion up to that point.)
Gutmann. J. The Beginnings of Jewish-Hellenistic Literature. Jerusalem, 1958.
(Incorporatesthe more recent studies.)
Gutschmid, A. von. Kleine Schriften. Leipzig. 1890. (Important study ofthe chronologicaf
references in the final fragment.)
Jacoby, F. Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker. Leiden. 1958; vol. 3C, part 2.
723, pp. 671-78. (Convenient, critical collectionofthe fragments ofEupolemus.)
Schtirer. E. Hislory.2 Div. 2, vol. 3,pp. 203-6.(Drawsupon Freudenthal butalso
references to the further discussion at the end ofthe nineteenth century.)
Wacholder, B. Z. Eupolemus: AStudy ofJudaeo-Greek Literature. Cincinnati,Ohio.
(This is the first monograph devoted to Eupolemus since the time ofFreudenthal
the only detailed commentary. It represents a significant contribution to the stud
Eupolemus.)
Walter, N. "Eupolemus," JSHRZ 1.2 (1976) 93-108. (An introduction and
translation, which incorporates recent discussion and the author's own
research on EupoJemus.)
TRANSLATION
Fragment 1 Alexander Polyhistor. "On the Jews," in Eusebius, "Praeparatio
Evangelica" 9.26.1.'
26 And concerning Moses the same author (Alexander Polyhistor) further adds
many things.'Ofthese it is worthwhile to hear the following: "AndEupoJemus
b
says that Moses< was the first wise man,d that he first taught the alphabet< to the
Jews, and the Phoenicians received it from the Jews, and the Greeks received it
from tbe Phoenicians, and that Moses first wrote laws
f
for the Jews...
Fragment 2 Alexander Polyhistor, "On the Jews," in Eusebius. "Praeparatio
Evangelica" 9.30.J-34.J8:
130 And Eupolemus' says in a certain "Onthe Prophecy ofElijab"b that Moses
.........1
16 . The testimonia 10 Eupolemusare asfollows.
IMac 8:17f.: "Having chosen Eupolemus S<lft of
John. of the family ofAccos, and Jason son of
Eleazar, Judas sent!hem10 Rome 10 makeatreaty
of friendship and alliance with these people. wbo
wwId sw:elyliftthe yoke romt.w.hoolder<once
they Ullderstood tbIIt the kingdom of the Greeks
WBS ft!ducing Israel10 slavery"(ef. 2Mac4:11 and
Josephus. War 12.10.6. 41S-16). Eusebius. HE
6.13.7: "And be mentionsTadan's book ...and
moreover Philo and Alistobulus and Josephus and
Demetriusand Eupolemus, Jewish writers. in tbIIt
they would show, all of !hem, in writing. thaI
Moses and the Jewish race went back IUrther in
theiroriginsthan the Greek." (tt. J. OuJton; LCL;
Cambridge. M ..... 1973). Josephus. Apion 1.23.
1218 (cf. Eusebiu PrE" 9.42.3): "Demetrius
Phalell!lll. the elder Philo. and Eupolemus lin'
exceplionalintheirIppmlI.imation10 lhe uuth.and
theirerrorsmay be excusedon !hegroundoftheir
inabilily to follOW quiteaccwatelythe meaning of
OW' 1't!COI'ds" (tt. H. St. J. Thackeray; LCL; Cam-
bridge, Mass.. 1966).
b. This fragment is also preserved in Clement
ofAlexandria. Slrom 1.153.4. wbere the book of
Eupolemus is entided: 0" ,h. Kings i" Judea.
C1emenl writes as follows: "Eupolemusin 'On the
Kingsin Judaca' saysthai Mooes was the first wise
man and thaI be fusI taught gl1lllUll8f 10 the Jews
and tbIIt from the Jews the Phoenicians (receiyed
il)."
c. In COIIIntSI with those who acclaim Enoch
(e.g. Jub 4: 17-20) or AbrahillIl (e.g. Ps-Eup) as
thedisooyeterofwritingorastronomy. Eupolemus
choooeo Mooes. Perhaps the choice of Moses as
inventor of ...rililll! is prompted by the desire to
emphasize the nalion. as the tide of Eupolemus'
wort would suggest. For lbe hypothesis. which is
difficult 10 establish. thai Eupolemus is here de-
pendentuponH""ataeusofAbdera.seeWacholder.
pp. as-96; for Moses in pagan liter-
atwe. see J, G..... ill GrtUCO-Rommr
Paganism (SBLMS; Missoula. Mont.. 1972).
d. Eupolemus asseno thai Mooes was !he first
sage. Inmalting this assertion Eupolemus uses the
typical theme ofthe "fusIinventor".ofbellenislic
history wrililll!. M. Hengel thatlhe intention
ofthis theme was "10 aemonSlnlte the great age
and at thesamelime the superiorityofthe national
wisdomoverasainstthlllofGreece":Judaislfl onJ
(Philadelphia, 1974) p. 129; cf. alsopp.
90-92.95.
e. Rather than gratrlJlUjlfJ (alphabet). Clement
of AleXlllldria has the variant gr_.iki (script
or grammar). Contnuy 10 claims in antiquity 101'
Egypt, Phoenicia(e.g. HerodOlUs 5.58),orGreece
astheoriginofthealphabet.Eupolemus proclaims
Mose. as the originator ofthe alphabet and thus
the fOORder ofcivilization. He thereby also estab-
lishes the antiquity of the Jewish race and the
superiority ofilS national wisdom. On the origin
ofthe alphabet. see now P. Kyle McCaner,
Anliltuity of ,he Alphabet aNi Early
Phoenician Scripts (Harvard Semitic Monographs
9; Missoula. Monl. 1975).
f. By the IemI "laws" the Torah is inlended.
The pluralmay beanacoommodalion10 Gk. ideas.
ThatMoseswroIelawsis 10 betakenin conjWlCtioo
withtheclaimtbalbe is thefusI wise man and !he
Ie8Cberof the alphabet. sincein Gk. lore!heseven
wiJ;e menwerealso lawgivers. SeeOiogenesI..aer-
!ius lAO; WIIChoIder. EupoInruu. pp. 7(",,85.
f'raameat 1
30 a. The parallel tothispassageinS.rom I.130.3
is merely averybriefsummary. Cementwrites as
fOllow.: "AlexandercalledPolyhlstorinthewriling
'On the Jews' has recorded certain lellers ofSol-
omon to Vaphresthe king ofEgyptandtothe king
of Phoenicia and the Tyrians and !heir IeItel'S to
Solomon. According to these lelte", Vaphres is
shown to have senteightythousand Egyptian men
10 him for !he building of the Temple. and the
other (king) to have sent equal numbers with a
TyJian ""'hi"""from aJewish modJer ofthe tribe
of David; as il is wrillen there. 'Hyperon is the
name.' The lextappears tobeCOfTUpi in thai the
name David was falsely derived rom the name
Dan and in thaI !he name Hyperon ...as falsely
undersloodrom theclause"whateveryouaskhim
about" (hYfHr hmr an aU/on .,OIeslis).
b. The litle here attributed by &sebius 10 the
won.of Eupolemus i.erroneous; thesourceofthe
etTOr i. UlIClear.
prophesied for forty ycars.< Then Joshua the son of Nun prophesied for thirty
years;" he lived one hundred and ten years and pitched the sacred tabernacle in
2Shiloh. Afterthis'Samuel wasprophet. -Thenby the will ofGodSaul was chosen
3by Samuel to be king and died after ruling twenty-one years.'-Then David, his
son,' assumed power. He subdued the Syrians dwelling by the river Euphrates
and in the region of Commagene
h
and the Assyrians in Galadene' and the
Phoenicians; he also foughtagainst theldumaeans, the Ammonites, the Moabites,
4 the lturaeans. the Nabataeansi and the Nabdaeans; -hefurther waged waragainst
Souron,1 the kingofTYl'e and Phoenicia; and he compelled them topay tribute to
stheJews. WithVaphres.
m
thekingofEgypt, hemadeatreatyoffriendship. -Since
David wanted to build II temple for God, he asked God to show him a place for
250m 24
the altar. Thenan angel appeared tohim standing above the place where the altar lChr21
is set up in Jerusalemn and ordered him not to set up the temple, betause hewas
defiled with human blood and had waged war for many years." His name was
IChr 22:8
6Dianathan.
p
-He gave him a command that he should entrust the building to his
son but that he should get ready the materials suitable for the construction: gold,
7 silver. bronze, stones, cypress and cedar trees.q - After hearing this, David built
ships in Elana.' a city ofArabia, and sent miners to the island ofUrpbe,' which
lies in the Red Sea and gold mines. From there the miners transported the
,
..
c. The nlllllber comes from the fony ye81S 11181
k. The Nabdaeans are not otherwise attested.
the Hebrewswandered in thedesen underhim; see
They may be either an erroneous doublet of the
Naba!eansortheymay be identicalwithtbe inhab-
e.g. Deul 29:5.
d. See josh24:29; 14:1; Nwn 14:30-34fur!he
derivationofthethinyyears.
itants ofNadabath. acity in the Tmnsjordan area
(IMac9:37).orwiththeZabadeans.tbeinhabilants
e. The phrase may derivefromAlexanderPoly-
of a town in !he area either of Apamea or of
histor and indicate asummation. The omission of
Damascus (lM8I; 12:31).
the period of the Judges is striking. It may be
l. The unusual spelling ofthe name ofHiram
explained by the absence ofsuch a narrative in
indicates a return to !he Hebrew text of 2Chr
EupolemUll. or by its presence but with a chrono-
(1HIrdm: e.g. ;t;II) rather than the use ofthe LXX
logical summary which is being quoted by Alex.
(Chiram). Hiram is here made !he king nOi only
anderPolyhistor.orbythereductionof!hen8JTBtive
of Tyre but also of Phoenicia. In contrast with
toachronologicalsummary by AleXander Polyhis-
IKgs05: IS. whichreportsfrieodshipberweenDavid
tor. InF. 5weshallseethaithereisachronological
andHiram. Eupolemus'statementprobablyre/loots
summ8Iy by Eupolemus and also an addition of
theenmityandpoliticalconHIetbetweenI_I and
chronologicalmaterial by anotherauthor. wbo may
!he Seleucid Empire in his own period.
be Alexander Polyhistor.
m. Theonly known Vaphres isaPharaohofthe
f. The50Urceforthisfigureis unknown;contrast
ISam U:t.
la!er-sixth century BC (HophraIOuophr/:Jer44:
S1:30 LXX). The name may have been chosen
g. The enorin identifying David as Saul's son
becauseof!he assonance with Ph8!1l0b or because
isprobablyduetoamisunderstandingbyAI..ander
of Vaphres' reception ofJewish exiles at tbe fall
Polyhistor. MS 8 has corrected the elror to 5On-
in-law. of jerusalem under !he Babylonians; see Wac-
holder. Eupolemus. pp. 134--39. In any C8lle. !he
h. The biblical record of David's is
fiiendship wilh PIIaraoh probably represents Mac-
found in 2Sam 5:17-25; 8:1-14/IIChr 14:8-17;
cabean sympathies with the Ptolemies rather than
18: 1-13. EupalemUll an8l;bronisricaJly adapts !he
with the Seleucids. against whom they had fought
record in the light ofhis contemporary sening and
in the .second century B.C.
enlarges the limits of the Davidic empire: E.g.
n. In !he biblical account the census by David
Commageneemerges as adistinct slBteonlyin the
results in aplasueand!heappearanceof!heangel
bellenistic period; it Was in the area ofthe upper
ofdeath (Salllfl in Chr) and the indication of!he
Euphrates in eastern Syria 81Id thus was OUtside
place for the a1lll1 by the prophet Gad (25am 241/
the territory ofthe Davidle empire. It is not clear
IChr 21).
whether the enlargement reHeets expansioo8Iy in-
o. This reason is given only in IChr 22:8.
terestsintheMaccabeanperiodorwhetheritreHects
p. The lext appearscorrupt. probablydue tothe
an idealized vision ofthe limits ofIsrael: compare
misundel1llllflding of Alexander Polyhistor. The
Oen 13:14f. and IQapGen 21:11-12. For a dis-
correct reading may have referred to the message
cussionofJewishexpansion in the pre-Hasmonean
(aggelus) sent 10 David through (dia) Nathan (lUI'
andearly-Hasmonean periods.seeV. Tcherikover.
,iIoJf)theprophet. AlexanderPolyhlSlorwouldthen
Hellenisric Civilization and ,''''Jew, (Philadelphia.
19(6)pp. 204-34.
have misundel1ltood aggelos here as referring 10
!heangel whoappearedanddiu nalhan asthename
i. The referent ofGaladene is unciear. It prob-
ofthe angel; compare 2Sam 71/1Chr I7.
ably equals Gilead. aregion of Tmnsjordan.
q. ThatDavid preparedlhematerialsis recorded
j. Thenoticeconcerning!heNabateansisanach-
only in IChr22 and 28f .. but nOl in Kgs.
ronistic: they date from the fifthlfourth century
r. Biblical Elath.
Be
8gold to Judea .After reigning for forty years, David handed over the to
Solomon. his son. who was twelve years old,' in the presence ofEli the high
priest" and the twelve rulers ofthe tribes. He also handed over to him the gold.
silver, bronze, stone. and cypress and cedar trees. Then he died. and Solomon
reigned as king and wrote the following letterto Vaphres the king ofEgypt:
Solomon'sLettertoVaphres
31 King Solomon"to Vaphres King ofEgypt and friend ofmy father. greetings!
KnowthatthroughGodthe MostHighIhave received thekingdomfrom David
my father; hecommanded me tobuild a temple for God, who createdheavenand
earth, and atthe sametime to write to you to send me someofyourpeople, who
willassistmeuntilthecompletionofeverythingrequired.ashasbeencommanded.
Vapbres' LettertoSolomon
32 King Vaphres toSolomonthe Great King,. greetings!
WhenIreadtheletterfromyou,Irejoicedgreatly,andIandallmyadministration
celebratedafeast day in honorofyourreceptionofthe kingdomfrom a man who
was so noble and approved by sogreata God.
Now, concerning what you wrote to me. i.e. concerning the matter of our
people, I am sending to you eighty thousand menand Ihereby make known to
you their number and pl4ce of origin:" from the Sethroitic nome" ten thousand
men; from the MendesianandSebunniticnomestwenty thousandmen each;"from
theBousiritic,Leontopolitan,andAthribiticnomestenthousandmeneach. Provide
for their necessary food supplies and other needs, that their pay be regular, and
that they return to theirown country as soon as they are finished with the task.
Solomon'sLettertoSounm
33 King Solomon to Souron the King ofTyre and Sidon and Phoenicia, friend
ofmy father, greetings!
Know that throughGodthe MostHighIhavereceivedthekingdomfrom David
my father; he commanded me to build a temple for God, whocreated heaven and
earth. andatthe same time to write to you to send me someofyourpeople. who
s. BiblicalOphir. Eupolemus hIlS attributed this aementofAlexandria,5,rom 1.130.3summarizes
event 10 David rather than 10 Solomon: OOIItrast !he content of !he two excbanges of letters 8lId
IKgs 9:26-281I2Chr8:17-/8. names Alexander PoIyhi5lor. but IlOl Eupolemus.
t. See IChr 22:S and 29:I. where Solomon is as his soun:e.
l:OIISidered as young; LXX IKJS 2:12 makes !be
agetwelveyears. According10 josephus,AlITa.7,8 Vip,,",,'LeItertoSGIoonoo
be was fourteen years old. IIa. Whereas Solomon 8I;knowledges Vaphres
u. It is anachronistic 10 place Eli. !he priest of andS- 115 kings, they aeknowledge himas !he
Shiloh (see ISam 1-4). with Solomon. Zadok i. Grell King 8lId tlw:reby implicitly as in lite class
!he high priest under Solomon (lChr 29:22). The ofworld emperors. See also34.I.
change may stem from Alexander PoIyhislOr or. b. VaphresandSouron(34.I)eachsendseighty
more likely. from Eupolemus. The motivation for thousand for a total of one huOOred and sixty
!hechange by Eupolemus is IlOlentirelyclear. He thousand men. EupolemWl has rounded off !he
may have wanted to suppott the priestly clan that numbert given in IKgs $;28-29(one hun<lred and
WII5 desceaded from Ithamar and thai was a rival fifty-three thousand) or in 2Chr 2: 16-17 (one
10!heZadokites.whoweredescendedfromElecar. huodred and fifty-three thousand six huodred).
Or he may have wanted to slight the Zadokiles. c. The text has been emended by !he insenion
who were considered defiled becaWle of!heir c0- oran extra toi before <X IWn 10 give !he reading
operation with the Syrian kings; see. for example. ,""ir nlUllber and phue of origin.
2Mac 4:7-5:17 8lId Wacholder. EupoiemllJ, pp. d. The text is corrupt and nc<!ds to be emendeci
15HS. in !he of!he SeIhrollic (for Sebrithitic) and
Athribitic (for Bathrithilic 8lId similar v&rialions)
LeIterto V8phns nornes. When !he text is thus emended. all !he
IIa. The letler is composed by Eupalemu! and nomos fall within !he Nile Delta.
based on Solomon's letter to Hiram of Tyre in e. The larger number from the Meodesian and
IKgs $:2-6. The letterfollows !heconventionsof Sebunnitic noroes may. derive from !heir strategic
bellenlsricepiSlOlogtaphy. On Vaphm.seeaho.e. and economic impottan<:e; see Herodotus 2.17.
will als,) us until the ofliod s requirement. just as I have been
commanded.
Ihave also written to GaMee, Samaria,' Moab, Ammon."and Gilead to furnish
them with the necessary food supplies from the land. each month' ten thousand
cors ofgrain (the cor is six artabae) and ten thousand cors ofwine (the cor of
wine is ten measures).d Theiroil and their other necessities will be furnished for
them from Judea, and cattle to be slaughtered for theirmeat supply from Arabia.
Souron'sLetter to Solomon
34 Souron to Solomon the Great King. greetings!
Praised be the God. who created heaven and earth and who chose a noble
person. the son ofa noble man. As soon as Iread the leiterfrom YOIl, I rejok.ed
and praised God for your reception ofthe kingdom.
Now, concerning what YOIl write to me. concerning the matter ofourpeople,
I am sending to you eighty thousand Tyrians and Phoenicians, alld I am sending
to you an architect. aman from Tyre born ofa motherfrom Judea, from the tribe
ofDan.'Anything under heaven that you ask him aboutconcerning architecture,
he will show you and do. Concerning the necessary food supplies oftheservants
sent to you. you will do well if you write the local governors to furniY' the
necessary food supplies.
1 When Solomon with his father's friends' came to Mount Lebanon with the
Sidonians and Tyrians, he brought back by.sea to Joppa the trees previously cut
by his father!and from there by land to Jerusalem. He began to build the Temple
ofGod in his thirteenth year.' The previously mentioned peoples were working.
and the twelve tribes of the JewsL-Qne tribe each month--provided all the
Solomon's Leiter10 Souron
33 a. The names Galilee and Samaria. by which
these tenitories were laler known. are anachro
nistically given 10 lhe tenitories at lhe time of
Solomon.
b. MoabandAmmonarehere treated merelyas
parts of the Solomonie empire. In hislo!),. both
Moab and Ammon were separate kingdoms with
!heirown kings. They were vasselsofIsrael rather
than simply partsoftheempire(2Sam 8:2; 12:26-
31).
c. In IKgs 5;II the supplies are provided an-
nuaUy but in Eupolemus monthly. Since in IKgs
5:25thenumberofcorsofwheatistwentymousand
peryearbut in Eupolemusten Ihousand permonth.
there is a .i.fold discrepancy. The increase is
probably due toIhe desire ofEupolemus10 ponray
the munificence ofSolomon.
d, The cor is a Hebrew measure. whereas the
anab.is ameasure introduced by the Persians and
subsequently used in Ptolemaic Egypt and also in
Palesline (see Josephus. Am 11.1.3. I(;: 12.3.3.
l4O; the cor is appro.imately 3.8 to 6.5 bushels;
the Persian artabaequalsapproximately It3bushels
and the helleni.ticanab.alinleless). The measure
is ahellenislicunil equivalenttoapprodmately8-
I() gallons; see IDB. vol. 4. pp. 834f .. and Wac
holder. upole",UJ. pp. 166-67.
Souro.5Lener10 Solomon
34 a. See IKg. 7: 13f.. where the woman is from
the tribe of Naphtali. and 2Cbr 2:13-14. where
she is from the tribe of Dan. The leM has been
emended from David to Dan in accord wilh 2Chr
2: I3f. andthe suggestionofFneudenlhal.Theerror
arose from confu.ion oflhe name Dan (dan) wilh
the abbrevialion for David (dad). Clement of AI-
e..ndria. Slrom 1.130.3 records the same error.
which may derive from AIe.ander Polyhislor (see
n. 30a for the translation of lhe passage). In
addition. through amisunderstandingorcOITlIption
ofthe following phrase. Clemenl gives his name
as Hyperon.
b. TheMSSread"and!heservants"ratherIban
"of!he servants." Preudenthal has suggested the
emendation.
c. The phrase "his father's friends" probably
means his father's COUrt; the wording here is still
unclearandmayintend10 speal< about"theservants
sen! by his father's frieuds", see Walter. JSHRZ
1.2 (1976) 103.
d. In 30.6-8EupolemusdiscussesDavid'scut
tingoflhetreeS.See IKgs5:17-32.whereSolomon
arranges !he cutting of Ibe trees. and IChr 22:1-
5. where David prepares Ibe malerials for !he
Temple. Fneudenlbal. Aiuondtr Poiyhislor. p.
114. suggests that Eupolemus has reconciled the
two passages; bUI see Wacholder. upoie",us. pp.
171f., who interprelS !he change as part of Ibe
tendency oflater tl'adilion 10exalt David.
e. IKgs 6:I and 2Chr3;2 indicatethat Solomon
began to build theTemplein the fourth yearofhis
reign. i.e, when he wassixteen. Thealterationmay
be due to thedesire to showSolomon as beginning
as soon as he reached the age of majorilY. or it
may be due to the contlption of !he texl from iz 10
i8
f. In orderto reacha smoolherreading. the text
is emended 10 omit the "and"(kai) before "pro-
vide"(porechein). Thus the lext agrees with 2Chr
2:17-18 that the Israelites merely provided Ibe
supplies and against IKgs 5:27-28 Ibat they also
worked.
necessary food supplies to the one hundred ami sixty thousand men. He laid the
foundations ofthe sanctuary ofGod (sixty cubits in length. sixty cubits in width;' ttt6-7
and the width ofthe structure" and its foundations ten cubits). for thus Nathanthe 2C 3-5
1prophet ofGod commanded him. -He built alternately a course ofstone and a
bonding ofcypress'and fastened the two courses with bronze clamps. a talent in
weight. After building it thus, he covered the inside with cedarand cypresswood 6o".t8
so that the stone building was not visible. He then overlaid the sanctuary with loS
gold on the inside by piling upj golden sheets five cubits in size. and he affixed
them by nailing them with silvernails. each a talent in weight and in the fonn of
abreastand four in number"
4 Thus he overlaid it with gold from the floor to the ceiling;' and he made the
ceiling from golden coffered work, and the roofhe made ofbronze from bronze
tiles afterhaving rnelte.d bronze and poured this (into molds).m Healso made two
bronzepillarsand overlaidthemwith puregold.alingerinthickness."-Thepillars
were as tall as the sanctuary. and each pillarwas ten cubits in circumference. He
stood them one on the right ofthe House (i.e. the Temple) and one on the left.
He also made ten golden lampstands, each weighing ten talents;" he took as a
model the lampstand placed by Moses in the tent ofwitnessing.
p
He stood them
600 each side ofthe sacred enclosure. some on the right. some on the left. -He
also made seventy golden lamps so that seven mighl bum upon each lampstand.
He also built the gates oftheTemple and adorned them with gold and silver and 6;31-35
7covered them with coffered work ofcedarand cypress. He also made a portico 4:22
on the northern side of the Temple. and supported it with forty-eight bronze
pillars.q He also fashioned a bronze laver, twenty cubits in length. twenty cubits
in width. and five cubits in height. He also made abrim upon it. which extended
outward one cubit overthe base for the priests 10 stand upon and bathe their feet
and wash their hands. He also made the twelve legs ofthe laver ofcast metal'
and ofthe height ofa man; and he stood Ihemat the back endunder the laver. at
8the right ofthe altarofsacrilice.He also made a bronze platform two cubits in
g. ThebiblicalaccountrerordsthaIthesancwary
was sixty cubilS in length and twenty cubits in
width;see lKg" 6:2 and 2Cbr 3:3. Eua6:3 refen
10 width ofsixly cubits for the Second Temple;
however. !he passage is probably corrupt. In his
descriplion Eupolemus mayre!lee::! some aspectsof
!he Second Temple as well as !he Solomonie
Temple. For elUUDple. his omission of!he porch
and the Holy of Holies may be due to !he lesser
significance Ibal he anaches to !he porch and 10
!he faCl thaI in !he Second Temple !he Holy of
Holies was separated simply by a veiL See Mm.
GCS 43,I. p. 542. n. I. and Wachokler. Eupok-
....... pp. 174-77.
h. The lerm oikodomt here refers to !he width
of the walls (see Mras. GCS 43.1. p. 542. n. 3.
and Wacholder,Eupolemus. pp. 175f.)rather!han
10 !he porch (Th. A. Businit, Der Tempel von
J.rusalem [Leiden. 1970) voL I. p. 27. n. 1(9).
i. Neither Kg. nor Chr refers 10 layers in !he
wall of the Temple: 1Kgs 6:36 and 7: 12 refer 10
!he innercourt. Eupolemusmay here re!lect 2Ezra
6:25. when: Ibe wall iscomposedofthree courses
ofstoneand onecourseoftimber.especially since
Eupolemus and 2Eua both use for "course" lhe
same term. tiomDs. rather !han srye/toS of I Kgs
7:12.
j. FreudenthalemendsclWnnuma ("pilingup")
10 chOn.UOIIIO ("casting").
k. See IKgs 6:19f. and 2Cbr3:8f .. where only
!heHolyofHoliesisgilded. It is notclearwhether
Eupolemus intends !heentire sanctUary orjust!he
Holy of Holies. The reference 10 nails of silver
may derive from lhe tabernacle in Ex 26:32.
l. IKgs 6:IS mentions only !he wood paneling
of !heTemple walls. whereas 2Cbr3:S-7 refersto
!he gold overlay0/1 the wood paneling.
m. The roof is nol described in !he biblical
accounts. The descriplion may derive from !he
SecondTemple.
n. See lKgs 7:1S-22 and 2Chr 3:IS-17 Only
in Eupolemus an: the pillars overlaid with gold.
whichadditioncomesfromhistendencyto magnify
!hesplendorof Solomon'sTemple.
o. The Iexl is emended in accord with Mm.
GCS43.1.p. 542. from "!lIIent"10 "lentalenlS."
Akemately. one could emend !he lexl from "tal
enlS"to"talenl"andtend: tengoldeniampstands.
eachweighinga talent.
p. Thistent is the 'I!/tflmBtd ofEx 27:21.elC.
On the lampstand see Ex 2S:31-4O; IKgs 7:49;
2Cbr4:7. Eupolemusalone ref ....xplicitlr to !he
Mosaic authorilY
q. Thereisnoporticoin IKgsor2Chr.However.
the LXX of IKgs 7:31 refers10 fonyeighl piliars.
andavariantofLXX IKgs 7:40refentoa portico.
Cf.!heeasternportieoof!helater.HerodianTemple
in Josephus. Wo, 5 . .5.1, 185. and Ani 20.97.
220-2\.
r. Freudenthal. AlexaNkr Polyhislo,. p. 211.
emendsloreN/as ciWnellias ("castmetal")10lau
rOlLf chOneUlolIS. i.e. "castoxen." in accord with
2Cbr4:3 LXX. However. Mras retains!hereading
of!he MSS. Cf. IKgs 7:23-39; 2Cbr 4:2-{): and
also Ex 30:17-21.
heIght near the laver for the king to stand upon whenever he prays so that he
might be visible to the Jewish people. He also built the altar ofsacrifice twenty
2Chr 6:13
9cubits' by twenty cubits and twelve cubits in height. oHe also made two bronze
rings wrought like chains'andstood them upon stands,which weretwenty cubits
in height abovethe sanctuary, and theycasta shadow overthe entireTemple. He
hung upon each network four hundred bronze bells, a talent in weight, and he
made all the networks in ordertoringthebells andscareaway the birds thatthey
might not settle upon the Temple or build a nest upon the coffered works ofthe
gates and porticoes and defile the Templewith theirexcrement.
o He also encircled Jerusalem as a city with walls and towers and trenches, and
,hebuiltapalaceforhimself. Theshrinewasfirstcalledthe "TempleofSolomon"
l
lC
ct
3
,!jt'-t2
(hieron SolomOnos). Later, corruptly the city was named from the Temple
"Jemsalem" (.':icrusaltm); and by thc Greeks it is correspondingly called
"Hierosolyma.'"
l Mterhaving completed the Temple and enclosed the city with walls, he went
to Shiloh"'andoffereda sacrifice toGod, a thousandoxenas aholocaust. Healso
took the tent and the altar ofsacrifice and the vessels, which Moses had made,
and broughtthem intoJerusalem and placedthem inthe House (Le. the Temple).
J He also placed therethe ark' and thegolden altarandthe lampstandandthe table
andthe othervessels, asthe prophetcommanded him. Healso broughtto
innumerable sacrifice, (including) two thousand sheep, (and) three thousand five
IICpS:'
hundred oxen.
20It1:6
4 Theentireamountofgold, whichwasusedforthetwopillarsandthesanctwuy,
was four million, six hundred thousand talents;Y ofsilver for the nails and the
otherornament a thousand, two hundred and thirty-two talen18; ofbronze for the
columns and the laver and the portico eighteen thousand, five hundred talents.
sSolomonalsosentbackboththe Egyptians andthePhoenicians,eachtotheirown
6country, and gave to each man ten golden shekels (the talent is a shekel).' oTo
VaphresthekingofEgypthesenttenthousandmeasuresofoil, athousandartabae
ofdates, onehundred barrelsofhoneyandspices;andforSouronhe senttoTyre
the golden column, which is set upin Tyre in the templeofZeUS.ol
s_ Emended from twenty-live cubit' in accord
x. Eupolemusseems 10 indicate asecondmove
with2Chr4:I. Itis alsopossiblethaithedimensions
in this sentence, probablysinceinScripture David
ofthe altarcomefrom multiplyingby four the size
had already moved the art from the shrine; see
ofthe altar in E.27:1-2.
2Sam 6:2; 1Kgs S:3f.; 2Chr 1:3f.
Ie The wording in the Gk_ is noc clear at this
y- UI_, Eupolemus says four hundn:od and
point Itseems to indicate two circular pieces of
sixty "myriads" oftalents(8 myriad isequivalenl
nOlWoriL Theobject heredescribed is no!reported
10 ten thousand)_ See Ex 38:24-31; IChr 22:14;
in Scripture (but see the pillars and their capitals
29:4, 7_ Walter, JSHRZ 1_2 (I976) 103, suggests
in IKgs7:17 and2Chr4:12L). However.Josephus,
dw.. myriads" should be omittedfrom the texl10
in War 5.5.6, 224, describes the presence of
achieve 8 more reasonable amount Howe""r, as
spikesontheroofofthe Herodian Temple10 scare
Wacholder proposes (Eupo/emus. pp. 214f.), the
away birds; seealso M_ Middo/4:6. IfD_ Sperber
innatril number is in accOrd with the tendency of
is in his analysisofacoin from the period
Eupolemus10maximizethe splendorofSolomoll'.
of Antigonus Mattathias (40-37 BC). lhe Second
Temple,
Temple also had this row ofspikes; see Sperber.
z. '!be equation of a talenl and a shekel is
.. A Note on a Coin of Antigonus Mattathias,"
errooeoos; there were three thousand six hundred
lQR 54(1%4)2SI-S7.
shekels 10 lhe talent.
u. Compare the ",.lWnlJ, (LXX m.cIt6n",h) of
81_ In IKgsS:2Sf. Solomon provideswhealand
IKgs 7:27, which are the bronze stands for the
oil for Hiram,the king ofTyre. ralherthan for the
lavers,
king of Egypt, as Supolemus stares. The rather
v_See the similar etymological discussions in
n:mrubblesentenceconcerninglhegoldencolumn
Josephus, War 6,10.3,438:AIII 7.3.2,67;Apioll
serves10 undencorefurtherthewealthofSolomon.
1.22, IR
Onthegoldenpllar,seeHerodotus2.44;Josephus.
w. Contrary 10 IKgs 3:4L and 2Chr 1:3L,
Apjqn 1.18, 118; and!hequotationfrom Theopb-
Eupolemus maintains thaI Shiloh and not Gibeon
iIus in!he following n.
was the site ofthe tent
Fragment3 AleXilnder Polyhistor, "On the Jews," in Euse/Jius. "Praepamiru
Evangelica" 9.34.20:
34.20 Eupolemus"saysthat Solomonalsomadeathousandgoldenshields,each
oneofwhich was in the weight offive hundred gold shekels. He lived fiftytwo
years, forty years ofwhich he was king in peace.'
Fragment4 AlexanderPolyhislor. "On theJews," in Eusebius. "Praeparatio
Evangeuca" 9.39.2-5:
239 Then Jonachim (became king).' During his reign Jeremiah the prophet
prophesied. Sent by God, he caught the Jews sacrificing to a golden idol, whose
l namewasBaal.Hedisclosedtothemthecomingmisfortune. Jonachim attempted
to bumhimalive, buthe saidthat, withthis wood, as captivestheywouldprepare
4food for the Babylonians, anddig the canalsoftheTigrisand Euphrates.b When
Nebuchadnezzar the king ofthe Babylonians heard the predictions ofJeremiah,
'heexhorted Astibares< the king ofthe Medes tojoin him in an expedition. 'He
associated with himselfBabylonians and Medes and gathered together a force of
one hundred and eighty thousandfootsoldiers, one hundred and twenty thousand
cavalry, and ten thousand chariots for foot soldiers. First, he subdued Samaria
and Galilee and SCYlhopolis and the Jews living in Gilead.
d
Then he seized
Jerusalem and captured Jonachim the king of the Jews. He took as tribute the
gold and silver and bronze in the Temple and sent them to Babylon, except for
theark andthe tablets in it. This Jeremiah preserved.'
FrqmentS Clementof ll.iexandria, "Stromata" 114/.4:
141.4 Further,' Eupolemus also says in a similar treatisethat alllheyearsfrom
Adam to the fifth year of the reign of Demetrius
b
(while Ptolemy< was in his
f'rqrMftt3 Walter. lSHRZ 1.2 (1976) 107. and Wacholder.
34.20 a_ This fragmenl probably followed imme Eupo/emus. pp. 230-34.
diately upon F_ 2_ Alexander PolyhislOf has imer d. The details of Ihe campaign are fictional:
ruplA>d the sequeroce 10 introduce abriefqUOlBtJon contrast 2Kgs24: 2Chr 36_ ScylhopoUsis !helater.
from TbeopIIilus which reads as follows: ..And helleni5lic name ofBelhShan (Josh 17:II. 16)
Theophilus says thaI Solomon 1SCnI the remaining e_ This legend is also reported in 2Mac 2:1-10
gold10 thekingoftheTyriansandthathefashioned and in T_ Schermann, ed.. I'ropherarum Vi,,,.
an imageofhisdallghter, afullbodied figure. and (\.;lipzig, 19(7) pp_ lor. See also IMac 4:46;
thaIheplacedthegoldenpillararoundasacovering Josephus. Ani 18,4,1. 8'-87;2Bar6_
for the Slatlle."
b. The wei,hlispresumably inshekels;the le.1 FragmentS
has merely "gold ones." ContraSt I Kgs 10:16f.; 141.4 a_ The contexl of Clemenl of Alexandria,
2Chr 9:ISf.;d.Song 4:4. S,rom 1.14L1-3 is as follows: "Demetrius says
c_ IKg. 11:42 and 2Ou:9:30 report Solomon's in 'On the Kings in Judea' that the lwelve tribes
reign as lastingforty Y"';his life-span i.derived ofJuda. Benjamin and \.;lv; were no!captUred by
from this plus his Iwelve years al his accession <F- $ennacherlbbut dw the lime from this captivily
2,3O.S). unlil the ftnal one from Jerusalem, which Nebu
chadnezzar accomplished. was one hundred and
f'ntpm114 lWenly..,igmyears(and)sixmonths Fromthetime
39 a_ Under the one name Jonachim, which is when the ten tribes from Samariabecamecaptives
probably COlTUpled for Joachim, Eupolemus en unlil Ptolemy IV five hundred and sevenlythree
companes the evenlS dw0\X1tt 10 the final three yean (and) nine months: from the of the
kings ofJudah: Jehoiachim, JehoiBkin. and Zede- captives from Jerusalem three hundred and Ihirty-
kiah (2Kgs 24:1-15:21; 2Chr 36:S-21). eight years (and) three months_
b_ Sen Jer 26; 36_ However. the details of the AndPhilo100hasrecordedlbekings ofllieJews
conniel with Baal, the _mplA>d burning ofJere (but) different from ,Demelrius...
miab, and !he cooking and digging in Babylonia b. Demetrius I Soter. who ruled from 162 10
are all peculiar10 Eupolemus_ 150 B_C. is intended. and therefore the date of
c. Thereilnobiblicalre<;ordoftheparticipalion composition is presumably IS817 8_c Sen the
of the Modes in the desttUCtion of Jerusalem_ Introduction.
Accon:Iing 10 CleSias (Diodorus 2.34_6; Jacoby. c. Ptolemy VII EuergeresIIPhyscon. whoruled
FGH. 688F_').Aslibaresandthen ASpandaswere from 170 10 116 B_C, is meanl, and llierefore the
the lasllwokingsoftheMedes. InHerodotus 1,16. date is 15918 Bc, There is thus an enor ofone
46. 73-75,e1C., however. they are namedCyxares yearin !hesynchronization. However,theref.rence
and AStyges. Forthe possible relalionshipofEu 10 Ptolemy mUSI be a laler addilion ifthe workof
polemus10 Ctc.iaseitherdirec;tlyorindireclly, see Eupolemus was composed in 1'1117 B,C_; see lhe
And Islae!", 'simeun, at 21 ye,;u, and 4 mOll!hs, and Levi, at 20 years and 6
months ofage," rushed out and slew both Hamor and his son Shechem, and all 14 And they were at a loss' WI [0 why Joseph gave Benjamin III breakfast 11 portion
their males, because ofthe defilement ofDinah; andJacob was 107' years old at
Jub 19:5
Gen 41
Gen
5times
b
as much as theirs, since he was not able toconsume so much meat.< He
the time,
had done this because his father had had [six]' sons by Leah, and two by his
10 To resume, When he had come to Lux [which isla Bethel. God said that he was mother, Rachel; therefore, he set five portions before Benjamin, and he himself
no longerto be called Jacob, but IsraeJ.b From that placehe came to Chaphratha,' took one;" accordingly they had (six]d portions, as many as the sons of Leah
and aftcr that to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem, and there he fathered Benjamin; received.
and Rachel died aftergiving birth to Benjamin,d and Jacob lived with her for 23' I'Similarly, while he gave two garments to each, to Benjamin he gave five. and
years,
three hundred pieces ofgold;' and he sent [himl to his father likewise,' so that
II From there, Jacob carne to Marnre, [which is]' Hebron, to his father, Isaac,' his mother's house might be equal to the other.
Joseph was then 17 yearsold,'and he was sold intoEgypt. and remained in prison 16 And they lived in the land ofCanaan from the time when Abraham was chosen
13 years, so that he was then 3{)d years old, And Jacob was 120' years ofage, from among the gentiles and migrated to Canaan: Abraham for 25' years; Isaac,
one year before Isaac's death at 180'years ofage.
6()b years;Jacob, 130'years. All theyears in the landofCanaan were [thus] 215.' E,12:40iLXXI
i:< And having interpreted the lting's dreams, governed Egypt for 7 years, IiAnd in thethirdyearofthe famine in Egypt. Jacobcame into Egyptwhen he was
in which time he marriedAsenath, daughterofPentephres'thepriestofHeliopolis, 130" years old; Reuben, (44 years and 10 months];b Simeon, 44 years; Levi, 43
and begot Manasseh and Ephraim;" and 2 years offamine followed.' years (and 2 months];< Judah, 42 years and [4Jd months; [Dan, 42 years and 4
13 But though Joseph had prospered for 9 years, he did not send for his father. months];" Naphtali, 41 years and 16J( months; Gad, 41 years and [6J' months;
because he was a shepherd. as were Joseph's brothers; and to the Egyptians it is Asher, 40 years and 8 months; [lssachar, 40 years and 8 months];h Zebulun, (39
disgraceful to be a shepherd. That this was the reason why he did not send for years and 10 monthsJ;; Dinah, 39 years; and Benjamin, [22P years old.
k
him, he himself had made clear. For when his relatives carne, he told tf that
,18 But Joseph (he' says) was already there in Egypt, (at ageJ
b
39; and from Adam
etll
if they should be summoned by the king and asked what their occupation was, until Joseph's brothers came into Egypt there were 3624< years; and from the
they should say that they were breeders ofcattle,'
Joseph's sale into Egypl at age 17 (Oen 37:2).
Since he has both Joseph and Dinah as the same
age (cf. PrEv 9.21.5. 8), he art>itrarlly adds 10
years 10 allow {or the events prior to the sale.
According to Jub 30:2, Dinah is 12 year. old al
the time o{ the rape.
b. The ages o{ Dinah. Simeon, and Levi are
reached byadding 10 yean; totheirlast-mentiOned
ages inPrEv9.21,8.
c, Jacob'sageis alsoconsistentwithDemetrius'
chronological schema: 77 years old when he fled
10 Haran. plus 7yearsthere, plus 7yearsofchild.
begetting. plusthe additional(; years requested by
Laban, plus 10 years beside Hamor 107,
10 . The MSS read "LuzofBethel," as ifLuz
is in the region or district of Bethel. LXX Oen
35:6 supports the emendation, as does LXX Josh
18:13 and Jub27:19,26(butcfMTJosh 16:lf.)
Seealson, Ila,
b. FOllowing OTtraditions. Demetrius also has
second version of Jacob', change ofname, in
which God is the actor/speaker (Oen 35;10); cf
PrEy9,21.7andOen 32:24-28.
c. Theword "chaphrath."(kbrt) is hereand in
LXX Oen 35:16 only transliterated (LXX: "and
when he drew near chabralha to come to the land
o{Ephrath"; MT: "andwhen they werestillsome
distance frum Ephrath"). 'The tenn is mistakenly
understood as a place name by Dememus (and
possibly alsothe LXX). insteadofan indicationof
distance as in the Heb.; cf. Jub 32:32, This
circUmstance speaks against Dememus' being fa.
miliar with Heb. orthe Heb, OT,
d, Oen 35:16-19;Jub 32:32-34, 13 a, Demetrius' interest here is to explain th.
c. Jacob'sagewhen he enters Egypt (Oen47:9;
e. That is, Jacob lived with Rachel for 7years. traditionandanswerqueslions that may arise from
cf. PrEy 9.21,17).
during the birthsofthe 12 children (PrEv 9.21.3), it (in this case, why Joseph did nol send for his
d. LXX E. 12:40 gives 430 years for the lime
plus6yearsat Laban'srequest (PrEv9,21.6), plus family earlier and announce his rise to power in
spentin bothEgyptandCan".,,, MT Ex 12:40(ef.
10 years with Hamor (PrEv 9.21.9) 23 years Egypt); cf, Freudenthal. Alexallder PolylUstor. p.
45, Oen 15:13) has 430 years in Egyp! only. Hence
DemetriusisdependentontheLXX. Although215
yearsis allestedbyJosephus,Ani2,318.heellhibil,
divclFnt chronu;ogies cr. l-tnt t.154;
L2.56f.; and 2,187L, yielding 230years. See also
n, IIle.
17 a. Cf. Oen 47:9, In Demetrius' schema, 130
could be confirmed by adding Jacob's last-men-
tioned age, 120 (cf. PrEv 9.2Lll), 7 years of
plenly. and 3 year;; offamine, 'The "U.ird year"
seems 10 be Demetrius' conclusion from Gen45:6
and the events thaI follow.
b. 'The MSS read 45 yean;,
c. 'The MSS read 43 years.
d, The MSS read 2 months.
e, The MSS omit Dan and his age entirely, by
haplography,
f. The MSS read 7 months.
g, The MSS read 3months,
h, The MSS omit ISSachar and his age by
haplography.
i, 'The MSS read 40 years.
j. 'The MSSread 28 years,
k, 'The MSS for the list in PrEy 9,2L17 are
problematic. Although theagesofSimeon. Asher.
and Dinah are correct, some of the fisures are
corrupt. while others appear rounded off. 'The
pallemof10 months betweenbirths, seen in PrEy
9.2U-5,8, is notfollowed, and Danand I .....char
are again missing frum the list. both by homoiote-
ieuton becauseofthe age ofthe preeeding brother
in each case. The emended and reconstructed list
seen in the translation follows Demetrius' own
eSlablishedpatternsandconformstoOTlraditions,
which he carefully followed; cf. Gen 46:8-27.
18 . I.e..Demetrius.
b. 'The MSS erroneously read thaI Joseph wa.
in Egypt for 39 years. which in context is impos
sible, IIis, however. Joseph'sageat!hetime (read
eU!" insleadofeli); cf. SederOlam 2,
c. 'The period of 3624 years agrees with the
LXXsystemofcalculalion;tbeMThas2238years.
II a. The MSS read "Mamre ofHebron." as if
each name refers to a different enlity. But Mamre
- Hebron according to Gen 35:27; Jub 19:5, See
n. lOa.
b. Oen 35:27
c, Oen 37:2,
d, Oen 41:46.
e, In Demetrius' schema, 120years Joseph's
l3'yearimprisonment(PrEv9,21,II),plusJacob's
agealthe timeofDinah'srape. 107 (PrEv9.21.9).
r. 'Oen 35;2Sf. Such an age also accords with
Demetrius' calcUlations: Isaac is 137 when Jacob
leaves for Haran (PrEv 9.21.2), plus Jacob's 7
years with Laban, 7 yean; of child-begelling, 6
additional years with Laban, 10years with Hamor.
13 years of imprisonment - ISO. On the other
hand, it is not clear why the calculation is "one
yearbefore." andthe Oreek is similarlyperplexing
af this poinL
12 a, Oen 41 :45, The pries!'sname varies: LXX,
Petephre; MT. Potiphera; TJos 12: I. Pentephri.
Some LXX cursives parallel Demetrius' speHing;
cf. Josephus. Ant 2,91.
b. Oen 41:50-52, Waller (JSHRZ 3.2 (19751
287), sugges'" that a SUmmary similar 10 Oen
41:4S-49; 42:6. belong. here. as is in fact found
in PrEv9,23.4 amid a F, by Artapanus bUI which
may have had its origins elsewhere. Is the source
Demetrius?
c, Oen 45:6.
14 a. Who is "at loss." Joseph's brothers or
readers of Oen? The Ok, is ambIguous. If the
latter, "to be al loss (85 10 why)" is language
characteristic ofaporia; llli I"seis texts and is to
be rel.1ed to the "someone asked" in F, 5 (PrEv
9.29.I6end),
b. Oen43:34. Jub42:23(, hasBenjaminreceive
7 limes as much,
c, 'The remad !hat Benjamin could no! eat all
that was given 10 him bas no OTbasis,
d, 'The MSS read "7." 'Theemendationto "6"
is supponed by Oen 35:23 (eL Oen46:8-15) and
Demetrius him..,lf (PrEv 9,2LJ-5 and the last
phrase here in 9,21.14), where Leah had only 6
sons. 'The occurrence of7 in the MSS is possibly
the resull ofcorruption, since the abbreviations of
thesenumbersinOk, aresosimilar(soFreudenthal.
AlexanderPoIylUstor. p. 53f.), To maintain "1."
as in Mms's telll (which then emends "one" to
"two" (see nelll n.), is not convincing, Leah had
7children, but Dinah was not senl to Egypt.
e. Thai Ihe MSS read "one"here may confirm
the emendation discussed in the previous n,
15 a. Demetrius. Ilke LXX Oen 45:22, reads
"gold";MTrends "silver."
b. Oen 45:22[,; cf. Jub 43;22, The Ok. here is
ambiguous; it is not clear whether a similar gifl
was given or that Benjamin was sent in a similar
fashion 10 his father,
16 a. This period of time is derived from Oen
12:4. Abraham is 75 years old when he leaves
Haran and is 100 when Isaac is bom (Oen 21:5).
b. lsaac'sage when Jacob is bom (Oen 25:26),
i.e" 137 ( Isaac'. age) minus 77 (= Jacob's
age) = 60. Cf. PrEy9.21.1-2,
that, after he had finished ordermg all things, he: so orders them torall time.
12 For the legislation signifies that in six days he made heaven and earth and all
rhings which are in rhem in order that he might make manifest the times and
foreordain what precedes what with respect toorder. For, having set all things in
order, he maintains and alters them so (in accordance with that order). And the
legislation has shown plainly that the seventh day is legally binding for us as a
signofthe sevenfold principle" which is establishedaround us, by which we have
knowledge ofhuman anddivine matters.
13 And indeed all the cosmos ofall living beings and growing things revolves in
series ofsevens.(Its being called "sabbath" is translated as "rest." And both
Homerand Hesiod, having taken information from ourbooks, sayclearly that the F. 2;4
seventh day is holy. Hesiod (speaks) so:
To begin with, (the) first, (the) fourth and (the) seventh, (each) aholy day;-
And again he says:
And on the seventhday (is) again the bright light ofthe sun.'
14 And Homer speaks so:
And then indeed the seventh day returned. a holy day;i
[and
Then was the holy seventh dayp
and again:
It was the seventhday and on it all things had been completed
k
and:
And on the seventh morning we left the stream ofAcheron.'
I'He (Homer) thereby signifying that away from the forgetfulness and evil ofthe
soul, by means ofthesevenfold principle
m
in accordam:ewith the truth, the things
mentioned before are left behind and we receive knowledge ofthe truth. as has
been said above.'
16 And Linus speaks so:
And on the seventh morning all things were made complete;.
and again:
(The) seventh (day) is ofgood quality and (the) seventh (day) is birth;.
and:
(The) seventh (day) is among the prime (numbers) and (the) seventh (day) is
perfect;
[and}
And all seven (heavenly bodies) have been created in the starry heaven,
Shining in theirorbits in the revolvingyears.
Such then are the remarks ofAristobulus.'
e. Or"asasignorourseventhfaculty, namely.
reason .
r. There are various points or contact berween
F.5:9-13and Oement,Slrotn 6.137-44.
8 Hesiod, apero elDie.. 770.
h. 'The verse is 001 8Itested in the works or
He,iocl; cf. Homer. Iliad 1.605; Hesiocl. Theog
760.958.
i. This Verse is 001 attested in Homer's work.
j. 'The malerill/ in brackets does 001 occur in
PrE. 1l.12. 14; it is cited in 13.13. 34 and by
Clement. SIrotn S.107. 2.
Ie This verse seems 10 be based on Homer.
Odymry 5.262. which reads "the fourth day."
I. This verse Is 001 a!tested but is related 00
Odyuey 10.SI3. 12.1.
m. Or "reason."
n. 'The Greek here is nearly unintelligible.
o. Amythicll/singer.lilteMusaeusandOrpheus.
p. ThisveneisprobablyaJewishcomposition.
q. Or "'The seventh day and the .seventh birth
aregood." Accordingto Philotheseventhday was
the birthdayofthe world (Op 89).
r. Oementcites the same veflleS as F. 5:13-16
in Strom 5.107. 1-108. I and attribules them 10
CaJJimachus.
CHRONOGRAPHY
DEMETRIUS THE CHRONOGRAPHER
(Third Century B.C.)
A NEW TRANSLA nONAND INTRODUCTION
BY J. HANSON
fragments are customarily ascribed to Demetrius.' All are concerned with the Old
in one way or another. Fragment I is a synopsis ofthe story ofthe sacrifice of
(Oen 22). Fragment 2, the longestofthe six, mainly involves patriarchalchronology.
Jacob's careerand the birthdates and ages ofhis twelve sons and one daughter in
with it and concluding with a brief treatment ofthe main events of Joseph's
and ofthe chronology ofMoses' ancestors. Fragment 3 chiefly concerns
genealogy of Moses and Zipporah, reconciling the various Old Testament traditions
the latter's father.
2
Fragment 4 is a synopsis ofthe story ofIbe changing of bitter
to sweet at Mamb, and the anival ofthe people at Elim (Ex 15:22-27). Fragment 5
with the question ofhow the people ofthe Exodus got theirweapons.
is no internal evidencefor the title ofthe work from which the first five fragments
Fragment 6; however, is said to be from Demetrius' work On rhe Kings in
and givesthe numberofyears between the variousdeportations ofIsrael and Judah
Demetrius' own time. This is a period ofbiblical history much later than that treated
fragments 1-5. Yet it is not necessary to posit that these fragments were taken from a
work, however inappropriate the title mayseem for patriarchal traditions.)
1-5 are preserved in Eusebius. Praeparario Evangelica, Book 9, where he
excerpted the work of Alexander Polyhistor On the Jews: PolyhistOf had. in tum,
the work ofDemetrius. The translation ofthe first five fragments follows the lext
numbered divisions of K. Mras's edition of Eusebius' Praeparatio Evangelica;" the
used forthe translationoffragment 6isO. Stiihlin'sedition ofClementofAlexandria's
the work in which this fragment is preserved. $
Demetrius' Greekstyle-ifwe may judge from Polyhistor, who systematically converts
into indirect speech-is grammatically uncomplex and straightforward, if
tediousand restricted in vocabulary. It is unaffected by the descriptive flourishes
in otherGraeco-Jewish authors, such as Artapanus or Pseudo-Eupolemus, and lacks
'1'5. Iand Sla.:k any attribution orauthorship. Although moreII'Ue orF. S. both are genemUy compatible with the
and styleorthe ascribed Fs. and iIIuslnlte similar interests. See also F. I. n. a. and F. 5. n..
,ild F. is often cited by Byzantine authors, e.g. Leo the Grammarian and George Cedrenus; c(. Denis.
IlIIrodJu::iion. p. 249(, Forsomediscussionorthis F. asawhole. cr. Wacholder. EltpOlemu.(Cincinnati.Ohio. 1974).
Since Fl. 1-5do 001 deal with the kings in Judea. asdoes F. 6. tbe one title rorall orthem seems awkward and
the speculation thai Demetrius may have written more than one work. Yet Justus orTiberias wrO(e ahistory
kinss (/oudDilm Basileiln en lois SlttlllllOSl). which covered the period from Moses to Agrippa II. Philo.
cancll/I Mosesa"kins" (ViIMos 2.292).
'See Bibliograpby rorcompletedetails, as well as.list or0Ibereditions and collectionsorDemetrius' fragments.
'Fordetail see Bibliography. Oemen! may. like Eusebiu., havedrawn on Alexander PoIyhistOfashis"""""for
Demetrius; cf. Denis. Ittlrodut'lion. p. 2:SO.
UW (JOY!nu;; apuloget!c biases ofJosephtls. IU5tead ot the Jegendary and fabulous features
found among the likesofArtapanus, Demetrius is marked by soberchronological Precision'
using the traditions oftheSeptuagintas a base.6 As aconstructivechronographer,
his Source well andgenerally follows itclosely, down to the spellingsofproper
where his purposes require it. Demetriuscan alterand Combine diverse traditions and
open conjectures (cf. F. 3. PrEy 9.29.1-3; F. 5, PrEy 9.29.16).
Dateandprovenance
Fragment6 (Strom I.141.1f.) refers to PtolemyIV(c. 221-204B.C.); hence Demetrius'
work is often dated to his reign and plaCed in Egypt. A one-hundred_yeardiscrepancy with
some otherdates in this fragment has led Some scholars toemend the reference to another.
Ptolemy.7 But such an alternative is without probative force. since it is those
which have probably sufft'red !elttual corruption.' Despite the difficulnes of the
dating to the time of Ptolemy IV is appropriate because of Demetrius' relation to
literary activities ofthe third centuryand to the Septuagintin Particular.'Hence
is the earliest datable Jewish author writing in Greek.lo He wrote after the completion
the Greek translation ofthe Pentateuch(3rdcent. B.C.), since heshows knowledgeand
of it,ll but before the first century B.C., When his work was excerpted by
Polyhistor. ..
Although Palestineorsome otherplace underPtolemaicrulecannotbet:xcluded
ofthe reference to Ptolemy IV Philopator in F. 6), Egypt, or Alexandria in particular.
probably the place in which Demetrius composed his Work. Such a judgment
useoftheSeptUagintandespeciallyupon hisrelationtoscientificchronography(see
Hislortaal Importance
Demetrius'concernforthe inconSistenciesandobscuritiesfound in thebiblicaltraditionsj
especiallyin mattersof chronography.givesevidenceforthebeginningsof
orat least scientificchronography. among hellenistic Jews. Thereare also
that Demetrius does not stand alone but may represent a school ofbiblical chronographi 12
interpretation. This suggestion is reinforced by the observation that not only are
l
schools inevidencelater)butthattheSeptuagintitself, upon which Demetriusrelies,
hints that it. too, may represent a school ofbiblical chronology. This possibility is se
thedivergencesindatingbetweentheHebrewandSeptuaginttexts.I.Althoughchronol02icil
concerns constitute the bulk ofDemetrius' preserved work, he was also interested in
exegetical matters, as the shorterfragments I, 4. and 5 may suggest.
Demetrius is the first witness to the use of the Septuagint, or at least of the
Pentateuch." His work clearly. and perhaps exclusively. presupposes the Greek
"ThaI Demetriusdoes not use Ille Heb. texl is most clearly seen in his cboiceofvocabulary. which emibilSa vast,
anddetailedoverlapwith!hatoflheLXX. UseoftheLXXisalsoshow"by thedifferencesbetweenIllecltmaographiClll
Syslem ofDemetrius/LXX and !hat ofIlle Heb. or the Samaritan vet>lon. That Demetrius may heve known aHeb"
Penl8la1ch. bUI with Sepruaginla/ cltmaolog
y
seems to be supPOrted by F..s (see below. n. U, andF. S. n. d). But
Ibis possibility is called inlo question by F. 2(PrE. 9.21./0);cf. n. 10 c.
'Freudenthal. Alexander Polyhislor. pp. would emend to Ptolemy m(246-221 a.c.). H. Graetz. "Die
Otronologie des Demetrius." MOWJ 27 (1877) 71. preferred8 much laterdare for the Ptolemy in question. 'Cf. F. 6. n. f.
'Forfurther remllrl<s. see under "HiStorica' importance."
'0Demetrius. although confused willl Demetriu. ofPbaleron. is placed HIlII in the JIst ofhistorians mentioned in
Josephus. Apion 1.218. as knOwledgeable in JeWish mattelll. 'The onlerofIlle names may be chronological.
"Wacbolder's repealed suggestion Illa, Demetrius may have been one ofthe so-called sevenly translatolll ofthe
LXX is without Warrantand is challenged by F. 2, PrE. 9.21.10; see n. c.
"Cf. AIt!X<Inder Polyh;5for. pp. 65-72; Wacholder. EupolelllUS. pp. 97-100. and his otheranicl..as
well. ..
"Cf. especially Wacholder, HUCA 35 (1964) 43-56.
"SeeWaebolder. Eupole"' .... pp. 98(, However. the chronological Syslem ofthe LXXprobably exiatedin earlier
Heb. MSS and may go back 10 chmnological activity inPalestine in Ihe Pelllillll period.
"cr. Freudenthal, AIt!X<Inder PolyhiSlor. pp. 3611.. 43. 49. Demetrius' work i.the only independent evidence for
Aristeas' lIOIion thaI the LXX ex;sled as early as the middle oftbe 3n1 cenl. . c.
Testament. EvidenceforaKnowltluge ofhiblicJ.! traditi,ms inHehrew IS IIllrl1gn!\:II"
and 3he reflects the chronographicsystem ofthe Septuagint and shows noknowledge of
rical figures ofthe Hebrew text where they differ from those ofthe Septuagint.
, his spellings ofbiblical names generally follow the Septuagint; even his phrasing
reminiscent ofthe Greek Old Testament.
Theextantfragments ofDemetrius' work are coherentwith literary trends in third-century
Alexandria. As Demetrius investigated the ancient chronicles of his people, so did the
and Egyptians theirs. Eratosthenes(c. 275-194B.C.), in hisChronographiai, marks
afirst scientific allempt to fix the dates of political and literary history of the Greeks.
Manetho (c. 280 B.C.), in his Aigyptiaka, produced a history ofEgypt frequently used by
Jewish and Christian writers 10 establish biblical chronology. At the same time.
of Babylon (c. 290 B.C.), wrote a chronologically oriented history of Babylon
17
consciously or not. Demetrius also reflects the use ofanolher specific fonn of
found among his contemporaries. that of aporiai kai fuseis. "difficulties and
" Ancient writings were searched for difficulties or problems, which were then
This was done for Homer and Hesiod and can be seen in Philo's Quaestiones et
in Genesim e( Exodum and among the Rabbis...Someofthe questions that drew
attention included: how the people ofthe Exodus got their arms (F. 5, PrEy
16); why Joseph waited nine years to inform his family ofhis circumstances in Egypt
PrEy 9.21.13); and why Joseph gave fivefold portions of food and clothing to
(F. 2, PrEI' 9.21.14). These concerns raise the question ofwhether Demetrius'
writing extended to apologetics, orwhether he was, simply, an apologist.
19
But
apologetic found in Demetrius is at most an internal one. directed toward the
raised by his school orotherschools ofbiblical interpretation. For Demetrius is
apologist in the usual sense; he looks nothing like a Eupolemus Of Artapanus, who
Old Testament heroes into philosophers and astrologers and who fuse oriental and
mythology. His work shows no necessary signs ofbeing directed toward the pagan
His main focus is patriarchal chronology. Such chronological systems were used
andcouldhavebeensousedin missingpartsofDemetrius'work. But Demetrius'
does not make synchronisms with other cultures and as such would hardly reach
a Jewish audience. Broadly speaking, he treats the history ofIsrael in light ofthe
culture of third-century Alexandria, but remains thoroughly Jewish in both his
matterand his language.20
all ofDemetrius' work with biblical texts ortraditions. there is no attention given to
matters. even in fragments that take h.im beyond an interest in genealogy or
..v. He overlooks. for example, any theological dimension to the story of the
Isaac (F. I. PrEy 9.19.4). He clearly acceptsthe outlook ofhis sources (e.g. a
in angels. F. 2. PrEI' 9.21.7. 10; F. I, PrEI' 9.19.4), but apart from such meager
no insight into his theological views is possible.
No canonical work is similarto the fragments ofDemetrius. Theextant fragments almost
concern those narratives in Genesis and Exodus that serve him in determining
chronology. But Demetriusgoes considerably beyond these in detail and precision.
wherehe takes upamuch laterperiod in Israel'shistory, as in fragment 6, theinterest
"ThebeS1 evidence for an independent knowledge of!he Hob. OT i, found in F. 5 (prEv 9.29.16). The Heb. of
E. 13:18 says the Israelites we'" "i!m1ed." which Ibe LXX b1mslates as "fifth." Demetrius would then show
knowledge of Ille Heb. by directly contradicting it and asserting that !hey were "unarmed." Cf. Wacholder.
F:upoI."' .... pp. 281. n. &5; 282. n. 90.
" Itis in"""slingIbatall these authorss well a.. Demetrius. are preserved only in fragments. Theireffect on IBIer
historiography w,," not gI1l8r.
"SeeS. Lieberman. H.II."is", i"Jewish Palestin. (New Yorl<. 19SO) 47-82. especially64-68.and H. DOrrie and
H. DOrries. "Ero!apotriseis." RAC 6.cols. 342-70.
,.See Dalbert, Thea/ogl 30-32. who emphasizesthis.
"'See Meudentha/. A/UIlnder Po/yiJisIOI'. pp. 62-6S. 80-82.
. ... _ ~ ", """JUt"!''' i n ~ 1I1lluenc(' of [he C1U1(\Ulcal books upon Demetrius
seems tv reside solely in ihe language and system of chronology that are apparent in the
Septuagint.
Relation to apocryphal books
Demetrius belongs to those apocryphal traditions which similarly represent or reflect
chronological systems, if not schools: Jubilees, Genesis Apocryphon, Testament of the
Twelve Patriarchs, Seder Olam. and Talmudic and Midrashic traditions. But. within
group. distinctions may be made. For example. the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
certainly reflects a chronological system. but unlike Demetrius and Jubilees, this is nol
intricately related to the purpose of the work. Because Demetrius is so early. direct influences",
upon him are difficult if not impossible to determine. Demetrius' influence upon
also a difficult matter lind can rarely be determined with precision. 21 Even
interpretation coincides with a later view influence or dependence is hard to prove.
is clear that he is to be considered in light of those apocryphal traditions which concenIM'
themselves with matters of chronography.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
..'
Charlesworth, PMR, pp. 93f.
Delling. Bibliographie. pp. 53-55.
Denis. Introduction. pp. 24R-5!
TEXTS
Denis, A. -M. (ed.). Fragmenta pseudepigraphorum quae
Leiden. 1970; pp. 175-79.
Jacoby. F. (ed.). Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker. Leiden. 1958; vol. 3C.
666-71.
Mras. K. (ed.). Eusebius Werke 8.1. Praeparatio Evangelica. GCS 43.1; Berlin. I
Stiiblin, O. (ed.). Clemens Alexandrinus. Stromata 1-4. GCS 52; Berlin. 1960; p. 87.
S1110165
Bickerman. E. J. "The Jewish Historian Demetrios." Christianity. Judaism and
Greco-Roman Cults. ed. J. Neusner. SJLA 12.3; Leiden. 1975; pp. 72-84. (Discussi<
of the historical and literary environment of Demetrius. with an excursus on
[Unfortunately, the ar1icle does not appear to have been proofread. J)
Dalbert. P. Die Theologie der hellenistisch-judischen Missionsliteratur unter AusschluS'Sl
Philo und Josephus. Theologische Forschung 4; Hamburg-Volksdorf. 1954;
32. (An introductory treatment of Demetrius. with brief discussions of the
[i.e. non-chronograpbical] fragments.)
Freudenthal. J. Alexander Polyhistor und die von ihm erhaltenen Reste jUdischer
samaritanischer Geschichtswerke. Hellenistische Studien 1-2; Breslau, 1
35-82,205-7.219-23 (text). (The best single treatment of Demetrius. both for
matters and specific details of the fragments and their problems.)
Gaster, M. "Demetrius und Seder Olam. Ein Problem der hellenistischen Literatur,"
Festskrift i aniedning af Prof. David Simonsens 70-aarige flildselsdag. K0benhavn.
1923; pp. 243-52.
Gutman, Y. The Beginnings ofJewish-Hellenistic Literature (vol. I). Jerusalem. 1963;
I. pp, 132-47 [in modern Heb.j.
"For example, Demetrim' identification of Zippondl witlt the "Cushite" woman of Num 12:1 (an "Ethiopian'')"
in PrEy 9.29.3 may have influenced Ezekiel the Tragedian in PrEy 9.28.4. Sifre on Num 12:1 makes the saine
identification. but in neitlter case can influence be proved. In ract. all. including Deinetriu may depend on the sanie
mirtrashic II8dilion.
Wacholder. B. Z. "Biblical chronology in the hellenistic world chronicles," HTR 61 (1968)
451-68. (Earlier version of materials treated in his Eupolemus; see below.)
_. "Demetrius," EncyJud 5, cols. 149Of. (A concise introductory essay.)
_. Eupolemus: A Study of Judaeo-Gruk Literature. Cincinnati. 1974; pp. 98-104,
280-82. (Chapter 4 of this monograph, "Hellenistic Biblical Chronologies," places
Demetrius in the context of chronographical developments of his period; special attention
is given to fragment 3.)
_. "How Long Did Abram Stay in Egypt? A Study in Hellenistic, Qumran, and
Rabbinic Chronography," HUCA 35 (1964) 43-56.
Walter, N. "Fragmente jiidisch-hellenistischer Exegeten: Aristobulos. Demetrios. Aristeas,"
JSHRZ 3.2 (1975) 280-92. (Introduction. translation. and nn. to the fragments.)
Untersuchungen zu den Fragmenten der jUdisch-hellenistischen HiSlOriker (type-
script). Halle, 1968; pp. 15-36. 141-55. (Non ilidL)
TRANSLATION
Fragment J. (PrEv 9.19.4)
So much says Polyhistor; to which
b
he adds, afterother [sentences].' saying:
But not longafter,dGodcommanded Abrahamtoofferhis son Isaacasawhole
burnt offering to him. And when he led his son up to the mountain, he heaped
up a pyre, and placed Isaac on it. But when he was about to sacrifice him, he
was prevented by an angel, who provided him with a ram for the offering. And
Abraham took his son down from the pyre l!.!ld offered the ram.
Fragment 2 (PrEv 9.21.1-19)
1Let us return again to Polyhistor:
DemetriusConcerningJacob,a from the Same Writing ofPolyhistor.
Demetrius says that Jacob was (17Jb years old when he fled to Haran in
Mesopotamia. having been sent away by his parents on account ofthe secret
enmityofEsau towards his brother(which was due to the fact that '* father had
blessed him thinking that he was Esau). and in orderthat he mightacquirea wife
there.
2Jacoh. then. set outfor Haran in Mesopotamia. having left his father Isaac, who
was 137 years ofage,'while he was himself77
b
yearsold.
3Thenafterspending7yearstllere-, he marriedtwodaughtersofLaban. hismaternal
uncle, Leah and Rachel, when he was 84' years old. In seven more years, 12
childrenwere borntohim."In the 10th monthofthe 8thyear, Reuben (was born];
and in the 8th month ofthe 9th year, Simeon; and in the 6th month ofthe 10th
year, Levi; and in the 4th month ofthe 11th year. Judah. And since Rachel did
not bear. she became envious ofher sister, and gave her own handmaid [Bilhah
Frapnl!ftll as 77 when he Hed Haran, as it i.correctly given
a. Thisanonymoll$ F. is frequently altributed10 afew fl. laler, inPrE.9.21.2.The closeproximity
Demetrius(ef. Freudenthal, AlexanderPolyhistor. ofthese two differing ages forJacob indicates the
"". 14f.. 36). Although the languageaud slyle are probable conuplion ofthe firsl reference. perhaps
not inconsisrenl wilh the genuine Fs., nOI only are due 10 scribal error.
there no real intemal ground, favoring Demetrius,
but n. d. below, indicale! a remark at odds with 2 a. ThusIsaac was 60 yearsoldal Jacob'sbim.
his beslauested trait: cluun<Jlogical precision. While b. The rorrec(age ofJacobin Demetrius'schema;
Demetrius' excerptor, Polyhislor, could himself cf. n. lb. above.
have produced this F. from Oen 22 directly (cf.
Waller,JSHRZ3.2(1975]284).hecouldalsohave 3 a. Thisconfirms Jacob'sage as 77 whenhelied
obtained it from yet another excerpted author! 10 Haran (ef. n. 2b): 77 plus 7 years with Laban
historian. In short.authorshipbyDemetriusisquite =84.
doubtful. b. Gen 29;31-30:24; cf. Jub 33;22; 44;11-34.
b. A F. of the workof Molon(Against/heJews) Although thebiblical texi does not explicidy men
immediately precedes this F. and concerns Abra tion thai 7years were taken for the birthof the 12
ham, his two wives, aud their children (cr. PrE. children, Demetriushasdeduced this from the fact
9.19.4). thai the births are namoted after the firsl 7year
c. Eusebill$ has apparently abbreviatedsome of periodand before the6-yearperiod. Rabbinic lexts
Polyhislor's work. The omitted malerial possibly alsospecify 12 children in 7years(cf. SederOlam
contained an indicalion of Ihe aulhorship of Ihis 2;GenR 70),The difficullyofbegetting 12children
F. as Ihere is in F, 4(prE.9.29.15). in 7yearsissolvedby allowing 10monthsbetween
d. Such an imprecise lime indicalor is OUI of births ofchildren ofthe same mother. and simul
choraelerfora chmnographer suchas Demetrius. taneous pregnancies for Ihe various mothers. Jub
28:11-24(withdifferingbirthdates),aud Josephus,
Fragmentl Ant 1.303-8 do nOI specify the number ofyears
I a. In this longesl F., several emendations have taken 10 begel the 12 children (II sons and I
beenmadewherethe MSlraditionisclearlyconup/. daughter;Benjaminis PrE.9.21.10;
rendering Demetrius selfinconsislen!. Gen 30;25). bUI bolh have them born before lhe
b. The MSS read "75" years old. The emen return10Pa/esline.ForIO-monthspacingsin binhs,
dation to 77 isdueto the fact Ihatall ofDemetrius' cf. Aristotle, His/OrUJ Animalium 7.584& 36; WisSel
computations involvingJacob are based on hi.age 7:2.
10 Jacob as a concubine, who bore Dan in the 4th month of the 11th year, ano in
!be 2nd month ofthe 12th year, Naphtali. And Leah gave her own handmaidJ<
Zilpah to Jacob as a concubine. at the same time as Bilhah
d
conceived Naphtali,
in the 5th month ofthe 11th year, and he begot ason in the 2nd month of the
12th year, whom Leah named Gad; and ofthe same mother in the 12th month of
!be same yearhe begot another son, whom Leah named Asher.
Gon 30:14
jAnd in return for the mandrake apples which Reubel' brought to Rachel, Leah
again conceived. as did her handmaid Zilpah at the same time, in the 3rd month
of the 12th year, and bore a son in the 12th month ofthe same year. and gave
him the name lssachar.
again Leah bore anotherson in the 10th monthofthe 13thyear, whosename
Zebulun; and in the 8th month of the 14th year. the same Leah bore a
tdaug/Jlel]'named[Dinah].'Andatthesametimeas LeahIconceive.d]bl! daughter,
Rachel alsoconceivedinher womb, and in the 8thmonth ofthe 14thyear
bore a son, who was named Joseph, so that in the 7years spent with Laban,
were born.
when Jacob wanted to retUrn to his father in Canaan, at Laban's request he
Om 31:38.41
six more years. so that in all he stayed for twenty years with Laban in
Om 32:24-32
he was going to Canaan. an angelaofthe Lordwrestled withhim, and
the hollow ofJacob's thigh, and he became numb and went lame; on
ofthis the tendon ofthe thigh ofcattle is not eaten. And the angel' said
that from that timeon he would no longerbe calledJacob, but Israel.
Gon 33;18
he came to [Salem, a city]' ofthe land of Canaan, having with him his
, Reuben, 12 yea.rs a.'ld 2 months old; Simeon. II ye.ars and 4 months:
10 years and 6 months; Judah, 9 years and 8 months; [Dan. 9 years and 8
Naphtali, 8 years and 10 months; Gad, 8 years and 10 months; Asher.
Issachar. 8 years; Zebulun. 7years and 2months; Dinah, 6 years and 4
Joseph. 6 yearsand 4 months old!
Gon )4
lived beside Hamor for 10 years;' and Israel's daughter, Dinah. was
Jub 30:1-6
by Shechemthe son ofHamor, when she was 16years and4monthsold.
TI..c"; 2:2; ':3f.:
6:3f.
c. TheirrsertionfollowsFreudenthal(Alexalllkr
p. 56), who thus includes the accounl
of Danand Napbtali according 10 Gen
omission is a probable ruult of
1. The emendation maintains De
IO-monlll bimschema, gives the corm:l
each son. properly identifies Rachel's
and foHows the binh onIer of OT
all ofwhich Demetrius musl have in-
aud Zilpah are siSlers. according 10
aud TNaph I:Ilf, Nosuchrelationshipis
in DemetriuS.
"Reubel" is a varianl of Reuben (cf. PrEy
.8 aud 17). Josephus. AnI 1.304. as well as
,iilscriplions, alsoanesl "Reubel."
The MSS read ".son named Dan." Such a
isprobablytheresullof lalereditorialwork
I 10 make place for him. since be was
in thememendedlexlofPrEy9.21.3(see
n. 3c). Cf. Oen 30:21; Freudenthal. Ale...
r>lyh;stDr, p. 54f.
line with theemendalions in PrEy9.21.3,
nn.3caud 5a).oneshouldread"oonceived"
noI "bore"(MSS).
. The Ir8dilion oftbe 2O-year Slay wim Laban
derived from Gen 31:38. 41. and is consislen!
with the reSl of Demetrius' chmnology (7 years
withLaban;7yearsofchildbegetting;therequesled
addilional 6 years).
7 a. Oen 32:24-32; cf. Josephus. Ant 1.331-34.
Like the MT, the LXX reads "man"(anrh,,,,,,,.).
Demetrius' "angel" (angelo.r) hasonly very weak
support among LXX MSS.
8 a. The MSSread "10anothercity" (e;sMle"'"
polin). aphrase inexplicable from the IeXI ofGen.
This reading is possiblydue10 AlexanderPolyhis
lor, whosublliruledMte"'" forallen in the phrase
eisolll"f'Olin. which is probably a comtplion of
eissolempolin: "10 the city ofSalem"; hence the
emendalion. Cf. LXXGen 33:18: "isSalimpolin.
b. The MSS do noI mention Dan in this list
(PrE. 9.21.8)al JII. neitherafterJudah(following
Gen 29:31-30:24), nor after Zebulun (following
thecorrupt MS lisl in PrEy9.215;cf. IChr2:If.).
"Dan,9 yearsand 8 months" dropped out thmugh
haplography;the names aud agesofJudahaud Dan
arealmostidentical(fromloudo"e,on."lIeamellOn
ala"10 Dan elMellnea melldn ala,,).
c. Theages ofJacob'schildreninthislisl(Prl.v
9.21.8) may becalculaledby suhltaCling thedaleS
given for their bims in PrEy 9.21.3-5 from lhe
endofthe 20-yearstay in Haran.
9 a. The traditionS in Oen 34 do not explicitly
me.ion "10 years." Demetrius' OT datum is
deluge until Ja,'ob's G)lning into EglPt, 1360" years; and from the time when
Abraham was chosen from among the gentiles and came from Haran into Canaan
until Jacob and his family came into Egypt there were 21S< years.
19 But Jacob came into Haran to Laban when he was [77J" years old, and begot Levi
(....J.b And Levi lived on in Egypt for 17 years, from the time of his coming
from Canaan into Egypt. so that he was 60 years old when he begot [Kohathl.<
And in the same year in which IKohathl was born, Jacob died in Egypt,- after he
had blessed the sons of Joseph, when he himself was 147 years old, leaving
Joseph at the age of S6 years. And Levi was 137 years old When he died. And
when IKohath) was 40 years old he begot Amram: who was 14 years old when
Joseph died in Egypt at the age of 110; and (Kohath] was 133 years old when he
died. Amram tooK as his wife his uncle's daughter Jochebed,t and when he was
7S years old he begot Aaron [and Mosesl.' But when he begot Moses .."!!lram
was 78 years old.
h
and Amram was 136
i
years old when he died)
Fragment J (PrEv 9.29.1-3)
I Demetrius described the slaying of the Egyptian and the qUlllTel with the man who
disclosed the information about the one who died in the same way as the-writer
of the Sacred Book.' He says, however, that Moses fled into Midian tlnd there
d. On the baSis of the figures 3624 and 1360.
the number of yean; from Adam 10 tbe flood is
2264 (3624 minus 1360). According 10 LXX Gen
5:1-6:1; 7:11, the number of years is 2262. The
difference of 2 ye.... may have resulled from lbe
lradition in Oen 11:10. In Josephus, Ani 1.80-88.
the period is also 2262 years, although Josephus
uses several conflicting chronologies (e.g. Ant
8.61f.: 1662 yean;; of. Ant 10.1470. The MT has
1656 yean;; Jub has 1307 years. Cf. J. Skinner,
Genesis (ICC; York, 1925) p. 134. The period
of 1360 years frum the flood 10 Jacob's entry infO
Egypt corresponds to LXX Oen 11:1-26; 12:4,
with 215 years from Abraham's entry into Canaan
to Jacob's entry inlo EgYPI; MT: 580 yean;. Cf.
Josephus. Am 1.140-47.
e. With215years, LXX Ex 12:4OandDemetJius
agree. See above. n. 16d. Seder Olam 2-3 gives
220 years in Canaan. 210 in Egypt.
19 a. The MSS read "80." The emendalion, as
in PrEv 9.21.1 r., brings this passage into harmony
with DemetJius' own chronological computations;
cf., above, F. 2, n. la.
b. Waller (JSHRZ 3.2 (1975) 289) suggesls that
Polyhistor has passed over a connecting link bere
in DemetJius, and therefore plausibly inserrs: "al
the age of 87; wben Levi was 43 years old. Jacob,
with his enlire household, wenllO Egypt wben he
was 130 years old ...
c. For Kohath, the LXX has Kaath, but here
and elsewhere in PrEv 9.21.19 the MSS read
"Klath, ,. which is undoubtedly an inner Gk. cor-
ruplion of Kaath. due to the similarity of the uncial
alpha and lambda. For Kohath as the son of Levi.
cr. LXX Gen 46: II; Ex 6: 16; Num 3:17;
IChr 6:1: 6: 18.
d. There is no OT tradition 10 Ihe etrect that
Jacob died in Egypt in tbe year thai Kohath was
born (and the implication that Kohath was bom in
Egypt is contrary 10 Oen 46: II; cf. 46:8-27).
DemetJius starts with two usable dala: 215 yem
in Egypt, and Mose.' age as 80 al the Exodus (the
various death dates in Ex 6 are of 110 help to him).
From Ihese, DemetJius mUst invent the olher dates
to /ill in the gaps, here with Kohalb'. and Arnram's
ages at the binh of Iheir chlldren.
e. For Kohalh as lhe father of Arnram, cr. E.
6:18; Num 3:19; 26:59; IChr 6:3; 6:18. There is.
however, no OT tradition for his age as 40.
f. Ex 6;20; Num 26:58f.; lChr 6:3.
g. Although the MSS read "and Moses" here.
in view of Ihe next phrase it should be omitted (so
Jacoby and Mras). BUI the unemended text. 10 this
point, is paralleled in Ex 6:20, wilhoul, however,
mentioning the age of Arnram al the time of the
binh, only his age at dealh.
h. For the time belween the births of Moses and
Aaron, cf. Ex 7:7.
i. For I\mram's age at death, MT Ex 6:20 reads
137 years old; LXX Ex 6:20 reads 132 years old.
The Samaritan ,..I and the Lucianic LXX have
136.
j. There is probably an omission at this polnl,
where the excerpter ceased his work prematurely.
The whole passage seems to be leading to the
stalemem that would explain LXX Ex 12:40, namely.
thaI Moses was 80 at Ihe time of the Exodus from
Egypt and that this completed the 215 07 + 40
+ 78 + 8Ol-year stay in Egypl. Hence the stay
in Egypt and Canaan was a total of 430 years. Cf.
Walter. JSHRZ 3.2 [I 975J 289f., who fOllows
Freudenthal, Ale.rander Polyhi.I1or. pp. 48-51.
FnlgJnenl3
I a. Cf. Ex Jub 47: 10. More than once,
Demetrius merely gives a synopsis of biblical
traditions. omil1ing many details and with no trace
of apologetic.
married Zipporah the daughter of Jethro,' who was, as far as it may be
from the names of those born from Keturah,d of the stocK of Abraham, a descendant
of Jokshan. who was the son of Abraham by Keturah. And from Jokshan was
born Dedan. and from Dedan. Reuel! and from Reuel, Jethro and Hobab/ and
from Jethro. Zipporah, whom Moses married.
l The generations also agree, for Moses was seventh' from Abraham, and Zipporah
sixth,b For Isaac. from whom Moses descended. was already married when
Abraham. at the age of 140, married Keturah, and begot by her a second son,
[Jokshan].' But he begot Isaac when he was 100 years old;" so that lJokshanJ,'
from whom Zipporah derived her descent. was born 42 years later.
3There is, therefore. no inconsistency in Moses and Zipporah baving lived al the
same time.' And they lived in the city of Midian,b which was named from one of
sons of Abraham." For it (i.e . Scripture) !Ulys that Abraham sent his sons to
East" to settle there. And (it says that) for this reason also. Aaron and Miriam
at Hazemth that Moses had married an Ethiopian woman.
And again after a little:"
From there
b
they went for three days, as Demetrius himself says. and the Sacred
Book agrees with him." Since he (i.e., Moses) found there not sweet but bitler
b. With Demetrius, LXX Ex 2: 16 alleSlS Jethro
iii Moses' father-in-law; so also Ex 2: 18 (codex
Alexandrinus); Ex 3:1 and Judi 1:16 (codex Va-
Ikanus); cf. Philo. Abr 36-40. But Ex 2: 18 (codex
Vaticanus) has Reuel (Ok.: Raguel); cf. Josephus,
1.1112.258, 264; 3.63; Ezekiel the Tragedian. PrEY
and Artapanus, PrEy 9.27.19. Judg 1:16
Aiexandrinus) and 4: II have Hohab as
Moses' father-in-law. The MT suffers from a
similar confusion or conllaliml of traditions: Ex
2:18: Reuel; Ex 3:1: Jethro.
c. Demetrius' /idelity loOT lradilions does. not
(lR'vent him from speculating, where -..ssary,
.for his genealogical interests. A. a whole. there is
no OT parallel 10 the presem genealogy (PrEv
I) in either the LXX or MT. It appears to be
conflation of LXX Oen 25: 1-4 (cf. IChr 1:32)
ind Ex 3:1 (ef. Ex 4:18; III:lf.).
d. Keturah is Abrabam's (Ihird) wife according
to Oen 25: 1-4, but his concubine according fO
IChr 1:32;cf. Jub 19:11.
e. To thls poinl. the traditional basis of the
genealogy is in LXX Gen 25:1-3; cf. IChr 1:32.
r. For Hobab as the son of Reuel there is only
Num 10:29. butcf. Judgl:16 and 4:11 as possibly
inspiring this. There is no OT evidence for Jethro
iii Reuel's son, nor for Jethro and Hobab as
brothers. Only Demetrius proposes these relation-
ships.
2 a. Sevenlh according to Demetrius: Abrabam,
Isaac. Jacob, Levi, Kaath, Amram. Moses; cr. F.
2. PrEy 9.21.16-19. OT tradilions do nol specif-
ically number lbe generalions, bul that Moses is
the 7th generalion is readily deducible from Ex
6:6-20; Gen 25: 19-26; 29:34; cf. Josephus, Alii
2.229; Philo. Vir Mos 1.2; NumR 12.6 (ed. Wilna,
1887); PR 5.ISb (ed. Friedmann, 1880):
b. Abraham + Kewrah. Jokshan, Ded.an, Rouel.
Jethro, Zipporah, a genealogy constructed by De-
metrius from several fragmentary or panial OT
genealogical tradilions; cf.. above. F. 3, nn. lb,
c, f.
C. The MSS read "Isaar" here. The emendation
meets the eXpecIlIlions raised by DemetJius' own
genealogy in PrEy 9.29.1. which followsOen 25:2.
Freudenlhal (A/extJnder Polyhi.,/or. p. 206) sug
geslS thai ISIIIIt is an error for Jokshan due to the
ne.tllby Isaac. The biblical traditions (Num 3: 19;
16: I: Ex 6: IS; IChr 6:2) that place an Izhar in the
generalions from Abnd m tv M,,_ are im:levant
in light of Gen 25:
d. Gen 21:5; 25:20. This advanced age, and
being 140 when be married Keturah (PrEv 9.29.2).
allows for the exira generalion in Moses' descent
from Abraham compared 10 Zlpporah's.
3 a. This conclusion may rdle<:l a question or
objeclion 10 either the biblical tradilions (cf. the
features of Ilporiai kal lusei. IexlS menlioned in
the Inuoduction and F. 2. n. 14a), or 10 DemetJius'
(or his school's) genealogical calculalions.
b. Oen 25:1-3; Ex 18:1-12.
c. Gen 25:2, 4; Ex 2:15; IChr 1:32.
d. Oen 25:6; cf. Jub 20: 12. For DemetJius,
"Easl" included both Midian (Ex 2: 15) and Ethi.,..
pia (Num 12: I: and lbe last sentence bell! in PrEy
9.29.3), cf.: also Ezekiel the Tragedian. PrEy
9.28.4.
FrapleRt 4
a. Although the F. that follows is usually as-
cribed to Demebius. Polyhisror paraphrases De-
metrius and ScriptUre here. How much of this F.
is Demetrius and how much is Scripture is uncer
lain. TIle first senlence is undoubtedly from De
metJills, not simply because his name appears but
also because of the chronological element "three
days." As for the rest. there is nothing to indicate
DemetJius: no dales, no genealogy. no aporim kal
[web; rather, only a summary of Scripture, much
like F. l. which is also doubtful (cf. F. l. n. a).
b. I.e.. the Red Sea. The preceding F. in Poly-
histor's collection is from Ezekief the Tragedian,
wbere be describes the crossing of the Red Sea
(PrEv 9.29.14).
c. The delails of Ex 15:22-27 are omitted. AI
the same lime, this is another external indication
of DemetJius' fidelity to OT traditions (cf. F. 3.
PrEy 9.29.1).
d. I.e., Marsh.
(len
(LXX); Ex ):1
Nbm 11:35-12;2
PrEv 9.28.4
Ex 15:22-27
water. when Uod saJd he should cast some wood into the fountain. the water
became sweet. And from there they carne to Elim, where they found 12 springs
ofwater and 70 palm trees.'
Fragment5 (PrEv 9.29.1OOnd)'
And after a short space:
Someoneasked
b
how the Israeliteshad weapons,'sincetheycameoutunarmed."
Ex 14
For they said that after they had gone out on a three-day journey. and made
sacrifice. they would return again. It appears, therefore. that those who had not
been drowned made use ofthe others' arms.'
Fragment6 (Clement ofAlexandria, Strom 1.14I.1f.)
But Demetriussays, in his (work] "Onthe KingsofJudaea,'" thatthetribeof
judah and {those of] Benjamin and Levi were not taken captive by Sennacherib,
but from this captivityb to the last (captivity), which Nebuchadnezzareffectedout
ofJerusalem,"[there were) 128 years and 6 months." But from the time when the
ten tribes ofSamaria were taken captive to that ofPtolemy the 4th:there were
573 years and 9 months. But from the time lof the captivity! ofJerusalem [to
Ptolemy the 4th]. there were 338 years land] 3 months.r
....
e. The purpose of Ibis F. for Demellius is
captivityunderSennacberib.even ifptlyhislOrtII/l
apparently Ibechronologicalelementofthreedays.
the two together.
No purpose is evident for !he Elim section ifit is
c. Cf. 2Kgs 25:I.
from Demellius. BUI. for Polyhislor. the P. serves
d. Porthislengthoflime.calculatingtheletlgth.
as an introduction 10 Ihe excerpl from Ezekiel the
ofthe reigns ofthe kings, cr. 2Kgs 18-25.
Tragedian, which immediately follows and embel-
e. On Ihe possibilitythat Ptolemy IV i.a Sloss.
ii.n.s various elements of the story in question.
see the Introduction. Emendations 10 OIber Ptole-
See also Josephus. Ant 3.2-10; Philo, Vii Mo,
mies have been unnecessarily suggested by some
1.188-90;MekiltaWH- Yassa'1.45b;TargYer16.22.
due 10 Ihe problems in daling discussed in the
following n.
FragmentS
f. Although this P. is grammatically compre-
H. Although this F. is unattributed, it is COn-
hensible, i! has probably suffered some loss or
sistenl with what isotherwiseknownofDemetrius.
cottup!ion in the process ofexcerpting or sub....
It is a reasoned conjecture ("II appean; ...")to
quent lransmission, since it is chronologically in-
clarify obscure biblical traditions. BOd it lutther
consislent. Demetriusgives 128ye....and 6months
suppons the idea tha! Demetrius represents an
as the time between Ihe fall ofSamariaandthe fall
exegetical school (cf. Introduction). But what is
ofJerusalem. This figure become. 135 years BOd
sunoise in Demetriusbecomes facl for the Rabbis;
6 months ifonesupplies. from 2Kgs 17:2--6; 18:9.
cf. Mekilts Bashallah 5.32..b; 6.33".b; Mekiha
Ihe 7 years from Ihe lime ofShalmaneser'staking
R. Simon53f.;Tehillim22.1SO.SeealsoJosephu.,
1In/ 2.349. the 10llibesimoexile10 thefallofSamaria(which
may well have been present in Demelrius' original
b. "Someone asked" constitutes an exegetical
formula consistenl withaporia; /ca; luse;, texts and
lexl; cf. Freudenthal. Alexander Po/ylr;'lor. pp.
57-62;Walter.JSHRl3.2 (1975)292). Thissame
givessome additional weighltothesuggestionIhal
figure (135 years and 6 months) should then also
Demetrius is the author; cf. F. 2. n. 14. BOd the
Introduction. result by subtracting the two other figures in
Demetrius' text. namely. 338 ye.... and 3months
c. Possession of weapons by Ihe Israelites is
presupposed in E. 17:8..13.
(faJl ofJerusalemtotime ofPtolemy IV)from513
years and 9 months (faJI ofSamariato the time of
d. Demetrius suggests the arms were Obtained
Ptolemy IV). But this sublraction yields 235 years
from thedrowned Egyptians,despitethe statement
and 6 months. Thus. to achieve consistency and
in Ex B:18 to the contrary. See Introduction. n.
maintain Ptolemy IV as Demetrius' Ii.ed point of
IS, onthe issueofDemetrius' knowledgeofHeb..
which this F. raises.
reference (the most probable Ptolemy; cr. Ibe
Introduction), one would emend either the figure
e. On the arms of the drowned Egyplians. cf.
of 338 years BOd 3 months to 438 years and 3
Ex 14:23-30: WisSoI 10:20; Josephus. Ant 2.349.
l1Ionths. or the figure of573 years and 9 months
Frlllll1letll6
to 473 years and 9 months. Bur onecannolconfi.
dently choose between lhese two options. since it
a. Por COmments on Ihe rille ofthis work, see
the Introduction. n. 3.
is not known how o n ~ a time Demetrius allOwed
for the Persian period (either c. 135 or c. 235
b. Apparently this is Ihe cap!ivily ofSennsch_
years). Demetrius' solid points ofreference were
erib. contrary 10 2Kgs 17:3; 18:9, where it i.
the accession ofPtolemy IV. in 221 Be, and Ihe
Sh.lmane,er Who takes Samaria into exile. Seven
sparseOTlradilions forthe periodfrom the endof
years ISler. Sennacherib deslrOys Jerusalem (but
theexiletohisowntime. Hemayalso have known
withouttakingJudah,Benjamin.orlev;intoexile).
the traditions behind Dan 9:24-27 for tbe length
However (cr. n. f, below), the final calculation
aftheexile(cf. a1soJer25:1 If.; 29:10; Zech 1:11;
shows that Ihere must have been in Demetriusalso
7:5) Por some further discussion. cr. Bickerman,
reference 10. BOd dating of. Ibe captivity oflhe
in Clr.ristUJniry. Judaism and Otlrer Greco-Roman
len tribesunderShalmaneser. as wellas10 Ihe non-
CII/IS. vol. 3. pp. 80-84.
mSTORY
ARISTEAS THEEXEGETE
(prior to First Century B.C.)
A NEWTRANSLAnONAND INTRODUCTION
BY R. DORAN
Aristeasthe Exegete, ina work whosedimensions, contents.andcharacterotherwiseescape
us, reconstnlCts a "Life ofJob" from the Greek form ofthe narrative of the canonical
Book of Job. Aristeas places Job among the patriarchs as a descendant of &au, and
describeshowhis possessionsand health aretaken from him, howhisfriends comforthim,
and how and why God restores his fortune and health.
Texts
The work of Aristeas is known to us only thirdhand. Eusebius of Caesarea, in his
PrtU!paratio Evangelica 9.25.1-4,citedAlexanderPolyhistor'squotationofAristeas' work.
The criticaltext used as the basis for this IraIlslation is thatofK. Mras.I
"Ilelationto thecanonkalBookofJob
The synopsis ofthe story ofthe Book ofJob made by Aristeas is clearly related to the
traitslation ofthe Book of Job, In both the Septuagint and Aristeas, Job lives in
(= Heb. text <1I.f); the possessionsofJobare listed in the same orderand language
(LXX Job 1:38; PrEv 9.25.2); the disas!ers that befall Job occur in the sameorder
in the same language. The three friends who come to comfort Jobare described
by Aristeas, as in the Septuagint but not in the Hebrew !elt ofJob 2:II; they
visit. eis epislcepsin. a phrase that rel1ects the text ofthe Septuagint in Job 2:II.
epis/cepsQSth4i auton, but which bas no equivalent in the Hebrew text. The names ofall
visitors echo the form ofthe names in the Septuagint. Aristeas, therefore. is drawing
!extofthe BookofJob.
Aristeasbas knowledge ofthe complete BookofJob is indicated by the addition of
tothosewhocometovisitJob;inthecanonicalbook; hedoesnotappearuntilchapter
Such a cODclusion is important, since Aristeas' portrayal ofJobdiffers radically from
of the present canonical Book of Job, which combines two views ofJob; Job the
Questioner and Job the Patient.) ButJob the Questioner, the one who seeks to understand
problemofthesufferingofa righteous man, is absent in Aristeas. He does not mention
dialoguesontheproblemofsufferingbut.rather,emphasizesJob'scourageousendurance
God's subsequent astonishment. Job's visitors, Elihu among them, encourage Job in
version; they do not condemn him for sinning. What Aristeas has taken from the
canonical Book ofJobis essentially the folk tale ofthe patientJob.'
Why would Aristeas have made such a precis ofthe Book ofJob? The language that
'MIas,OCS43,1.
'Many scholars see the sectioo abooI Elihu as an interpolalion; cf. M. Pope, Job (Anchor Bible 15; New yon.,
pp. uvii-uviii.
L. OinsberB, "Jobdie Patient and Job die Impatienl." C.,....rvalive Judaism 2113 (1967) 12-28.
S. N.Kramer. "Manand his God: A Swnerian Variarioo OIl !he 'Job' Motif." Wisdom in Israol and in t r ~
Neor 5Dst (eels. M. NOIb and D. W. Thomas: VTSup 3; Leiden_ 19S5) pp. 170-82.
twelfthyearas king ofEgypt) are five thousand, one hundredand forty-nine;. and
from the time when Moses led the Jews out ofEgypt to the aforementioned date
there are two thousand, five hundred and eighty years,' (From this time until the
Roman consuls Gnaius Dometianus and [G.1 Asiniusf one hundred and twenty
years are summed up.)'
Introduction. Wacl!older. Eupol.mus. pp. 4(}...44.
boldly suggests Ptolemy ofMendes as the inter-
polalOr, Walter. JSHRZ 1.2 (1976) 94. leave, the
interpollltOranonymous. II alsoseemspossiblethat
the interpolator could be AleXander Polyhi'tor
himself.
d. That figure (5,149). when added 10 the date
of Demetrius (lSSn B.C.), sel$ the creation in
5307/6 B,C,
e. TheteXI hasbeenemendedfromtwothousand
to one thousand years by Freudenthal and Jacoby.
since the date i. too early for !he Exodus. The
emended text (1738 II,C.) i. closer to !he LXX,
However...Wacholder points OUI, Eupolemus
could also be deliberately anledating the Exodus
~
10 show the antiquity of the Jewish civilization
(upol.mus. pp. 111-13),
f. The text is corrupl and has been emended
fromgaiou dometianou /w.siMtl toglUJioll dometiou
Ir:ai asiniou and therefore 40 B,C,; see Freudenthal.
Alexander PoIyhi$ror, p. 214. This addition 10
Eupolemus may stem from Alexander Polyhislor
or from an unknown author,
g. The date referred 10 in the reign ofPtolemy
is 15918 B,C., and !he date of!he Roman consuls
is 40 B,C, A period ofone hundred and twenty
years is then said 10 separate these dates, One
anives III !he correct tigure (120) by including in
the cOlllJllllJltion-in accord with ancient counling
pnICIices-thefitst and I..t yeats ofthe period,
HISTORY
PSEUDO-EUPOLEMUS
(prior to FirstCentury 8.C.)
A NEW TRANSLATION AND INTRODUCfION
BY R. DORAN
thediscussion ofAbraham in Eusebius' Praeparatio Evangelica are twoquotations,
which is attributed by Alexander Polyhistorto Eupolemus and the otherofwhich is
beanonymous, Scholarshaveassignedboth thesequotations, known from Alexander
Polyhistor's On the Jews, to a "Pseudo-Eupolemus."
The first fragment deals with Abraham as spreader of astrological lore. After a short
introduction which tells ofthe buildingand destructionofthe towerofBabel, it states that
.Abraham was born in a Babyloniancity, that he excelled in astrology, and that he traveled
where he taught this science. The fragment briefly reCQunts the events of
14,in aversionsomewhatdifferentfromthebiblicalaccount,andthenhasAbraham
to Egypt, where heagain teaches astrology. Abraham, however. praises Enoch asthe
ofastrological science.
The second, anonymous fragment traces the lineage ofAbraham back to the giants, and
attributesthefoundingofBabyloniato Belos, In onesentence, itstatesthatAbrahamtaught
AmnJOgV to the Phoeniciansand then to the Egyptians.
The critical text used as the basis for this translation is K. Mras'seditionofPraeparatio
Evangelica.'
J. Freudenthal, faced with the problem ofwhether Eupolemus was aJew, a Samaritan,
or a pagan, solved the question by separating the materials attributed to Eupolemus into
two groUps.2 In Freudenthal's view, the fragment on Abraham was not from Eupolemus
but from a Samaritan, while the other fragments were genuine.
l
As pan of his proof,
Freudenthal pointed to close similarities between the text attributed to Eupolemus and the
anonymous text;heconcludedthat the two textscame from thesame author, an anonymous
Samaritan.'The similarities noted by Freudenthal were as follows:
I) The buildingofthe tower was done by giants.
2) Abraham is somehowconnected with these giants.
3) Abraham learned astrology from the Chaldeans and taught it to the Phoenicians and
then tothe Egyptians.'
,Mras, OCS 43,1.
I Freudenthal. Aiuandu PoIyhi.ror, pp. 87-89.
'Freudentha/.Alemnder Polyhls/or, pp. 85-89.
Freudenthal sollesled that Aleunder Polyhistor somehow had his collection oftiles mixed up; the anonymous-
Samaritan F. somehow fOOlld its way inlothe lile on Eupolemus. Later. when AlexanderreaJi2ed thathe w ..missi",
hisanonymous file. be simply reproduced il from memory. (Freudentha/, Akx4nder Polyhisror. 1'. 91.)
'Freudentha/. Ale:r.ander Polyhistor, pp, 9()...92.
ROMANCE
ARTAPANUS
(Third to Second Century B.C.)
A NEW TRANSLATION AND INTRODUCTION
BY J. J. COLLINS
three fragments of Artapanus deal with the exploits in Egypt of three famous ancestors
".
the Jews: Abraham, Joseph, and Moses. Each is presented as a founder of culture.
Abraham teaches the Egyptians to study the stars. Joseph organizes the division of the land
discovers measurements. He is also administrator of Egypt and stores grain during the
prosperous years. The career of Moses is described at greatest length. He is identified
Mousaeus, teacher of Orpheus, and also with the god Hermes. He is credited with a
variety of discoveries and with establishing the Egyptian animal cults. Because of the
of the Egyptian king. he is sent on a campaign against the Ethiopians, which becomes
resounding success. Subsequently. Moses kills the man sent to assassinate him and Oees
Arabia. He restrains the Arabs from campaigning against Egypt, but returns to demand
release of the Hebrews. When the king resists. Moses prevails by using his supernatural
Most of the Egyptian temples are destroyed in the plagues. and the sacred animals
destroyed along with the Egyptians in the Red Sea. Two accounts are given of the
of the sea. One. attributed to the Memphites. says the Hebrews crossed at low
other. attributed to the Heliopolitans. is cleatly miraculous and is evidently
.. "",f,.m>fl by Artapanus.
The fragments of Artapanus are preserved in Eusebius. Pro,eparatio Evangelica. Book 9.
chapters 18. 23. and 27. The third fragment is partially paralleled in Clement. Stromata.
1.23.154.2f. The present translation is based on the edition of Eusebius by Karl Mras.' The
lext can also be found in Jacoby's Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker and in A.-M.
Denis. Fragmenta pseudepigraphorum quae supersunt graeca.'
On the textual tradition of Eusebius see the general introduction to Alexander Polyhistor
by John Strugnell (above).
It is important to bear in mind that we do not have actual excerpts from Artapanus but
only the summaries of Alexander Polyhistor, insofar as these have been preserved by
Eusebius. The parallel in Clement is limited to a single incident (the nocturnal visit of
Moses to the king) and it omits some of the miraculous details of the text in Eusebius.
The first fragment in Eusebius is presented as an excerpt from Artapanus' Judaica. while
the other two fragments are said to be from his Peri Joudaiiin ("About the Jews"). The
latter title is also given in Clement. It is not clear. however. whether two distinct works
were involved. The three fragments could easily fit in one continuous history. and Judaica
is most probably a loose reference to the Peri loudaion. rather than an exact title. The
evidence is not sufficient to permit certainty on this matter.
'Mm. GCS 43.1. pp. 504. S16f.. 519--24.
1 Jacoby. FGH. vol. 3C. no. 126. pp. 680-86.
'Denis. PVTG 2. PI'. 186-95.
vngllllllIlmguagt.
Thereis no reason to suspect that the original language was otherthan Greek. Artap.....i
vocabulary has many points ofcontact with classical Greek literature as well as the
ofthe heflenistic age.'
Date
The only clear evidence for the date of Anapanus is that he must have written prior
AlexanderPolyhistor, Who summarized the work about the middle ofthe first century B.C.
Proposeddates include the timeofPtolemy IV Philopator(221-204B.C.),'theearlysecond
century B.C.,. alld about 100 B.C.
7
Artapanus apparently knew the Septuagint' and also
reflects many themes ofthe anti-jewish Egyptian accounts ofMoses. ofwhich the
is found in Manetho (who /lolJrishe<! about 280 D.C.). Dotb Lhese considerations
an earliestpossibledate ofapproximately 250 B.C.10 The syncretisticcharacterofthe
has been urged as an argument for an early date" but is in fact compatible with any
in the period 250-100B.C.
Threeconsiderations mayhelptospecify thedatefurther. Cerfauxhasarguedthat
passages in Anapanus reflect an attempt by Ptolemy IV Phi/opator to assimilate
to the worship ofDionysus.12 Such an attempt is explicitly alleged in Maccabees
where Philopatoris said to require thattheJewsbe registeredand ""randedby fire on
bodies with an ivy leaf. the emblem of Dionysus." while those who voluntarily joi
mysteries are granted equal citizenship with the Alexandrians.IJ Cerfaux also notes
evidenceofthe Schuban Papyrus that Phi/opatorattempted toorganizethe cultof
by requiring those who practiced initiation to deposil their sacred doctrine
sealedandsigned with theirnames. Cerfauxrelates thisrequirementoftheSchuban
10 the enigmaticpassagein Anapanus (PrEv 9.27.24-26)Where the king bids Moses
the name ofhis God and then writes the name on a tablet and seals it. Cerfaux also
thestatement in Anapanus (PrEv 9.27.20) that Chenephres required theJews to wearlinen
garments as an allusion to the attempted assimilation tothe cult ofDionysus. IfArtapanus
is indeed alluding to events in the reign of Philopator in this indirect manner. we should
assume that he wrote during that reign orshonly thereafter. However. CerfauII's a.r:gume
is 100 hypothetical to count as decisive evidence. and is no more than a possibility.
Asecondconsiderationarises from Artapanus' mentionofthe diseaseelephantiasis(PrEv
9.27.20). According to Plutarch (QuaestiQ/1/UII convivialium tiber 8.9.1) this disease was
first identified in the time ofAsclepiades ofPrusa. who flOurished in the first century B.C,.
However. it had already been the subject ofa treatise falsely ascribed 10 Democritus and
believed to be the work of Bolus of Mendes. in Egypt, who was a contemporary of
SeeFreudenthal.AlltJUinderPO/yhillor, I'll. 21St.; I.Merentites, Holoudsio.Logio.Artapano.kill,oErgOllAu,OII
(Athens, 19(1)pp. 184-86.
'So Deni. PVTG 2. p. 257. following a suggestion of L. Cerfaux. "In/luence des Mysteres sur Ie Judaisme
AlexandrinAvantPhilon," L. Ceifawt(Bibliofhec.EphemeridumTheologicarumlavMiensium6:
1954), vol. I.I'll. 81-85.
'SoB. Z. Wacholder, "BiblicalChronology and World Chronicle ....HT1/ 61 (1968) 460, n. 34, and E"fW/e17tUJ:
AStudyof Judseo.{Jreek Li'era,ure(Monographs ofdie Hebrew Union College3; CinCinnati. 1974) p. 106. n. 40.
'SoWalter. JSHRZ 1.2 (1976)125; Merentites, Ho loudsiosLogios. p. 9.
'freUdenthal, AlexanduPolyhis'or, p. 216.
'SeeP. M. FrllSel. Alexandria (O.fonl, 1972) vol. I. p. 706.
ICThe origins ofdie LXX are widely di'puled. The traditional date. given by lIllAris, is the reign ofPtolemy 1/
Phil.delphus (287-247 B.C.). While the !.eneris nOI reliable hisloriC41 evidence. thi.period is still the most probable
for die translationofthe Pentateuch. See the discussion by S. JeUicoe in Sep'lIagiltlandModernStudy(Oxford.
1968) pp. 52-S8. He "'lluesthaI "association direct or lodireet with l'hiJadelphus placesdie undertaking well hefore
die middle ofthe thinl cenrury B.C." and that "Apart from the Aristeas tradition this i. bome OUI by die available
e.lemalevidence...Jellicoe al5<l discusse.. dissenting views (I'll..59-73).
"Wacholder. E"fW/emus, p. 106. Wacholder'S assumption thaI "theMaccabean rehellion rea/linned monotheistic
helier' in Egyptian Judaism e"ggeFllles both the syncretism of Attapa11us and die inftuence of die re""h on !he
DiBSpora.
"Cerfa"", L. Ceifaux. vol. I. pp. 81-85.
IJCf. 2Mac 6:7f., which says that in die perseculion of Anliochus EPiphanes. Jews in JelUsalem were compelled
"towearivy wreaths and walk in the Diony,iKe procession...
'Cailimachus, in the third century B.C." Artapanus could, of course, have referred to it al
time. but he would have had more reason to single itout for mention ifit was
Identified when he wrote.
possible clue is provided by Artapanus' statement (PrEv 9.27.7) that Moses
Egyptian farmers in his army. Ptolemy IV Philopator was the first Ptolemy to
the Egyptian peasantry to bear arms in his service, before the battle ofRaphia in
c.1!TheallusionbyArtapanustopeasantparticipation in Moses'armyis notprompted
the biblical account or by the polemics ofEgyptians such as Manetho. Itmay be taken
reflect the historical development in the time ofPhilopator.
These considerations are by no means conclusive. Artapanus may have written at any
in the period 250-100 B.C. However, the few more specific clues we have all point
date toward the end ofthe third century B.C., which may be tentatively taken as the
probable time ofcomposition.
tbe narratives are set in Egypt. Even the fragment on Abraham deals only with his
in Egypt. Consequently the Egyptian provenance ofthe work is unquestioned.
Egypt Artapanus has usually beenlocalized in Alellandria.,.This assumption has
questionedby Fraser. whonotesthatArtapanus haslittlein common with the literature
,ascribed to AlellandrianJudaism. Fraserargues that Artapanus "isfamiliar with the
life ofEgypt and the purely priestly traditions" and suggests that he did not belong
influential Jewish circles around Philometor or a later Ptolemy but (as his Persian
mightsuggest) was''aJewofmilleddescent. possiblyresident in anothercentresuch
Memphis.""Against Fraser, we mils! note that Artapanus' knowledge of Egyptian
seems to be primarily derived from Greek authors (e.g. Hecataeus ofAbdera).18
Fraserisquite rightthatthe assumptionofAlellandrianprovenanceis gratuitous.
isno specific indication ofthe placeofauthorship within Egypt. We should at least
distinctiveness ofArtapanusoveragainst the maincorpusofallegedly Alellandrian
There have been occasional attempts to claim that some ofthe details of Artapanus'
haveahistoricalbasis. SoFreudenthalsuggeststhatthelegendofMoses'campaign
Ethiopia arose from confusion with another Moses (Messu or Mesu). known from
nscription. whowas governorofEthiopiaand anapprollimatecontemporaryofMoses.19
J. Gutman suggests that the Chenephres ofAnapanus was a historical pharaoh ofthe
thirteenth dynasty intheeighteenthcentury B.C.20 Neithersuggestionis plausible. Artapanus
has his closestliterary parallels in the historical romances; andhe freely millesfantasy with
lore.
'1
The historical significance of the work lies in the type of hellenistic
it attests. rather than in the "historical" allusions itpreserves.
Artapanus provides one variant ofthe apologetic literature ofhellenistic Judalsm. and.
00abroaderlevel,ofwhat may becalledthe"competitivehistoriography"of thehellenistic
"Wacholder.Eupolemus. p. 106. On Bolus see H. Diels. Die Frag_nleder VorsoKra,il:er(Berlin. 1956') vol. 2.
p.216.
"See W. W. Tam. Hellenilli<: Ci.iIi.a,ion (New York. 1961'), p. 179. lowe this suggeslion 10 Profes"", J.
Strugnell.
IOE.g. Waite,.JSHRZ 1.2 (1976) 124; Merentiles. Ho loudsiQS I..ogio., p. 9.
"Fraser. Prolemale Ale:candria. vol. I. p. 706; voL 2. p. 98S (n. 199). Fraser DOles die occurrence of ",Ialed
Persian names in Egypt and !he villaceofArtapatou. near Oxymynchus, anesled from the third century A.I>.
IlSee WacboJder, Eupolemus. p. 80.
19 Freudenthal.AIC!XIJJfder Polylril/or, p. ISS.
IIII. Gutman. Ha Si/rul IraYehudi, IraHelie";l/i, (JeIUS4Ilem. 1963). ""I. 2. p. /35. See Wacholder. EupoIem...p.
lOS. Wacholderalso notesotherattempled identifications.
11 The affinities of Artapa11u. with hellenislic popular romances were shown especially by M. Braun. HlIlory and
Romance (Oxford. 1938) pp. 26-31, 99-102. See die recent evaluation by D. L. Tiede, TIu! Charis_ric Figure as
Miracl# Worker(SBLDS I; Mis. ..... la. Mont.. 1972) I'll. 146-77.
Inroughout fhe Near East, from t;gypt to Bahvlon, the native SOV("tign ltingships
been suppresscaby {he Greeks, Subsequentgenerationslooked to theirpastnostalgically
and tended to romanticize their history by stressing its antiquity and superiority, Berossus
of Babylon and Manetho ofEgypt. both ofwhom wrote in Greek at the beginning oftbe;
third century B.C" were outstanding examples of such propagandistic historiography.
Manetbo initiated a long line ofGreco-Egyptian writers (Lysimachus, Chaeremon, Apion)
whoaugmented the glory ofEgypt by disparaging the Jews and giving derogatoryaCCOuntS
oftheirorigins. Fragmentsofthese writersare preservedbyJosephus in hisAgainst Apion,2j
Josephus attempts to refute the charges ofthese writers directly. Earlier Jewish writers,
such as Artapanus,24 did not address the charges directly but took up the weapons oftheir
adversaries and produced romanticiZed histories oftheir own,
The competitive historiography ofArtapanus has both negative and positive aspects. On
the one hand, several details, especially in the treatment ofMoses, appear to be implicit:,
refutations ofwriters such as Manetho, who had alleged that Moses forbade his
worship the gods orabstain from the flesh ofthe sacred animals (Apion 1.239).
claimed that it was Moses who established these cults. Manetho alleged that
invadedEgypt(Apion I.241); Artapanusstated thatMoses restrained Raguel When the
wished to invade. According to Manetho, the pharaoh had to protect the sacred an........
from Moses(Apion 1.244); Artapanus contended thatthe pharaoh buriedtheanimals
o
Moseshadmadesacredsincehe wishedtoconcealMoses'inventions.ln]'4l111etho'saccount,
the pharaoh sought refuge in Ethiopia when Moses invaded (Apion in Artapanus,
Moses conducted a campaign against Ethiopia on behalf of the pharaoh. Such implicit
refutationsoftheEgyptianaccountconstitutethe negativesideofArtapanus' historiography.
More POsitively, he portrayed each ofhis subjects, but especially Moses, as a founder of
culture, and attributed to them all the inventions which are beneficial to humanity. Here
again the claim is competitive. Ai1apanus repeatedly claimed for Moses achievements
elsewhere attributed to other legendary heroes, especially the Egyptian Sesostris," e.g.
inventions in military matters, and in construction and irrigation, the division ofEgypt into
thirty-six nomes, and victory over the Ethiopians. Further, Artapanus exalted Moses even
abovethedivinitiesoftheEgyptians. Isis was taught by Hermes,26 butMoses was identified
with him. ThesubordinationofIsis toMoses is alsoexpressedthrough theepisodein which
Moses strikes the earth (which was traditionally identified with Isis) with his rod (PrEv
9.27.32),21
The foregoing examples may suffice to set the work ofArtapanus in the context ofthe
competitive historiography ofthe hellenistic age. The purpose ofthe work may be seen as
an attempt to bolsterJewish ethnic pride in the Jewish community.28 A similarpurpose, on
a much more sophisticated level, may be attributed to such writers as Josephus and Philo,
The work is apparently directed outward to any gentiles who might care to listen. but
undoubtedly had its main effect onthe self-esteem ofthe Jewish communily.19
Perhaps the greatest historical significance ofArtapanus, however, is that he represents
a very unusual. and distinctly syncretistic, theological stance within Judaism.
Theological importance
Artapanus has been sharply criticizedas one who was more concerned with the glory of
Judaism than with the purity ofhis religion.
3IJ
He has also been defended as an apologist
II See Collins. BetweenA.thens andJerusalem. pp, 33-35
2l Josephus. Apian I. 75-105, 227-50 (Manetho); 288-92 (Chaeremon); 304-11 (Lysimachus); 2.1-144 (ApiOll).
See }, G, Gager. Moses in GrecoRoman Paganism (SBLMS 16; Nashville. Tenn,. 1972), pp. 113-24.
l< Cf. also Eup. PsEup, ClMa],
"SeeTiede. The Charismatic Figure. pp. 150-67. On Sesostris See Oiodorus 1..54-57.
'"Diodorus. 1.17,3 and L27.4; Tiede. The Charismatic Figure. piSS,
17Tiede, The Charismatic Figure, p. 174.
l8 Braun, History andRomance, pp, 26f; Tiede. The Charismatic Figure, p. 149
"Compare V. Tcherilover. "Jewish Apologetic Literature Reconsidered," Eos 48(1956) 169-93,
JO SoE. Schiirer. History. vol. 3,p. 208. AlsoP. Dalbert,DieTheologi,derhelleniSfisch111dischenMisslonsliteratllr
Unler AIIS.chluuvon PhiloundJosephus (Hamburg. 1954), p, 52.
----------------,---,,--
whose narrat!ve WltS shaped by the need to rdule accusations." Neither assessment is qu.ile
accurate, although each has some basis, The primary mterest certainly lies in the Jewish
heroes Abraham, Joseph, andespeciallyMoses. Godremains in the background, except for
an occasional miraculous manifestation in the "divine voice" (PrEv 9,27.21.36) and the
mysterious power of the divine name (PrEv 9.27.25f.). Further, Artapanus takes the
unparaJleled step ofmaking Moses the founder ofthe Egyptian animal cults, This step is
certainly partofthe general apologeticglorificationofMoses, but nootherJewish apologist
goes so far. Artapanus is similarly at variance with other intertestarnental writings when he
presents both Abraham and Moses as teachers ofastrology.J2 Further. he identifies Moses
with the god Hermes and says he was deemed worthy ofdivine honorby the priests (PrEv
9,27,6).
However, Artapanus' attitude toward the Egyptian cults is not a simple one. It must be
seen in the light of his general euhemeristic
33
tendency to explain pagan divinities by
reference toinventions which were useful to mankind. It is crucial to bis theologythatonly
pagan divinities are soexplained. The God ofthe Jews is still regarded as "the masterof
the universe" (PrEv 9.27.22). The Egyptian cults may be legitimized by being attributed
to Moses, but they are only legitimized in an attenuated sense, We have already seen that
Isis is regarded as subordinate to Moses. This is also clearly true of the animal cults.
Ultimately, as Tiede remarks. "when the showdown comes, it is no surprise that the
Egyptians who brought along their animal gods (27,35) are destroyed by fire and flood
(27.37).")4
Artapanus, then, does not compromise the superiority ofthe God ofthe Jews. He can
also use the term "god" for pagandeities (PrEv 9.27.4) anddoes notobject when Moses
is deemed worthy ofdivine honor. Yet, we should bear in mind that even in the biblical
text God made Moses "agod to Pharaoh" (Ex 7:I), a point noted and utilized by Philo
(Vit Mos L158).'" However. this is not to deny that Artapanus is syncretistic far beyond
the orthodoxy of the Deuteronomic or rabbinic traditions. Not only does he regard the
animal cults of the Egyptians as hannless. but he apparently classifies them among the
things which are beneficial for mankind. Viewed as cultural products for human benefit,
they are consideredquite acceptable.
The piety ofArtapanus is conspicuously similar to that ofhellenistic paganism. He is
especiallyinterestedinthemiraculous,andeven,pemaps.themagical....WhiletheEgyptian
magicians might seem to be disparaged for their reliance on tricks and channs, great
emphasis is placed on Moses' rod, and on the mysterious powerofthe divine name. The
"SoO. vennes. "La figure deMoiseau toomanldesdeux Testaments."inMoise. L'HommeihI'Alliance(Cahiers
Sioniens; Paris, 1955), p. 73,
"Contra5tSibOr3.218-30; PhiloAN69-71. 77; Jub 12:1b-20.Abnlham is alsosaid 10 have discoveredastrology
in Ps-Eup(PrE.9.17.3).and ill PsHec(Josephus,Ant 1.8.211681lbeis said10 hay.taughtlite Egyptians_omy,
See further J. H. Charles...OJth...J....ish Astrology in lite Talmud. Pseud.pigrapha. !he Dead Sea Scroll. and Early
PalestinianSynll8osues." HTR 70 (1977) 183-200.
nEubemerism Is the theory thaI lite god. w.re originally killgs and conquerors who broughl benefits 10 humanity
and thmllteir worshiparose asanexpressionofgratitude. TheIe/tll isderived from EuhemerusofMessene. whoput
f""",anI this theory about 300II.C.
"TIede, The Chorismalic Fig.."" p. 162. Recenlly C, R. Holladay (Theios Aller in Judaism [SBLOS
40; Missoula, Mont., 19771 229-32)hasurgedthai!hesyncretismofArtapanusshouldbe funberqualified. He noIes
thaI Moses was called Mousaios by lhe Greeks, deemed worthy of divine honor by Egyp,itJII priests. and called
Hennes bytM'"or bytMEgyptians, It isdoubtfulwhetherIhis pointcan really qualify Artapanus' syncrelism. There
is no suggestion thm ArtapanusIboughtlltesenameswere wronglygiven 10 Moses. oreventhat MousaiosorHermes
had any exislence apan from Moses, Artapanus point seem. 10 be thaI Hermes is only.name that pagans gave 10
Moses. In one respect he undennines the divinity ofHermes. but he also affinns !he .steem in which Moses was
a11.gedly beld. Holladay also points 10!heambiguityoflite reference to!he sacred animals, cats. dogs. and ibises in
P,Ev9,27.4. and stresses thai lite ibis and Apis were nOl direclly consecrated by Moses, How.ver. in view of!he
",f,,",IICe in I',E.9,27.1210 "!hecreatures which Moseshadmade sacred" lltere is little room fordoubtthaI Moses
is eredi!ed ...ith .stablishing !he animal cults. This again subordinates !he..,cults 10 Moses, bUI also claims for him
whateverprestige may be derived from !hem.
n SeeD. a-gl, DieGegne,desl'arJlISim2. KorinlMrbrief:StuJiellll1rreligiose"Propaganda In de,SptItantike.
(Wissenschaftlicbe Monographien zum Allen und Neuen T.stamenl II;N.ukircbenVluyn. 19(4)pp, 147-51.
..See Tiede. TIut CharismtJlic Figure. pp. 166-74, This aspect ofAnapanus was emphasized by O. Weinreich,
Gebet..ndWwule,(StUltgart, 1929). II is noceworthy thaI !he citation in ClementdownplaY' the miraculoos element
in Moses' _apefrom prison. According to !he IeXI in Eusebiustbe doon openedof!heirown accord (automat6.).
in Clememlltey open "in a.::cordance with !he...iIl ofGod."
portrayal of Moses ha" often been compared with the belJerustic "divine man"
aner) , and while Artapanus does not use this expression we may agree with Tiede that
would scarcely have objected to it.)7
Relation tocanonicalbooks
Artapanus' discussions ofthe careers in Egypt ofAbraham. Joseph, and Moses ha
least pointsofdeparture in Genesis 12:10-20.Genesis 37-50.and Exodus 1-16.
deals freely with the biblical narrative. Yet the correspondences with the
especially in theaccountoftheplagues, are tonclosefor merecoincidence. and
exact in several cases. We must assume with Freudenthal that be knew the
translation.)jj Much of Artapanus' additional material has no biblical basis. but
cases he is clearly modifying the biblical accountfor apologetic purposes. So, for
Joseph is not sold into slavery by his brothers, but himselfrequested the Arabs to
him to Egypt. Again, Artapanus has Moses kill an Egyptian (PrEv 9.27.18) but
self-defense, in sharp contrast to the biblical incident (Ex 2:12) in which he
Egyptian for striking aHebrew.
Non-biblical sources
,...
Variousattemptshavebeenmade tolinkArtapanus withother Jewish
Freudenthal suggested that Artapanus, Pseudo-Hecataeus. and the Letter ofAristeas
all the work ofasingle forger.)9 HugoWiIlrich atfirst argued thatArtapanus was
on Pseudo-Hecataeus, but later revised this opinion and attributed the influence to
genuine Hecataeus of Abdera.
40
More recently. Merentites has suggested dep:!ndence
Eupulemus.
4
: However, there is nothing to indicate the direct dependence ofArtapanus
anyearliernon-biblicalJewishwritings.HesharessomeinterestsandmotifswithEupolelDUI
Pseudo-Eupolemus. and Pseudo-Hecataeus, but theseare commonapologetic elements
do not establish direct literary dependence between the individual works,
There is no doubt that Artapanus was influenced by the anti-Jewish historiography of:
Egyptian writers, quite probably by Manetho.
4l
There is general agreement that he also
drew on Hecataeus of Abdera, since he has close parallels with Diodorus ofSicily
wrote about 60-30B.C.) and Hecataeus is the most likely common source.o
Influence 00laterwritings
There is also wide agreement that Josephus was dependent on Artapanus, since both
record a number ofincidents which are not found in Exodus-mostnotably the campaign
against Ethiopia (Ani 2.W.If. [238-53))."" Josephus' account is more lengthy than the
"Tiede. Tlul Cllarismalic Figure, p. 177. The Moses of Anapanus is also viewed as a "divine IIWI." orrheios
anir. by WeinreiCh. G'MI WIll Wullder. p. 166; L. Bieler. Theios AMr (Wien. 1935--36) vol. 2. pp. 30-33; and
Georgi. Die G.gMr. pp. 147-51. Por a contrary view see Holladay, The/os Antr. 199-232. Holladay conInI8l$
Moses' escape trom prison with Ilml of Dionysus in the BaccIttMt of Euripides. He stresses Ilml Moses Is clearly
subordinate to the God who is tk.spolis of the universe. while Dionysus is himselfikspolts. We may IIIJOC with
HoUaday that Anapanus does 001 "ascribe divinity to Moses in any way approaching what we find in Euripides'
Baccbae" and that his P"'P"Ianda does nOl depend on showing thlll Moses is a IluIio$ anir. Yet. in the process of
asserting the genetal superiorityofMoses. he SUIlllest8 thlll Moses is superior tosome "divinities" wonhiped by the
pagans. and identical with others. Consequently. in so fer as the epithet "divine" can be applied to the pagan gods.
it can be applied to Moses. too. This. however, is "divinity" only in an attenU8led sense and is 001 COIIIpIUlIble to
the statusof the God of the lews.
'* Freudenthal. Alemrtdtr Polyltinor. p. 216.
,.Ale.Jtirtder PolylliS/or. p. 165.
..H. Willrich.Juden urtd Gritchell (GlIttingen. 1895)pp. 168f.;and by the sameauthor.JlUlaico (OOningen. 1900)
pp. 111-16.
" Merentites. Ho TolUla/os LOBios. p. 184. Merenrites notes that this wllIIeslion has already been mode by A.
Schlatter.
...Merentites.Ho ToudoJos Logior; Fraser. Plolemale Alatmdria. vol. I.p.706.Seeabove. "Historicalimportance."
..Freudenthal.Alnt2lUkr Pol.vhinor. pp. l6Of,: Willrich,JIUlaJca. pp. 111-16. Someof the penllelsarealso found
in Plutarch (Isis artd Osiris, 32. 57. 12).
..Soe.,. Walter. JSHRZ 1.2,p. Ill.
preserved account of Artapanul>. and it has been widely 5upP')sed lilal th<: episodes or
Moses' victory over the serpents and his marriage were originally included by Artapanus
but omitted by Alexander Polyhistor.'" However. Josephus omits key points of Artapanus'
account, such as the founding of Hermopolis and the introduction of circumcision. Most
significandy Josephus provides an entirely different ellplanation for the origin of the
campaign. Accordingly. some scholars deny that Josephus was dependent on Artapanus."
The question cannot be resolved definitively since we have only fragments of Artapanus.
Josephus could scarcely have followed Artapanus' explanation ofthe Ethiopian campaign
any case, since it involved Moses' role in establishing the animal cults. Hence he may
have deliberately composed an a1temative. The correspondence between Josephus and
Artapanus is more easily explained ifJosephus used the full narrative of Artapanus but
it ordeparted from it in accordance with his own view ofMoses.
,c D. Georgi bas argued for a line of continuity between Artapanus and Philo in the
ofMoses as a "divine man" (theios aner).41 The similarities. however. do not
dependence but are due to the common acceptance of hellenistic ideas for
purposes. Philo,ofcourse,does notfollow themore colorfulsyncretisticexploits
Moses in Artapallus.
The influence ofArtapanus on subsequent literature is slight. It is possible (but not very
that the neo-Pythagorean philosopher Nurnenius of Apamea derived the narne
Mousaeus for Moses from Artapanus (PrEv 9.8.2). Some ofthe non-biblical traditions in
Artapanus (e.g. the campaign against Ethiopia) are also found in rabbinic writings. and the
Confrontationwiththe Egyptianmagiciansfrequently recursinJewish.Christian.and Greco-
literature."However, there is no clearevidenceofdirect dependenceon Artapanus
any ofthis materia1.
The main claimofArtapaDuS 10 cultural significance is that he may representone ofthe
.precursors ofthe hellenistic romances, but here again there is no evidence that he had any
direct influence on thedevelopment ofthe genre.
49
"Thevictctyov'"the serpents seems tobepresuppooedby the consecrationofthe ibis in i\rlIIpaI1IIS. It i. possible
Ibal the entile EtbiopiJln campaign may have been inspired by the biblical reference 10 Moses' Ethiopian (Cusllitel
wife (Num 12:1). and so the martiaae of Moeswould havebeen cenlJ1ll to the original legend. either in ArIapIRus
or in his sow:oe. However.campaigns against Ethiopia are common f.,,1UreS ofthe competitivehistoriography of the
hellenislic age. Cambyse Sesostri and Semiramis were all credi1ed with such campaigns. So we cannot ....ume
!hal the legend in ArtapaIIUS wasdeveloped from the biblical reference10 the Ethiopian wife. Seefunber D. l.SOver.
"Mosesand the Hungry Birds."JQ.R 64 (1973) 124-53. SilverI8kes the biblicalreferenceas theoriginofthe story.
"Wachoider. EupoI.mw, p. 53, n. 107. T. RBjak. "Moses in Ethiopia: Legend and Litet1ll1Jte:' JlS 29 (1978)
111-22. arpesthat both ArtapIIIus and looeplniS were ultimately dependent on an ongoing oral trBditiorl. althoogh
Josephus may havedrawnonawrittensow:oe(bolt001 onArtapIIIus). A. Shinan. "MosesandtheEthiopianWoman."
ScriplO Huroso/ymJlOlW 27 (1978) 66-78. saysthai losephus' account is an ofthemitiori re\IcCted In
ArtapaIIUS
"Georgi,Die Gogner. pp. 148-62. See the assessment by Tiede. The Charimllllie Figu". pp. 147r.
..Freudenthal. Alemnder PoIylt;s,,", pp. l72f.
"BJ1WIl. HiSlory and Romanc" pp. 26-31. 99-102. Also M. Hadas. H.lle.islif C"/I"'" (New yon.. 1959) pp.
98. 172. Most ofthe romance litenlluredates to the _dcemury A.D. or later.
SELECTBIBLIOGRAPHY
Charlesworth. PMR. pp. 82f.
Delling. Bibliographie, pp. 53-55.
Denis, Introduction. pp. 255-57.
Braun. M. History and Romance. Oxford, 1938; pp. 26-31.99-102. (Ofbasic importance
for the relationship to the historical romances.)
Collins. J. J. Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora.
New York. 1983: pp, 32-38. (Discussion of identity in Artapanus,)
Collins, J, J" andPoehlmann. W, "Artapanus." Unpublished paperfrom NTseminar201.
Harvard Divinity School. April 1970,
Dalbert. P. Die Theologie der hellenistisch-jiidischen Missionslheratur unter Ausschluss
von Philo und Josephus. Hamburg. 1954; pp. 42-52, (The most extensive discussion
ofthe theology ofArtapanus,)
Fraser. P, M. Ptolemaic Alexandria, Oxford. 1972; vol. I. pp. 704-6;vol. 2,pp, 983-86,
(Well-documented historical comments.) J ..
Freudenthal. J. Alexander Polyhistor. Hellenistische Studien 1-2; Breslau. 1874-75. (Still
the basic study on many points. although the thesis on authorship is untenable,)
Georgi, D. Die Gegner des Paulus im 2, Korintherbrief; Studien tur religiosen Propaganda
in der Spiitantike. Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament
11; Neuldrchen-V!uYIl. 1964; pp, 147-5\. (A discussion of the theios anlr motif,
setting Artapanus in the contextofJewish mission literature.)
Gutman, J, Ha Sijrut Ha-Yehudit ha-Heilenistit. Jerusalem. 1963; vol. 2. pp, 109-35, (An
extensive discussion in modern Heb.)
Holladay. C. R. Theios Aner in Hellenistic Judaism: ACritique of the Use oj This Category
in New Testament Christology (SBLDS 40; Missoula. Mont.. 1977) pp, 199-232, (A
critique ofthe view that Artapanus depicts Moses as aTheios Aner,)
Merentites. K. 1. Ho loudaios Logios Artapanos kai to Ergon Autou. Athens. 1961. (The
only book-length study ofArtapanus. Introduction and full commentary. in Modern
Gk,)
Rajak, T. "Mosesin Ethiopia: Legend andLiterature."JJS 29 (1978) 111-22. (Discussion
ofthe Ethiopian episode and relation ofit to Josephus,)
Shinan. A. "Moses and the Ethiopian Woman." Scripta Hierosolymitana 27 (1978) 66-
78. (DiscussionofEthiopian incident,)
Silver. J. D, "Mosesand the Hungry Birds," JQR 64 (1973) 123-53. (A discussionofthe
significance ofthe ibis and its possible implications for the background ofArtapanus.)
Tiede, D. L The Charismatic Figure as Miracle Worker. SBLDS I; Missoula, Mont.,
1972;.pp. 146-77, (The bestdiscussion in English. Includestext and translationofthe
Moses fragment in pp. 317-24.)
Vennes. G. "La figure de Moise au toumant des deux Testaments." in Moise. DRomme
de I'Alliance. CahiersSioniens;Paris, 1955; pp. 66-74. (Containsan annotatedFrench
translation ofthe greater part ofArtapanus, with some general comments,)
WaIter,N. "Artapanos." JSHRZ 1.2 (1976) 121-43. (Introduction and annotated German
translation.)
THEFRAGMENTSOF ARTAPANUS
ABRAHAM
Fragment 1 Eusebius. "Praeparatio Evangelica" 9,18. /
Abraham in Egypt
Artapanus says inhisJudaica that the Jews are named "Hermiouth,".which.
Gcrl 12:1O;:ut:
translated intoGreek. is "Jews."They were called Hebrews afterAbraham.' Hc 13:11
says that the latter came to Egypt with all his household to the Egyptian king

p".Hec
Pharethothes: and taught him astrology,d that he remained there twenty
(J...p.!s,Ani
andthendepartedagain for theregionsofSyria. butthatmanyofthose whocame !.8.21Ilill\)
f
with himremained in Egypt onaccount ofthe prosperity ofthe land.
JOSEPH
Fragment2 Eusebius. "Praeparatio Evange/ica" 9.23./-4

123 Artapanus says in his "On the Jews" that Joseph was a descendant of
Abraham and son ofJacob. Since he excelled the others in understanding and
wisdom. he was plotted against by his brothers, He obtained prior knowledge of
the conspiracy and requested the neighboring Arabs to convey him to Egypt.'
They complied with the request. for the kings ofthe Arabs were descendants of
Israel,b sonsofAbraham. and brothers ofIsaac,
2 He came to Egypt, was recommended to the king. and became administrator of Go.41:41:
the entire land. Hitherto the Egyptians had fanned the land in a disorganized
manner, because the country was undivided and the subordinate classes were Phikl.J",
treated unjustly by the more powerful. This man (Joseph) was the first to divide
the land and distinguish it with boundaries,' He made much barren land arable
and allotted some ofthe arable lands to the priests.
Go.41:45,50:
1This man also discovered measurements and on account ofthese things he was )""'!'h"',AnI
2.6.L(91-92);
greatlylovedbytheEgyptians. He married Aseneth, the daughter ofa Heliopolitan
losA><n 21: Iub
priest, and begot children by her. Afterthesethings his father and brothers came 40:10
WllS related to the HykSOS invasiOil. Cf. Manetbo
FraplelltI (Abnbam) (Apion L73-92. 221-50), who alsoassociatesthe
a. This Ienll, which is peculiar to Artapanu"
Jewish ancestors with the Hyksos.
may be a combination of 'Ilram-yelrud (Syro-
JudaeWI) orHernws./OfUIojoi (HenneslMQ61e5 Jews).
Fragment2(Joseph)
Bothsuggestionswe",made by F",udenthal(Alex-
a. Presumablythisis adeliberaterevisionofthe
ander Poly/lislOf', p. IS3).
biblical story.
b. Abraham is called a Heb",w in Gen 14:13,
b. ItisnotclearwbetherArtBpanusthinksIsrael
buttheLXXtnIlIslatesll!ipera'ils (wanderer)instead
was the father o( Abraham or merely uses Israel
ofthe ethnic orsocial designation "Hebrew."
..,. genericnameforAbrahamandhisdescendants.
c. A fictional 1!lIIIIe, apparently derived from
Altenmtively,IsraelshouldbeemendedtoIshmael.
Pharaoh andThoth,
and"sons"and"brothe'rs"10'SOlI" and"brodIer."
d. Conll'llSl Abraham's rejectionofastrology in
c. ContrastGen41:20-22,whereJoseph issaid
Philo. Abr 69-71. 77,and Jub 12:60. Also SibOr
10 sequine all the land of Egypt (or Pharaoh. but
3:218-30(wheretherere",nceistothedescendants
cr. Josephus, An, 2.7.7 (l91f.), whe", he ",stones
ofAbraham),
the land to its original owners after the famine.
e. TIle duration of the sojourn is not noted in
ThemannsofJosephbearsomesimilarity10those
Genesis. In Jub 13:11 and IQapGen 19:23 it is
ofSesostris (Diodorus. 1.54). S"" also Fragment
live years.
3, on M05CS (PrE. 9.21.4).
r. ......iblyAnapanusisassumingthat Abraham
10 him hr much pref"my. and Welt; ;;ettled m Ht"lJopolis an.] S",s' and the
Syrians in Egypt became numerous. Gell
4He (Anapanus) says that these, who were called Hennioulh, founded the temple
88): TJ.,. 17;
in Athos and that in Heliopolis.' After these things both Joseph and the king of IUb 45;1-1;
the Egyptians died. PlUlo. lro255-
57
Joseph, then, as ruler ofEgypt, stored the seven year grain crop, which was Gen 50:26;
Josephus. Am
abundant in yield, and became masterofEgypt.
2.8.2 (198);luo
46:3-5; Philo,
Jos 268-69
Gen 41'47-49;
Josephus, AnI
2.6.1 (93); lub
4(l;IU.;PhiIo.
los 158-62
MOSES
Fragment3. Eusebius, "PraeparalioEvangelica" 9.27.1-37
\27 Anapanus says in his "On the Jews" that when Abraham had died and his

son Mempsasthenoth,' and also the king ofthe Egyptians, his son Palmanothes
succeeded to dominion.b
2The latter treated the Jews badly. First he built Sa'is' and founded the temple
there. Then he established the shrine at Heliopolis.d , >'
E. 1:8-14:
Joscp/l...Ant
2.9.1 (202r.
EzeHrag(PrEv
3This man begat a daughter Merris,' whom he betrothed to a certain Chenephres'
whowas kingoverthe regions beyond Memphis (for at that time there were many 9.28.2)
kings ofEgypt).' Since she was barren she adoptedthe childofone ofthe Jews
E>. 2;10;
andnameditMoses. As a grown man he was called Mousaeush by the Greeks.
J_llhus, Ant
4This Mousaeus was the teacherofOrpheus.
i
As a grown man he bestowedmany
2.9.S-71224_
321: Ptnlo. VII
usefulbenefitsonmankind,iforhe inventedboatsanddevicesforstoneconstruction Mo,I.I9
d. HeliopoJis (biblical On) was the city of the
sun-god Re. II is listed as one of thecitiesbuiltby
the Israelites in LXX Ex I:II. Sais should be
identified as Tanis. capital of Egypt during the
Hyksos period. Neither city falls within the ....a
usually identified as the biblical Goshen. In Jose.
phus, Ant2.7.6(188)JacobissettledinHeliopolis.
e. Athos may be the biblical Pithom (Ex I: II).
In Ex l: II the Hebrews build cities at these
k")a!ions. Here they build temples.
Fralll1l"nl 3 (Moses)
a. This passage is problematic and probably
corrupt. The mosl likely solution is thaI "Abra.
ham" was erroneously written (pemaps by Poly.
histor) in place of "Joseph" (so Merentiles. Ho
IvudtJios LOlivs. p. 26). Mempsasthenoth is a
plausible name for a son of Joseph and Aseneth
Alternatively. it is possible that ..Abraham" is an
error for "Jacob." and "Mempsasthenoth" for
"Psonlhomphanech" Ooseph's Egyptian name in
Gen 41:45. LXX).
b. Palmanothes is presumably the king's son.
Like all the Egyptian names in Anapanus. Pal-
manothes is fictional. but il is apossible Egyptian
name.
c. The MSS read ruson. probably acorruption
of"San. San must. like Sais. be identified with
Tanis(whichshould possibly be identified with the
biblical Rameses). Strug:nell sugge..ts Gesson (=
Goshen) as another possibility (private communi-
cation
d. Fragment 2 (PrEv9.23.4)alreadyreferred to
the building ofthe tempte in Heliopolis before the
death ofJoseph.
e. In josephus. the daughter's name is Ther.
and tht arms and the imrlements for drawing waleI' and for wartare,
and philosophy. Furtherhedividedthestateinto36nomes and appointed forea .:h
ofthe nomes the god to be worshiped. and for the priests the sacred letters, and
that they should be cats and dogs and ibises." He also allotted a choice area to
the priests.
,He did all these things for the sake of maintaining the monarchy firm for
Chenephres, for formerly the masses were disorganized and would at one time
expel kings, atothersappoint them. often the same peoplebutsometimes others.
60naccount ofthese thingsthenMoses was lovedby the masses, and was deemed
worthy ofgodlike honor by the priests and called Hermes,' on account of the
interpretation ofthe sacred letters,
The Ethiopiancampaign
7But when Chenephres saw the excellence ofMoses he was envious ofhim and
soughtto destroyhimonsomespeciouspretext.Onceindeedwhen the Ethiopians J"'U$.Ant
2.10.1-2 (238-
campaigned against Egypt,m Chenephres supposed he had found a convenient
S)l
opportunity and sent Moses against them as a general with an army. But he put
together a host offanners" for him, supposing that he would be easily destroyed
by the enemy on accountofthe weakness ofthesoldiers.
8 When Moses came to the district called Hermopolis." with about a hundred
thousandfanners, he pitchedcampthere, Hesentgeneralsto blockadetheregion,P
and these gained notable advantage in battles. He (Artapanus) says that the
HeJiopolitans assert thatthis war lasted ten years.
q
9Those around Moses founded a city in that place on account of the size of the
army. andmadethe ibis sacred becauseitdestroys thecreatures which harm
men.'They called it HermopoJis (the city ofHermes).
10 The Ethiopians, even though they were his enemies, loved Moses so much that
they learned the cireumcisionofthe genital organs from him, and not only they,
but also alI the priests.'
The plotapinstMoses
II When thewarwasendedChenephresreceivedhim favorably in speechbutplotted
againsthim in deed, Hetook thehostaway from him andsentsometothe borders .Ioo<pbus. Ant
k. I.e. thal die gods should be caIs, dogs, and
ibises. On die syncretism of AnaPIIJIUS see intro-
duction, "11IeoIosical importall<:e" (above).
I. HennesW85 dieOk. equivalentofThotb.The
idenlificatiOll with Moses W85 fadlitaled by die
frequency of die EtlYPtiannameTh_is.Thotb
wasalsoalawlliver.TheGk.wordforinu:rpretation
(MrIIOl_eial involvesaplay on"Hermes."Ondie
anributionofdivinehonor10 Mose.cr. Ex 7:Iand
Philo, ViI Mo. 1.158,and sec \nIroduct:ion, "The-
ological knportanoe...
m. Theideaofcampai,nagait1Sl Ethiopia was
probal>ly inspired by die fact that Cambyse. (He-
rodotuS3.17-25),Sesostris(Diodonis1.55.1).and
Semiramis (Diodorus 2.14.4) all conducted cam-
paignsagainstEthiopia(whichwas.a1so atraditional
enemyofEgypt).Thebiblical reference10 Moses'
EthiOpianwife(Num21:1)mayalsohaveprompted
tbe idea. The fragrnell\S ofAnapanus in Eusebills
donol.. feTloMoses' weddingtoher, butJosephus
does. On the reladon between Anapanus and J<>-
sephus sec Introduclion, "lnlluenceon laler writ-
ings...
n. This Idea wU possibly inspired by the en
rollmenl of Egyptians in the army of PhiIopator
before Ihe battle of Raphia. See Introduction.
"Date."
mUlhis (cf Jub 41:5; Tharmuth). Thennulhis was
alsothe name ofthe goddessofwei-nursingand
manifestation of Isis. The name Merris is
otherwiseknown, but Isis was worshiped at Meree
(Diodorus 3.9.2,Strabo 17.2.3) In PrEy 9.27.16
(below) Merris is buried at Merae and worshiped
no less than Isis. Artapanus is establishing an
indirect association between Moses and the tradi-
tions ofIsis.
f. The name is Egyptian, but fictional.
g. Probably a gloss (by Polyhistor?) 10 explain
howboth PalmanothesandChenepnreswerekings.
Thet\! is no further indication in Artapanus that
was politically divided. The Hyksos never
controlled Upper Egypt (beyond Memphis).
but i. isdoubtful that Anapanus' statementreflects
any hislOrical tradition.
h. Musaeus Was a mythical singer often ass().<
ciatedwithOrpheus Thisidentificationwith Mose.
is probably onginal in Artapanus. It also fouod
in Numenius (PrEv 9.8.Ir.).
i. Orpheus, the legendary founder ofOrphism,
was probably amythical figure, but some think he
was historical. He is more commonly said to have
been the teacherofMusaeus. Here the relationship
is inverted to glorify Moses.
J. The inventions here ascribed to Moses ate
closely modeled On those elsewhere ascribed to
odlerheroes. See especially Diodorus 1.56.2; 1.94.4
(on Sesoslris); and 1.96.4. on the wisdom derived
from Egypt byOrpheus.ThediVisionofEgypt into
thirty-six nomes is found in Diodorus 1.54.3 but
does not correspond to the historical situation in
hellenistic Egypt. Diodorus and Anapanus may
both have drawn on Hecallleus ofAbdera. In the
iewishtradition cf. the discoveriesofthe Watchers
in SibOr 1:91-96; I En 8;1; 69:4-10.

o. Hermopolis in Onoc<>-RolIWI times marted
the boulldllry between Middle and Upper Egypt.
Anapanus implies(below. 27.9)that it WJlll named
after Hennes-Moses. The Egyptian city WIIS the
city ofThoIh.
p. LSJM gives"laysiege."
TIede(TM elwri_lic Fis"re. p. 318)translated
"occupythe land in advance."
q. Thisref"",neeneed not be laien10meanthat
Anapaltus was acrually infonned by tbe priests,
but COIIld be simply an imillllion ofthe historical
style of Herodorus and others.
r. The consecration ofthe ibis presupposes the
Siory found in Josephus. Ani 2.10.2 (246), how
Moses overcame die serpents on his march by
means of ibises, Silver (JaR 64 [l973) 141-52)
suggests that Moses' use of the ibis may reflect
memories ofasyncretistic cult, but his argument
is very hypothetical.
s. Herodotus2.104and Diodorus \.55and 1.28
claim dial circumcision originated with the Ethi<>-
piansand Egyptillns. Artapanusanributesitsorigin
10 Moses. In Apio_ 2.141 Josephus implied that
OIIly priests were circumcised in Egypt. The Ok.
aulhors imply that it was generally praclk'ed.
2.11.1 (235)