From Kings to Monsters: Jewish Perspectives on the Hellenistic and Roman Empires in Sibylline Oracles 3 and 5

Abstract

Abstract Both the third and fifth books of the Sibylline Oracles engage with the threat and challenges of the political powers of their day, the Hellenistic and Roman respectively (Sib. Or. 3:657-714; 5:28-34, 155-161, 342-359). Both books also construe these powers as part of the reason for the arrival of God as Divine Warrior to execute judgement. In contrast to Alexandria Frisch, who argued that the Hellenistic Empire was the cause of greater Jewish critique, this article demonstrates that within the Sibylline tradition, the development in use of Jewish combat myth of the Divine Warrior across the two books actually shows the reverse. The texts from Sibylline Oracles 5 escalate the threat of the political enemy, not only depicting the Roman Empire and emperor within the cosmic drama, but as a force of chaos and agent of evil.