Other Writings/Traditions

Abstract

Other Writings/Traditions Christopher T. Begg, William J. Urbrock, Brian J. Meldrum, Richard A. Taylor, and Thomas Hieke Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America William J. Urbrock University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Brian J. Meldrum Catholic University of America Richard A. Taylor Dallas Theological Seminary Thomas Hieke Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz 739. [Angels in the Mäṣḥafä Qәddase and Its Andәmta] Tedros Abraha, "The Place of the Angels in the Mäṣḥafä Qәddase (The Book of Hallowing) and in Its Andәmta," Angelic Beings, 151-74 [see #810]. A.'s contribution focuses on angelology in the Ethiopic work of his title, with particular attention to the roles and locations within the heavenly hierarchy according to that document. The 81 canonical books of the OT and NT in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches and their mainly allegorical interpretation known as andәmta are key to the interpretation of the angelology of the above document as well as those found in the canonical 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and the Apocalypse of Ezra. Outside of its biblical sources, other important sources for the document in question are the Hexaemeron, Mäṣḥafä Aksimaros, and De Coelesti Hierarchia (Περὶ τῆς οὐρανίας Ἱεραρχίας)by Pseudo-Dionysius the Aeropagite (5th cent. a.d.). Drawing on these and still other later sources, the Mäṣḥafä Qәddase offers details regarding the creation of angels, their numbers, their organization, and their role as part of the innermost circle of the Holy Trinity. In this document, angels are linked to the founding of churches, which are built wherever drops of blood of the crucified Christ fell or were sprinkled by an angel. Despite the massive presence of angels in all aspects of religious and secular life among Ethiopians and Eritreans, it is striking that in the Geʿez work Mäṣḥafä Qәddase taken as a whole angels do not play as prominent a role as one might expect. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 740. [The Torah's Dietary Laws in the Letter of Aristeas] Anna Angelini, "The Reception and Idealization of the Torah in the Letter of Aristeas: The Case of the Dietary Laws," HeBAI 9 (4, 2020) 435-47. In the Letter of Aristeas (LA), the dietary laws are presented as a paradigm for the entire Torah. However, the summary of the dietary laws given by the author in ¶¶128-171 does not, for the most part, literally quote the biblical texts in question, but rather reflects a considerable degree of interpretation regarding these laws. This paper examines the relationship between biblical traditions and Greek cultural referents in the Letter's presentation [End Page 246] of the dietary and sacrificial laws against the background of other Second Temple period texts which feature a reception of these laws, e.g., Philo, Josephus, and the Qumran materials. I argue that while the presentation of the dietary laws in the Letter attests to the considerable authority this section of the Torah had for the author from a symbolic point of view, it nonetheless offer little evidence for the practice and content of a dietary halacha. See ##679, 695. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 741. [Philo's Exegesis of the Dream of Jacob (Gen 28:10-22) in Somn. 1,1-188] Anne Boiché, "La place de l'Écriture dans l'exégèse du rêve de Jacob (Somn. 1,1-188)," Religion et rationalité, 9-27 [see #796]. B.'s study on the place of Scripture in the exegesis of Philo highlights the methodical fashion in which Philo develops his thought, not only taking the text of Scripture as his starting point, but also, and especially, proceeding in company with it. The dialogue between the scriptural text and Philo's interpretation of this unfolds by way of Philo's close work with scriptural citations, which sometimes are abbreviated or even implicit, as required by the nature of the Philonic commentary, but also via a process of reciprocal clarification on the basis of classical culture, this leading to an exegesis that is Philo's own, but always closely linked to the text of Scripture. [Translated and adapted...