Visions and Violence in the Pseudepigrapha. Edited by Craig A. Evans, Brian LePort, and Paul T. Sloan

Abstract

This volume contributes 10 essays to the discussion of early biblical interpretation and the developments of biblical traditions in early Judaism and Christianity. As the title implies, the book groups its essays into two parts: the first dealing broadly with ‘how sacred tradition is expanded and interpreted in the Pseudepigrapha, especially through vision’ (p. ix), the second discussing more specifically themes of ‘violence, polemic, and judgment’ (p. ix). Since the contributions touch on an array of texts and methods, I shall give a brief mention to each essay before ending with the volume as a whole. The first essay, from Torleif Elgvin, opens the volume with a discussion of the history of traditions surrounding the figure of Solomon. He traces a significant expansion in traditions surrounding that king especially from the second century BCE on, perhaps due to the influence of the Hasmoneans. The essay’s discussion is split between a broader history of the tradition across a number of texts and, in the latter half, a more minute study discussing the literary growth of Song of Songs.