Full Description
Fourth Maccabees is a superbly crafted oration that presents a case for the Jewish way of life couched almost entirely in terms of Greek ethical ideals. Using an expansion upon previous scriptural narratives as an opportunity for philosophical exposition, its author delights in the Torah, the Law of Moses, as the divinely given path to becoming our best selves now. Moreover, drawing upon Greek logic tradition, he develops an elaborate rationalisation of that law based upon the promise of eternal life with God.
In this collection of essays spanning two decades of study, David deSilva examines the formative training that produced such an author, the rhetorical craft present in his work, and the author's creative use of both Jewish and Greek literary resources. Finally, he demonstrates the book's enduring message and legacy in the Christian church, from theological influence on Origen to textual relations within Codex Sinaiticus.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part 1: Rhetorical Situation and Strategic Response
1. The Author of 4 Maccabees and Greek Paideia: Facets of the Formation of a Hellenistic Jewish Rhetor
2. Honor and Shame as Argumentative Topoi in 4 Maccabees
3. Fourth Maccabees as Acculturated Resistance Literature
Part 2: The Rhetorical Contributions of Intertexture
4. The Strategic Retelling of Scripture in 4 Maccabees: David's Thirst (4 Macc 3:6-18)
5. Engagement with Greco-Roman Intertexture: Conversations about Maternal Affections
6. "Father Knew Best": Intertextuality and Argumentation in 4 Macc 18:6-19
Part 3: The Legacy of 4 Maccabees
7. The Human Ideal, the Problem of Evil, and Moral Responsibility in 4 Maccabees
8. Fourth Maccabees and Early Christian Martyrdom: The Influence of 4 Maccabees on Origen's Exhortatio ad Martyrium
9. Ambrose's Use of 4 Maccabees in De Jacob et Vita Beata
10. Beyond the Eclectic Text of 4 Maccabees: Reading 4 Maccabees in Codex Sinaiticus
Conclusion
Bibliography
Author Index
Scripture Index
