Judaism and Hellenism: Studies in Their Encounter in Palestine during the Early Hellenistic Period

by Martin Hengel

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2003

Overview

Martin Hengel gathers an encyclopedic amount of material, ancient and modern, to present an exhaustive survey of the early course of Hellenistic civilization as it related to developing Judaism. The result is a highly readable account of a largely unfamiliar world which is indispensable for those interested in Judaism and the birth of Christianity alike. An extensive section of notes and bibliography is included.

Key Features

• Explores the development of Judaism between the testaments
• Illuminates the social, religious, and historical background of early Christianity
• Examines the encounter between Judaism and Hellenism

Contents

• Early Hellenism as a Political aod Eoonomic Force
• Hellenism in Palestine as a Cultural Force and its Influence on the Jews
• The Encounter and Conflict between Palestinian Judaism and the Spirit of the Hellenistic Age
• The ‘Interpretatio Graeca’ of Judaism and the Hellenistic Reform Attempt in Jerusalem

Top Highlights

“Something fundamentally new arose in ‘Hellenism’—through the encounter of Greece with the Orient—which differed from the time of classical Greece, just as Judaism—and here we return to our theme—underwent a gradual but deep-rooted change in the Hellenistic period through its encounter and conflict with the social, political and spiritual forces of this epoch, on the basis of which it differs in essential points from its earlier forms in the Old Testament.” (Volume 1, Pages 2–3)

“dominated public and economic life in Egypt as virtually the only written language is shown by the Zeno correspondence” (Volume 1, Page 58)

“we find almost exclusively Greek inscriptions in Palestine” (Volume 1, Page 58)

“the persecution under Antiochus IV in II Maccabees” (Volume 1, Page 2)

Praise for the Print Edition

Hengel’s fine book is a freshly thought-out and thoroughly researched study which cuts across the customary network of traditional opinion and unsubstantiated guesswork.... This will certainly be a standard work for decades to come.

—James Barr

Hengel writes with equal mastery on the political, economic, intellectual, and religious aspects of the encounter between the Jews and the Greeks and has succeeded admirably in presenting the detailed information essential for the appraisal of the period without ever allowing the momentum of his argument to be lost.

—P.R. Ackroyd

Martin Hengel presents here, in a fine English translation, an excellent, comprehensive study of the impact of Hellenism on Judaism in the intertestamental period. Hengel has mastered all the primary material and given us a new, synthetic picture of the encounter, at all its different levels.

—Choice

Product Details

• Title: Judaism and Hellenism: Studies in Their Encounter in Palestine during the Early Hellenistic Period
• Author: Martin Hengel
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock
• Publication Date: 2003
• Pages: 666
• Resource Type: History
• Topic: Judaica

About Martin Hengel

Martin Hengel (1926–2009) was emeritus professor of New Testament and early Judaism at the University of Tübingen. He specialized in early Christianity and the origins of Christianity. 

Hengel began studying theology in 1947 in Tübingen before moving to the University of Heidelberg in 1949. He eventually earned his Ph.D. in 1959 from the University of Tübingen.

Hengel’s works include Studies in Early Christology, Crucifixion: In the Ancient World and the Folly of the Message of the Cross, and The Septuagint as Christian Scripture: Its Prehistory and the Problem of its Canon.