Texts in Conversation
In 2 Kings 23, Josiah reads the newly found scroll of the covenant to all the people, and they agree to keep it. The Letter of Aristeas follows the same pattern when the Greek law is read aloud in Alexandria and the people and their leaders approve it.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Kings 23:2
Hebrew Bible
1 The king summoned all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 The king went up to the Lord’s temple, accompanied by all the people of Judah, all the residents of Jerusalem, the priests, and the prophets. All the people were there, from the youngest to the oldest. He read in their ears2 all the words of the scroll of the covenant that had been discovered in the Lord’s temple. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant before the Lord, agreeing to follow the Lord and to obey his commandments, laws, and rules with all his heart and being, by carrying out the terms of this covenant recorded on this scroll. All the people agreed to keep the covenant.
Letter of Aristeas 1:310
Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
When the work was completed, Demetrius collected together the Jewish population in the place where the translation had been made, and read it over to all, in the presence of the translators, who met with a great reception also from the people, because of the great benefits which they had conferred on them. They warmly praised Demetrius, too, and urged him to have the whole law transcribed and present a copy to their leaders. After the books had been read, the priests and the elders of the translators and the Jewish community and the leaders of the people stood up and said, that since so excellent and sacred and accurate a translation had been made, it was only right that it should remain as it was and no
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Notes and References
“... Harry Orlinsky has made the most complete case that in the scene that we observe in these paragraphs the combination of reading aloud to the people followed by some expression of consent comprises the biblical procedure for making something authoritative and binding. So, in Exod 24:3–7, Moses takes the leaders of the people aside to worship God, then he “recounted to the people all God’s words and statutes. And all the people answered with one voice, saying, ‘All the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do and heed’” (NETS). In 4 Reigns 23, when Josiah is presented with the scroll found in the temple, he gathered “all the elders of Iouda and Ierousalem”; then he read the scroll aloud to the people and to the priests and prophets, all of whom agreed to enter into the covenant. And, of course, in 2 Esdr 18:1–8 (=Neh 8:1–8 MT) Ezra brought the “book of the law of Moyses,” and he read from it to all the people all morning. They responded with “Amen.” ...”
Wright, Benjamin G., III
The Letter of Aristeas: ‘Aristeas to Philocrates’ or ‘On the Translation of the Law of the Jews’
(pp. 442-443) De Gruyter, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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