Texts in Conversation
Deuteronomy 7 and 10 call on Israel to remember the great and awesome things God has done. The Letter of Aristeas blends the two verses into one quotation and introduces it as scripture, the earliest Greek Jewish use of that word for a quoted text.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 7:18
Hebrew Bible
17 If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I—how can I dispossess them?” 18 you must not fear them. You must carefully recall what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 19 the great judgments you saw, the signs and wonders, the strength and power by which he brought you out—thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you fear. 20 Furthermore, the Lord your God will release hornets among them until the very last ones who hide from you perish. 21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God.
Deuteronomy 10:21
Hebrew Bible
18 who justly treats the orphan and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19 So you must love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. 20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him, and take oaths only in his name. 21 He is the one you should praise; he is your God, the one who has done these great and awesome things for you that you have seen. 22 When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.
Letter of Aristeas 1:155
Letter of Aristeas to Philocrates
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
represent to the initiated the symbol of memory. For the act of chewing the cud is nothing else than the reminiscence of life and existence. For life is usually sustained by means of food so he exhorts us in the Scripture also in these words: 'You shall surely remember the Lord who worked in you those great and wonderful things". For when they are properly conceived, they are manifestly great and glorious; first the construction of the body and the disposition of the food and the separation of each individual limb and, far more, the organization of the senses, the operation and invisible movement of the mind, the rapidity of its particular actions and its discovery of the
Search:
Notes and References
“... § 155. scripture. In this paragraph and in § 168, Ps.-Aristeas refers to the Jewish law as ἡ γραφή, usually translated “scripture.” Although the word generally indicates something with written characters or a piece of writing, in § 155, the designation introduces a quotation of Deut 7:18, which is followed by an allusion to Deut 10:21, and thus indicates a technical usage. It is the earliest occurrence in Greek-Jewish literature of the term in this technical sense. [...] Thus, there is enough similarity to the two passages, together with the designation that this is “scripture,” to think that Ps.-Aristeas knew the Deuteronomy text but enough difference to wonder in what form he knew it. ...”
Wright, Benjamin G., III
The Letter of Aristeas: ‘Aristeas to Philocrates’ or ‘On the Translation of the Law of the Jews’
(pp. 291-292) 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,