Overview
A comparative study in the hermeneutics of the ancient interpretations of the biblical Joseph story. Assuming that every interpretation results from a creative encounter between the ultimately open text of Scripture and the specific world of thought of the interpreter, it examines the particular way in which each exegetic construes the biblical outline of Joseph's character. Paying special attention to the literary nature of the source, the study begins with an analysis of the narrative methods and the hermeneutic potential of the biblical story, and then proceeds to the inter-testamental evidence. The central concern of the study is to compare the different interpretations of the philosopher Philo, the historian Josephus and the Midrash Genesis Rabbah. These sources do not only range over a considerable amount of time, but significanly derive from respectively Greek and Hebrew culture. Consequently, their representations of Joseph fulful distinctively different purposes, ranging from an idealization of Joseph as a Hellenistic politician to autobiographical apologetics and religious instruction.
Full Product Details
Author: Niehoff
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Volume: 16
Dimensions:
Width: 15.50cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.408kg
ISBN: 9789004095564
ISBN 10: 900409556
Pages: 180
Publication Date: 01 August 1992
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
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Reviews
' Niehoff is particularly to be commended for her comparatice approach and for her care in refusing to oversimplify. ' Louis H. Feldman, Journal for the Study of Judaism . ' ... this is a stimulating and innovative study, full of insight and fresh perceptions of the way ancient exegetes went about their work, and it opens up many possibilities for future research. ' C.T.R. Hayward, Apocrypha and Post-Biblical Studies , 1993.
' Niehoff is particularly to be commended for her comparatice approach and for her care in refusing to oversimplify.'<br>Louis H. Feldman, Journal for the Study of Judaism.<br>'.. . this is a stimulating and innovative study, full of insight and fresh perceptions of the way ancient exegetes went about their work, and it opens up many possibilities for future research.'<br>C.T.R. Hayward, Apocrypha and Post-Biblical Studies, 1993.<br>
Author Information
Maren Niehoff studied Judaism, Philosophy and Literature in Berlin, Jerusalem, and Oxford. He is Junior Fellow at Harvard since 1989. Publications include articles in various journals.
