Intertextuality and Its Different Facets in the Narrative Analysis of the Book of Esther and 3 Maccabees

Mariola Trojanowska

doi:10.21697/ct.2023.93.2.02

Published: 2023-05-24

Vol. 93 No. 2 (2023)

Intertextuality and Its Different Facets in the Narrative Analysis of the Book of Esther and 3 Maccabees

Mariola Trojanowska

Collectanea Theologica

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2023.93.2.02

Abstract

While the interpretation of the book of Esther has posed many challenges in the past, a key and well-recognized aspect of this text is that it presents a narrative behind one of the most important Jewish holidays, namely, Purim. As such, it also strongly influenced Jewish culture, including similar texts written to cultivate Jewish traditions in the diaspora. In this article, an analysis of possible intertextual connections between Esther and the apocryphal book of 3 Maccabees is presented. The latter was likely written for Jews living in Alexandria. While this topic has been studied in the past by several authors, in this article emphasis is laid on narrative similarity between both books. In particular, five key elements of this similarity have been identified, and additional parallel fragments have been presented. Their distribution and their likely origin from different versions of the book of Esther support claims about the possible origin of 3 Maccabees from a mature version of Esther.

Keywords:

book of Esther, 3 Maccabees, intertextuality, common prototypical narrative

Most read articles by the same author(s)

Download files

PDF

Citation rules

Trojanowska, M. (2023). Intertextuality and Its Different Facets in the Narrative Analysis of the Book of Esther and 3 Maccabees. Collectanea Theologica, 93(2), 37–55. https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2023.93.2.02

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

Alexander, P., “3 Maccabees, Hanukkah and Purim,” Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Texts: Essays in Memory of Michael P. Weitzman (ed. A. Rapoport-Albert – G. Greenberg; Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 333; London: Sheffield Academic 2001) 321–339.
Google Scholar

Alexander, P. – Alexander, L., “The Image of the Oriental Monarch in the Third Book of Maccabees,” Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers (ed. T. Rajak et al.; Berkeley, CA – Los Angeles, CA – London: University of California Press 2007) 92–109.
Google Scholar

Anderson, H., “3 Maccabees. A New Translation and Introduction,” The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. II. Expansions of the Old Testament and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic Works (ed. J.H. Charlesworth; New York, NY – London: Doubleday 1985) 509–529.
Google Scholar

Baruq, A., “Judith, Esther,” La Sainte Bible de Jerusalem (Paris: Cerf 1959).
Google Scholar

Berlin, A., “Esther,” JPS Bible Commentary (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society 2001).
Google Scholar

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (ed. E. Elliger – W. Rudolph; 5th ed.; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft 1997)
Google Scholar

Bickermann, E.J., “Makkabäerbücher 2,” Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (ed. W. Kroll; Stuttgart: Metzler 1928) XIV.1, cols. 797–800.
Google Scholar

Boyd-Taylor, C., “3 Makkabees,” New English Translation of the Septuagint (ed. A. Pietersma – B. Wright; Oxford University Press 2009) 521–529, https://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/22-3makk-nets.pdf (access 11.08.2022).
Google Scholar

Capponi, L., “Martyrs and Apostates: 3 Maccabees and the Temple of Leontopolis,” Henoch 29/2 (2007) 288–306.
Google Scholar

Collins, J.J., “3 Maccabees,” The HarperCollins Study Bible (ed. H.W. Attridge; San Francisco, CA: Harper-SanFrancisco 2006) 1573–1587.
Google Scholar

Cousland, J.R.C., “Reversal, Recidivism and Reward in 3 Maccabees: Structure and Purpose,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 34 (2003) 39–51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/157006303321043156
Google Scholar

Crawford, S.W., “4Q Tales of the Persian Court (4Q550 A-e) and Its Relation to Biblical Royal Courtier Tales, Especially Esther, Daniel and Joseph,” The Bible as Book (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press 2002) 121–137.
Google Scholar

Crawford, S.W., “Has Esther Been Found at Qumran? 4QProto-Esther and the Esther Corpus,” Revue de Qumran 17 (1996) 307–325.
Google Scholar

Croy, N.C., 3 Maccabees (Leiden: Brill 2006). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789047417194
Google Scholar

Day, L., Three Faces of a Queen: Characterization in the Books of Esther (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 186; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 1995).
Google Scholar

Emmet, C.W., “The Third Book of Maccabees,” Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (ed. R.H. Charles; Oxford: Clarendon Press 1913) I, 155–173.
Google Scholar

Hacham, N., “3 Maccabees and Esther: Parallels, Intertextuality, and Diaspora Identity,” Journal of Biblical Literature 126 (2007) 765–785. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/27638467. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/27638467
Google Scholar

Hacham, N., “Exile and Self-identity in the Qumran Sect and in Hellenistic Judaism,” New Perspectives on Old Texts (ed. E.G. Chazon – B. Halpern-Amaru – R. Clements; Leiden: Brill 2010) 3–21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004183070.i-257.6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004183070.i-257.6
Google Scholar

Hadas, M., “Aristeas and III Maccabees,” Harvard Theological Review 42 (1949) 175–184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816000020617. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017816000020617
Google Scholar

Harvey, C.D., Finding Morality in the Diaspora? Moral Ambiguity and Transformed Morality in the Books of Esther (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 328; Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2003) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110893960
Google Scholar

Holt, E.K., Narrative and Other Readings in the Book of Esther (Library of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament Studies 712; London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark 2021).
Google Scholar

Humphreys, W. Lee., “A Life-Style for Diaspora: A Study of the Tales of Esther and Daniel,” Journal of Biblical Literature 92 (1973) 211–223. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3262954. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3262954
Google Scholar

Jobes, K.H., “Book of Esther 1,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings (ed. T. Longman III – P. Enns; Downers Grove, IL – Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press 2008) 160–193.
Google Scholar

Johnson, S.R., “3 Maccabees,” The T&T Clark Companion to the Septuagint (ed. J.K. Aitken; Bloomsbury Companions; London – New Delhi – New York, NY – Sydney: Bloomsbury 2015) 292–305.
Google Scholar

Johnson, S.R., Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in Its Cultural Context (Berkeley, CA – Los Angeles, CA – London: University of California Press 2005).
Google Scholar

Jurin, S. – Krišković, A., Texts and their Usage through Text Linguistic and Cognitive Linguistic Analysis (Rijeka: Filozofski fakultet u Rijeci 2017).
Google Scholar

Koller, A., Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2014). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107261419
Google Scholar

Kot, A., “Gatunek literacki księgi Estery. Przyczynek do tematu,” Collectanea Theologica 77/3 (2007) 27–42.
Google Scholar

Livneh, A., “Female Bodies and Dress in Second Temple Jewish Literature: The Case of Lamenting Women,” Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 96 (2020) 459–483. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2143/ETL.96.3.3288586.
Google Scholar

Mélèze-Modrzejewski, J.E., Troisième livre des Maccabées (La Bible d’Alexandrie 15.3; Paris: Cerf 2008).
Google Scholar

Milik, J.T., “Les modèles araméens du livre d’Esther dans la grotte 4 de Qumrân,” Revue de Qumrân 15 (1992) 321–406.
Google Scholar

Moore, C.A., “Esther Revisited Again: A Further Examination of Certain Esther Studies of the Past Ten Years,” Hebrew Annual Review 7 (1983) 169–186.
Google Scholar

Moore, C.A., “On the Origins of the LXX Additions to the Book of Esther,” Journal of Biblical Literature 92 (1973) 382–393. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3263579. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3263579
Google Scholar

Motzo, R.B., “Il rifacimento Greco di Ester e il III Maccabei, in Saggi di storia e letteratura giudeo- ellenistica,” Contributi alla scienza dell’Antichità (Firenze: Le Monnier 1924) V, 272–290.
Google Scholar

Moyise, S., “Intertextuality and Biblical Studies: A Review,” Verbum et Ecclesia 23 (2002) 418–431. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v23i2.1211. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v23i2.1211
Google Scholar

Popowski, R., Septuaginta (Prymasowska Seria Biblijna; 4th ed.; Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza Vocatio 2022).
Google Scholar

Septuaginta: Id Est Vetus Testamentum Graece Iuxta LXX Interpretes (ed. A. Rahlfs – R. Hanhart; Duo Volumina in Uno; 2nd ed.; Stuttgart 2007).
Google Scholar

Septuaginta Deutsch: Das griechische Alte Testament in deutscher Übersetzung (ed. W. Kraus – M. Karrer; Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft 2009).
Google Scholar

Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Greacum: Esther (ed. R. Hanhart; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 19661-19832) VIII.3.
Google Scholar

Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Greacum: Maccabaeorum liber III (ed. R. Hanhart; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 19601-19802) IX.3.
Google Scholar

Sterling, T., “III Maccabees and Pseudo-Aristeas,” Yale Classical Studies 1 (1928) 241–252.
Google Scholar

Stone, M.J., Empire and Gender in LXX Esther: Early Judaism and Its Literature (Atlanta, GA: SBL Press 2018). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv75d0ct
Google Scholar

Swanson, D.D., “Dead Sea Scrolls,” Dictionary of the Old Testament: Wisdom, Poetry & Writings (ed. T. Longman III – P. Enns; Downers Grove, IL – Nottingham: Inter-Varsity Press 2008) 187–209.
Google Scholar

Thambyrajah, J.A., The Relationship between 3 Maccabees and the Vetus Latina of Esther,” Journal of Biblical Literature 141 (2022) 699–715. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1414.2022.6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1414.2022.6
Google Scholar

Torrey, C.C., “The Older Book of Esther,” Harvard Theological Review 37 (1944) 1–40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S001781600002900X. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S001781600002900X
Google Scholar

Trotter, J., “Going and Coming Home in Diasporan Pilgrimage: The Case of Philo’s Ἱεροποµποί and Diaspora-Homeland Relations in Alexandrian Jewish Perspective,” Journal for the Study of Judaism 50 (2019) 26–51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15700631-12494230. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15700631-12494230
Google Scholar

Tuval, M., “Doing Without the Temple: Paradigms in Judaic Literature of The Diaspora,” Was 70 CE a Watershed in Jewish History? On Jews and Judaism before and after the Destruction of the Second Temple (ed. D.R. Schwartz – Z. Weiss; Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity 78; Leiden: Brill 2012) 181–239. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004217447_011
Google Scholar

Witte, M., “Das Esterbuch,” Grundinformation Altes Testament (ed. J.C. Gertz; 6th ed.; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 2019) 481–494.
Google Scholar

Wojciechowski, M., Apokryfy z Biblii greckiej (Rozprawy i Studia Biblijne; Warszawa: Oficyna Wydawnicza Vocatio 2001).
Google Scholar

Yoo, Y., “Desiring the Empire: Reading the Book of Esther in Twenty-first Century Korea,” Migration and Diaspora: Exegetical Voices from Northeast Asian Women (ed. H. Kinukawa; Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2014) 31–46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt9qh1sr.7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt9qh1sr.7
Google Scholar