How Did the Israelites Get Their Weapons?: An Overlooked Solution to a Famous Literary Zetema in Philo’s Life of Moses
Among Greek-speaking Jewish interpreters of the Septuagint, there was a well-known literary-critical puzzle about the exodus: when and how did the biblical Israelites acquire weapons after they left Egypt? If they departed from Egypt unarmed, how did they get their weapons before they fought their f...
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2023
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| In: |
The studia Philonica annual
Year: 2023, Volume: 35, Pages: 67-87 |
| Summary: | Among Greek-speaking Jewish interpreters of the Septuagint, there was a well-known literary-critical puzzle about the exodus: when and how did the biblical Israelites acquire weapons after they left Egypt? If they departed from Egypt unarmed, how did they get their weapons before they fought their first battle, the battle against the Amalekites? Different Jewish-Greek critics solved this narrative gap in different ways. In this article I argue that Philo offered a stunning solution to the puzzle in his Life of Moses (Mos.) that has gone unnoticed in previous scholarship: namely, that the Hebrews did not obtain weapons. Throughout his reworking... |
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| ISSN: | 1052-4533 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The studia Philonica annual
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