Did the Rabbis Believe in Agreus Pan?: Rabbinic Relationships with Roman Power, Culture, and Religion in Genesis Rabbah 63
This article presents a reading of the story of the Patriarch's meeting with the Emperor Diocletian as it appears in the late antique midrashic compilation, Genesis Rabbah. The story encapsulates the complexity of the relationship between the rabbis and Roman political, cultural and religious h...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[2018]
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| In: |
Harvard theological review
Year: 2018, Volume: 111, Issue: 3, Pages: 425-450 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Midrash Rabbah. Genesis 63,8
/ Rabbi
/ Roman Empire
/ Power
/ Culture
/ Religion
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion BE Greco-Roman religions BH Judaism TD Late Antiquity |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This article presents a reading of the story of the Patriarch's meeting with the Emperor Diocletian as it appears in the late antique midrashic compilation, Genesis Rabbah. The story encapsulates the complexity of the relationship between the rabbis and Roman political, cultural and religious hegemony, showing the rabbis as both in eternal conflict with the Roman Empire and its culture and, yet, in many ways, very Roman themselves. In the second half of the article, I argue that this story presents a unique perspective on rabbinic views of both demons and the Olympian gods themselves. I conclude by comparing and contrasting these views with the approaches of early Christian thinkers. |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4517 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0017816018000184 |