Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha

The Old Latin version of Esther is witness to a lost Greek Vorlage. It differs significantly from other ancient (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic) Esther stories as it includes, for instance, a prayer of the Jewish community as well as several additional cases of divine intervention; it also omits any mention of the ‘massacre episode’. Previous research on the Old Latin Esther has largely focused on text-historical questions. This article intends to broaden the discussion by examining the theological character of the text. A close comparison with the extant Hebrew and Greek Esther versions reveals that the Old Latin emphasizes the importance of the Jewish community and presents Mordecai as its prototypical leader in both religious and political matters. In addition, the Vetus Latina emphasizes the crucial role of divine action, induced by acts of religious observance and petitionary prayer.

In the romance Joseph and Aseneth, Aseneth identifies herself as an orphan abandoned by her parents (e.g., 11.3–5; 12.5; 13.1–2). The problem, however, is that she consistently maintains cordial relations with her family. This article addresses this discrepancy by analyzing the rhetorical function of the orphanhood language in light of the parenthood imagery running throughout the work. The romance presents people as belonging to the families of either God or the devil (12.9–11). Aseneth's self-identification as an orphan both signals her total separation from the family of the devil and prepares Aseneth for full incorporation into the family of God by placing her into the category of marginalized people over whom God exercises paternal care (e.g., 11.13; 12.13). The orphanhood and parenthood language thus justifies the acceptance of non-Jews into the chosen community in a way that could have appealed to some communities of Jews or Christians.

The aim of this study is to look afresh at the scriptural sources underlying the Song of Tobit in Tobit 13 and to suggest a scriptural model for the authorial/editorial shaping of this Song in terms of the Kingship of YHWH Psalms in the Psalter. The study proceeds with an investigation of the group of psalms commonly designated Kingship of YHWH Psalms, with particular emphasis on the collection of these psalms in Book IV of the Psalter (Pss. 93, 95–99). This is followed by an overview of the complex textual situation and structure of the Song of Tobit (Tob. 13.1–18). Finally, a comparison of the features of Tobit 13 and those of the Kingship of YHWH Psalms is made. The study concludes with the suggestion that Tobit 13, in the earliest form known to us, has been modelled on what appears to be a generic modulation of the Kingship of YHWH Psalms found in the collection of Psalms 93, 95–99. It is suggested that in Tobit 13 the admonitory and eschatological elements found in germinal form in the Kingship of YHWH collection have been creatively extended and developed in a manner suggestive of a synagogue, rather than Temple locus for the song.