4 Maccabees Contributor(s): Desilva, David (Author) |
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ISBN: 1850758964 ISBN-13: 9781850758969 Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press OUR PRICE: $35.59 Product Type: Paperback Published: May 1998 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Religion | Biblical Studies - New Testament - General |
Dewey: 229.750 |
Series: Guides to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha |
Physical Information: 0.39" H x 5.58" W x 8.48" (0.49 lbs) 176 pages |
Themes: - Religious Orientation - Christian |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Hellenistic Greek society offered many advantages to the Jew who was willing to relax Torah for the sake of easier relations with the dominant culture. 4 Maccabees was written to reassure Jewish readers that Torah was in fact the sole path to the perfection of the virtues honoured in Greek culture, as it freed the diligent devotee from slavery to the desire, emotion and the domination of pain and pleasure. In brief compass, deSilva provides a detailed look at the rhetorical and philosophical strategy of the author of 4 Maccabees, who redirects the hearers' desire for honour and advancement toward those commitments that will preserve his Jewish subculture from assimilation. This often neglected text becomes an engaging window into Hellenistic Judaism and into some of the concerns that were formative influences on the early church. |