Jew and Gentile in the ancient world : attitudes and interactions from Alexander to Justinian / Louis H. Feldman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Feldman, Louis H.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judaism--Relations.

Judaism.

Jews--Public opinion--History.

Jews.

Jews--History--586 B.C.-70 A.D.

Jews--History--70-638.

Antisemitism--History.

Antisemitism.

Judaism--Controversial literature--History and criticism.

Proselytizing--Judaism--History.

Proselytizing.

Philosemitism--History.

Philosemitism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 679 pages)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1993.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Relations between Jews and non-Jews in the Hellenistic-Roman period were marked by suspicion and hate, maintain most studies of that topic. But if such conjectures are true, asks Louis Feldman, how did Jews succeed in winning so many adherents, whether full-fledged proselytes or "sympathizers" who adopted one or more Jewish practices? Systematically evaluating attitudes toward Jews from the time of Alexander the Great to the fifth century A.D., Feldman finds that Judaism elicited strongly positive and not merely unfavorable responses from the non-Jewish population. Jews were a vigorous presence in the ancient world, and Judaism was strengthened substantially by the development of the Talmud. Although Jews in the Diaspora were deeply Hellenized, those who remained in Israel were able to resist the cultural inroads of Hellenism and even to initiate intellectual counterattacks. Feldman draws on a wide variety of material, from Philo, Josephus, and other Graeco-Jewish writers through the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, the Church Councils, Church Fathers, and imperial decrees to Talmudic and Midrashic writings and inscriptions and papyri. What emerges is a rich description of a long era to which conceptions of Jewish history as uninterrupted weakness and suffering do not apply.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1: Contacts between Jews and Non-Jews in the Land of Israel

CHAPTER 2: The Strength of Judaism in the Diaspora

CHAPTER 3: Official Anti-Jewish Bigotry: The Responses of Governments to the Jews

CHAPTER 4: Popular Prejudice against Jews

CHAPTER 5: Prejudice against Jews among Ancient Intellectuals

CHAPTER 6: The Attractions of the Jews: Their Antiquity

CHAPTER 7: The Attractions of the Jews: The Cardinal Virtues

CHAPTER 8: The Attractions of the Jews: The Ideal Leader, Moses

CHAPTER 9: The Success of Proselytism by Jews in the Hellenistic and Early Roman Periods

CHAPTER 10: The Success of Jews in Winning "Sympathizers"

CHAPTER 11: Proselytism by Jews in the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Centuries

CHAPTER 12: Conclusion

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Indexes

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [587]-619) and indexes.

ISBN:

9786612751639

9781400815838

1400815835

9781400811564

1400811562

9781282751637

1282751638

9781400820801

1400820804

OCLC:

53401268