[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Aristobulus II's "sadducees"?



In my recent previous post on this subject, I mentioned Dupont-Sommer's
interpretation of the Ephraim & Manasseh found in the Pesher Nahum. In
simplifying his position, I have spread a little misinformation:
Dupont-Sommer says that as the birthrights of Ephraim and Manasseh were
exchanged, so were those of Hyrcanus and Aristobulos, ie Hyrcanus, the
elder, became the equivalent of Ephraim, the younger.

This allows him to talk of the seekers of smooth things as the Pharisaic
supporters of Hyrcanus. It makes me wonder about "the stranger who joins
them", ie "those who lead Ephraim astray", in the interpretation of Nahum
3:4 -- we know that Hyrcanus received support from Antipater, who would be
thought of in Jerusalem as extraneous to the situation.

If the commentary to Nahum 2:11b, which refers to "the coming of the rulers
of the Kittim. But then she [Jerusalem] shall be trampled under their
feet...", can be interpreted in a concrete manner to refer to Pompey and
AEm. Scaurus, we have a clear earliest date for the writing of the Pesher Nahum.

Ian Hutchesson