She is My Sister”
Sarai as Lady Wisdom in the Genesis Apocryphon
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10907236 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anthony I Lipscomb (0000-0002-3737-4095, Brandeis UniversityWaltham, MAUnited States, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 319-347 |
| Publication date | 2019-08-29 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal for the Study of Judaism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0047-2212 • E-ISSN: 1570-0631 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15700631-15031262 |
| OpenAlex | W2970170549 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
The Aramaic text from Qumran known to scholars as the Genesis Apocryphon (1Q20) stands out as one the earliest and most innovative examples of the retelling of Abram and Sarai’s sojourn in Egypt (Gen 12:10-20). To be sure, the terse nature of the Genesis account invited creative storytellers to fill in the gaps, but brevity yielded only half the impetus. Ancient storytellers were no less bothered by the inglorious portrayal of Abram and Sarai, for which there is no shortage of attempts to rescue their reputations. The Apocryphon shares several of the same recharacterization strategies as other ancient retellings, but it is nevertheless unique in its engagement with the tradition of personified wisdom. This article imagines the composer of the Apocryphon’s sojourn account in dialogue with ancient Jewish wisdom traditions and discerns an effort to redeem Sarai’s reputation from Genesis 12 by recasting her as an embodiment of Lady Wisdom
Art · Jewish studies · Judaism · Literature · Sister · Sociology · Theology · Anthropology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Classics · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Philosophy
Incestuous and Close-kin Marriage in Ancient Egypt and Persia
Mother and Maiden, Sister and Spouse
Divine Embodiment in Philo of Alexandria
A Wandering Aramean in Pharaoh’s Court
Sir. 51, 13-30
Aristotle and Hippocrates in the Book of Jubilees
The Rise of the Sage in Greek and Jewish Antiquity
Jubilees and Hellenistic Encyclopaedism
Place and Space in the Song of Songs
| Highly cited | No |
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