Christine R. Trotter explores how ancient Jews and the earliest Christians attempted to comfort people who had endured or witnessed persecution and violence, illustrating the nature of intercultural encounter between Jews, Greeks, Romans, and Christians regarding how to alleviate grief and cultivate joy.
Christine R. Trotter elucidates how Hellenistic Jewish writers attempted to comfort those living in the midst of and in the wake of persecution and violence. While past scholarship has explored this question primarily in terms of the development of Jewish apocalypticism and afterlife beliefs, Christine R. Trotter takes a comprehensive approach by investigating how Hellenistic Jewish authors engaged with ancient consolatory rhetoric, that is, the means of persuasion intended to move a suffering person out of grief and into joy. Through studies on 2 Maccabees, the Wisdom of Solomon, 1 Thessalonians, and Hebrews, the author explicates how Hellenistic Jewish authors navigated the diverse traditions of consolation within their biblical heritage and Greco-Roman culture. Her work has important implications for the genre of 1 Thessalonians and the dates of composition of the Wisdom of Solomon and Hebrews.
Table of contents:
Introduction: Hellenistic Jews and Consolatory Rhetoric
The Goals of Ancient Consolatory Rhetoric
Plan of This Study
Chapter 1. Consolatory Rhetoric in Hellenistic Judaism
Ancient Greco-Roman Consolation
Ancient Jewish Consolation
The Content of Hellenistic Jewish Consolatory Rhetoric
Navigating between and within Biblical and Greco-Roman Consolation
Hellenistic Jews at the Intersection of Biblical and Greco-Roman Consolation
Chapter 2. Narrating Trauma: Consolatory Rhetoric in 2 Maccabees
Circumstances of Composition
Previous Scholarship
Genre and Purpose of 2 Maccabees
Consolatory Arguments
Function of the Consolatory Arguments in 2 Maccabees
Implications
Chapter 3. Consoling in the Guise of Solomon: The Wisdom of Solomon
Circumstances of Composition
Previous Scholarship
Genre of the Wisdom of Solomon
The Persona of King Solomon and Addressees
Consolatory Arguments in the Book of Eschatology
Wisdom and Education in Grief and Suffering
A History of Victory over Similar Trials
Making Meaning of the Suffering of the Righteous
Implications
Chapter 4. Paul's Consolatory Letter to Thessalonica: 1 Thessalonians
Circumstances of Composition
Previous Scholarship
Paul's Diagnosis and Characterization of the Situation
Arrangement and Genre of 1 Thessalonians
Consolatory Exhortation
Consolatory Rhetoric in the Epistolary Thanksgiving
Expressions of Sympathy
Exempla: Models for Navigating Hardship and Conquering Grief
Implications
Chapter 5. Consoling in the Aftermath of the Destruction of Jerusalem: Hebrews
Circumstances of Composition
Previous Scholarship
Consolation concerning the Destruction of Jerusalem
Imitating Pauline Consolation regarding Persecution
The Problem of Death
Implications
Conclusion: Hellenistic Jews at the Crossroads of Biblical and Greco-Roman Consolation
