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- Title
Naphtali, a Proto-Joseph in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.
- Authors
Hillel, Vered
- Abstract
The Greek Testament of Naphtali (TNaph) 1.7, 8 states that Joseph, as a result of Rachel's prayer for a son like Naphtali from her own womb, was like (őμoıoς) Naphtali in all things. Naphtali's association with Joseph, as well as developed Naphtali traditions stemming from the period of the Second Temple and reworked and remodeled in the Middle Ages, is well known from non-biblical traditions. Naphtali traditions are pre- served in four different works 4Qlestament of Naphtali (4QTNaph), the Greek Testa- ment ofNaphtali ( TNaph) , the Medieval Hebrew Testament ofNaphtali (Lieb. Naph.) and Midrash bereshit rabbati (BR). However, the writer of TNaph develops the comparison between Naphtali and Joseph beyond any known biblical or non-biblical tradition. For example, by equating Naphtali with Joseph, TNaph enhances the prestige of the ‘Naphtali traditions’. As a result, the figure of Naphtali emerges as a type of Joseph, or, as a so- called proto-Joseph. This article seeks to demonstrate that such an understanding of Naphtali is borne out by an examination of the character of Naphtali as portrayed in TNaph and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (TPatr) as a whole and by the manner in which the author adopted and adapted traditional material.
- Subjects
NAPHTALI (Tribe of Israel); GREEK literature &; the Old Testament; TWELVE tribes of Israel; BIBLE &; literature; BIBLICAL translations; LOST tribes of Israel
- Publication
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, 2007, Vol 16, Issue 3, p171
- ISSN
0951-8207
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/0951820707077164