Post by Dave on Feb 19, 2013 20:07:24 GMT -5
The letter of Aristeas
The birth of Gnosticism and the Library of Alexandria.
Why and how have so many ancient text survived into our modern age? Primarily, because the Egyptians gathered them all together and treated them as precious materials that deserve preservation. Without this love of knowledge by the Egyptians, much of what we know about the ancient world would have been lost, including some of what is today considered Roman Canon.
No one in Christendom cares about this letter. This is a letter from the world’s first know bibliophile – Ptolemy Philadelphus. He is writing in behalf of “Demetrius of Phalerum, the president of the king’s library,’ and the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. The events within this narrative took place during the lifetime of the famous Queen Arsinoe, who died 270 BC. Although, the exact date of this writing is unknown.
Who is Ptolemy Philadelphus
From: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_Philadelphus_(son_of_Cleopatra)
Ptolemy Philadelphus (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος ὁ Φιλάδελφος, "Ptolemy the brother-loving", August/September 36 BC – 29 BC) was a Ptolemaic prince and was the youngest and fourth child of Greek Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and her third with Roman Triumvir Mark Antony. Ptolemy was of Greek and Roman heritage. He was born in Antioch, Syria (this part of ancient Syria, is now a part of modern Turkey). Ptolemy was named after the original Ptolemy II Philadelphus (the second Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty) and Cleopatra’s intention was recreating the former Ptolemaic Kingdom. In late 34 BC, at the Donations of Alexandria, Ptolemy was made ruler of Syria, Phoenicia and Cilicia.
His parents were defeated by Octavian (future Roman Emperor Augustus) during the naval battle at Actium, Greece in 31 BC. The next year, his parents committed suicide as Octavian and his army invaded Egypt.
The fate of Ptolemy Philadelphus is unknown. Plutarch states that the only child that Octavian killed out of Antony’s children was Marcus Antonius Antyllus. The ancient sources do not mention any military service or political career, if he was involved in any scandals, any marriage plans or any descendants, and if he survived to adulthood, it would have been mentioned. Ptolemy probably died from illness in the winter of 29 BC, but this is not verified.
From: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_II_Philadelphus
Callimachus, keeper of the library, Theocritus, and a host of lesser poets, glorified the Ptolemaic family. Ptolemy himself was eager to increase the library and to patronize scientific research.
The tradition preserved in the pseudepigraphical Letter of Aristeas which connects the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek with his patronage is probably overdrawn. However, Walter Kaiser says, "There can be little doubt that the Law was translated in Philadelphus's time since Greek quotations from Genesis and Exodus appear in Greek literature before 200 B.C. The language of the Septuagint is more like Egyptian Greek than it is like Jerusalemite Greek, according to some."
The letter of Aristeas
1 Since I have collected material for a memorable history of my visit to Eleazar the High Priest of the Jews. And because you, Philocrates, as you lose no opportunity of reminding me, have set a great store upon receiving an account of the motive and object to my mission, I have attempted to draw up a clear exposition of the matter for you, for I perceive that you possess a natural love of learning, a quality which is the highest possession of a man – to be constantly attempting to add to his stock of knowledge and acquirements’ whether through the study of history or actually participating in the events themselves.
2 It is by this means, by talking up into itself the noblest elements, that the soul is established in purity, and having fixed its aim on piety, the noblest goal of all, it uses this as its infallible guide and so acquires a definite purpose.
3 It is my devotion to the pursuit of religious knowledge that led me to undertake the embassy to the man I have mentioned, who was held in the highest esteem by his own citizens and by others, both for his virtue and his majesty, and who had in his possession documents of the highest value to the Jews in his own country and in foreign lands for the interpretation of the divine law, for their laws are written on leather parchments in Jewish characters.
4 This embassy then I undertook with enthusiasm, having first of all found an opportunity of pleading with the king on behalf of the Jewish captives who had been transported from Judea to Egypt by the king’s father, when he first obtained possession of this city and conquered the land of Egypt.
5 It is worth while that I should tell you this story, too, since I am convinced that you with your disposition towards holiness and your sympathy with men who are living in accordance with the holy law, will all the more readily listen to the account which I purpose to set forth, since you yourself have lately come to us from the island and are anxious to hear everything that tends to build up the soul.
6 On a former occasion too, I sent you a record of the facts which I thought worth relating about the Jewish race, - the record which I obtained from the most learned high priests of the most learned land of Egypt.
7 As you are so eager to acquire the knowledge of those things which can benefit the mind, I feel it incumbent upon me to impart to you all the information in my power.
8 I should feel the same duty towards all who possessed the same disposition but I feel it especially towards you since you have aspirations which are so noble, and since you are not only my brother in character, no less than in blood, but are one with me as well in the pursuit of goodness.
9 For neither the pleasure derived from gold nor any other of the possessions which are prized by shallow minds confers the same benefit as the pursuit of culture and the study which we expend in securing it.
10 But that I may not weary you by too lengthy introduction, I will proceed at once to the substance of my narrative.
11 Demetrius of Phalerum, the president of the king’s library, received vast sums of money, for the purpose of collecting together, as far as he possibly could, all the books in the world.
12 By means of purchase and transcription, he carried out, to the best of his ability, the purpose of the king.
13 On one occasion when I was present he was asked, How many thousand books are in the library? And he replied, ‘More than two hundred thousand, O king, and I shall make endeavour in the immediate future to gather together the remainder also, so that the total of the five hundred thousand may be reached. I am told that the laws of the Jews are worth transcribing and deserve a place in your library.’
14 “What is to prevent you from doing this?’ replied the king. ‘Everything that is necessary has been placed at your disposal.’
15 ‘They need to be translated,’ answered Demetrius, ‘for in the country of the Jews they use a peculiar alphabet (just as the Egyptians, too, have a special form of letters) and speak a peculiar dialect.
16 They are suppose to use the Syriac tongue, but this is not the case; their language is quite different.’
17 And the king when he understood all the facts of the case ordered a letter to be written to the Jewish High Priest that his purpose (which has already been described) might be accomplished.
18 Thinking that the time had come to press the demand, which I had often laid before Sosibius of Tarentum and Andreas, the chief of the bodyguard, for the emancipation of the Jews who had been transported from Judea by the king’s father – for when by a combination of good fortune and courage he had brought his attack on the whole district of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia to a successful issue, in the process of terrorizing the country into subjection, he transported some of his foes and others he reduced to captivity.
19 The number of those whom he transported from the country of the Jews to Egypt amounted to no less than a hundred thousand.
20-22 (Speaks about how 30 thousand of these Hebrew slaves were used as soldiers in the service of the Pharaoh)
23 Having, as has already been stated, obtained an opportunity for securing their emancipation, I addressed the king with the following arguments. “Let us not be so unreasonable as to allow our deeds to give the lie to our words.
24 Since the law which we wish not only to transcribe but also to translate belongs to the whole Jewish race, what justification shall we be able to find for our embassy while such vast numbers of them remain in a state of slavery in your kingdom?
25 In the perfection and wealth of your clemency release those who are held in such miserable bondage, since as I have been at pains to discover, the God who gave them their law is the God who maintains your Kingdom.
26 They worship the same God – the Lord and Creator of the universe, as all other men, as we ourselves, O king, though we call him by different names, such as Zeus or Dis.
27 This name was very appropriately bestowed upon him by our first ancestors, in order to signify that He, through whom all things are endowed with life and come into being, is necessarily the Ruler and Lord of the universe.
28 Set all mankind an example of magnanimity by releasing those who are held in bondage.”
29 After a brief interval, while I was offering up an earnest prayer to God that He would so dispose the mind of the king that all the captives might be set at liberty – for the human race, being created of God, is swayed and influenced by Him.
30 Therefore with many divers prayers I called upon Him who ruleth the heart that the king might be constrained to grant my request.
31 For I had great hopes with regard to the salvation of the men since I was assured that God would grant a fulfillment of my prayer.
32 For when men from pure motives plan some action in the interest of righteousness and performance of noble deeds, Almighty God brings their efforts and purposes to a successful issue – the king raised his head and looking up at me with a cheerful countenance asked, ‘How many thousands do you think they will number?’
33 Andreas, who was standing near, replied, ‘A little more than a hundred thousand.’
34 ‘It is a small boon indeed.’ Said the king, ‘that Aristeas asks of us!’
35 Then Sosibius and some others who were present said, ‘Yes, but it will be a fit trinute to your magnanimity for you to offer the enfranchisement of these men as an act of devotion to the supreme God.
36 You have been greatly honoured by Almighty God and exalted above all your forefathers in glory and it is only fitting that you should render to Him the greatest thankoffering in your power.’
The birth of Gnosticism and the Library of Alexandria.
Why and how have so many ancient text survived into our modern age? Primarily, because the Egyptians gathered them all together and treated them as precious materials that deserve preservation. Without this love of knowledge by the Egyptians, much of what we know about the ancient world would have been lost, including some of what is today considered Roman Canon.
No one in Christendom cares about this letter. This is a letter from the world’s first know bibliophile – Ptolemy Philadelphus. He is writing in behalf of “Demetrius of Phalerum, the president of the king’s library,’ and the chief librarian at the Library of Alexandria. The events within this narrative took place during the lifetime of the famous Queen Arsinoe, who died 270 BC. Although, the exact date of this writing is unknown.
Who is Ptolemy Philadelphus
From: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_Philadelphus_(son_of_Cleopatra)
Ptolemy Philadelphus (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος ὁ Φιλάδελφος, "Ptolemy the brother-loving", August/September 36 BC – 29 BC) was a Ptolemaic prince and was the youngest and fourth child of Greek Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and her third with Roman Triumvir Mark Antony. Ptolemy was of Greek and Roman heritage. He was born in Antioch, Syria (this part of ancient Syria, is now a part of modern Turkey). Ptolemy was named after the original Ptolemy II Philadelphus (the second Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty) and Cleopatra’s intention was recreating the former Ptolemaic Kingdom. In late 34 BC, at the Donations of Alexandria, Ptolemy was made ruler of Syria, Phoenicia and Cilicia.
His parents were defeated by Octavian (future Roman Emperor Augustus) during the naval battle at Actium, Greece in 31 BC. The next year, his parents committed suicide as Octavian and his army invaded Egypt.
The fate of Ptolemy Philadelphus is unknown. Plutarch states that the only child that Octavian killed out of Antony’s children was Marcus Antonius Antyllus. The ancient sources do not mention any military service or political career, if he was involved in any scandals, any marriage plans or any descendants, and if he survived to adulthood, it would have been mentioned. Ptolemy probably died from illness in the winter of 29 BC, but this is not verified.
From: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy_II_Philadelphus
Callimachus, keeper of the library, Theocritus, and a host of lesser poets, glorified the Ptolemaic family. Ptolemy himself was eager to increase the library and to patronize scientific research.
The tradition preserved in the pseudepigraphical Letter of Aristeas which connects the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek with his patronage is probably overdrawn. However, Walter Kaiser says, "There can be little doubt that the Law was translated in Philadelphus's time since Greek quotations from Genesis and Exodus appear in Greek literature before 200 B.C. The language of the Septuagint is more like Egyptian Greek than it is like Jerusalemite Greek, according to some."
The letter of Aristeas
1 Since I have collected material for a memorable history of my visit to Eleazar the High Priest of the Jews. And because you, Philocrates, as you lose no opportunity of reminding me, have set a great store upon receiving an account of the motive and object to my mission, I have attempted to draw up a clear exposition of the matter for you, for I perceive that you possess a natural love of learning, a quality which is the highest possession of a man – to be constantly attempting to add to his stock of knowledge and acquirements’ whether through the study of history or actually participating in the events themselves.
2 It is by this means, by talking up into itself the noblest elements, that the soul is established in purity, and having fixed its aim on piety, the noblest goal of all, it uses this as its infallible guide and so acquires a definite purpose.
3 It is my devotion to the pursuit of religious knowledge that led me to undertake the embassy to the man I have mentioned, who was held in the highest esteem by his own citizens and by others, both for his virtue and his majesty, and who had in his possession documents of the highest value to the Jews in his own country and in foreign lands for the interpretation of the divine law, for their laws are written on leather parchments in Jewish characters.
4 This embassy then I undertook with enthusiasm, having first of all found an opportunity of pleading with the king on behalf of the Jewish captives who had been transported from Judea to Egypt by the king’s father, when he first obtained possession of this city and conquered the land of Egypt.
5 It is worth while that I should tell you this story, too, since I am convinced that you with your disposition towards holiness and your sympathy with men who are living in accordance with the holy law, will all the more readily listen to the account which I purpose to set forth, since you yourself have lately come to us from the island and are anxious to hear everything that tends to build up the soul.
6 On a former occasion too, I sent you a record of the facts which I thought worth relating about the Jewish race, - the record which I obtained from the most learned high priests of the most learned land of Egypt.
7 As you are so eager to acquire the knowledge of those things which can benefit the mind, I feel it incumbent upon me to impart to you all the information in my power.
8 I should feel the same duty towards all who possessed the same disposition but I feel it especially towards you since you have aspirations which are so noble, and since you are not only my brother in character, no less than in blood, but are one with me as well in the pursuit of goodness.
9 For neither the pleasure derived from gold nor any other of the possessions which are prized by shallow minds confers the same benefit as the pursuit of culture and the study which we expend in securing it.
10 But that I may not weary you by too lengthy introduction, I will proceed at once to the substance of my narrative.
11 Demetrius of Phalerum, the president of the king’s library, received vast sums of money, for the purpose of collecting together, as far as he possibly could, all the books in the world.
12 By means of purchase and transcription, he carried out, to the best of his ability, the purpose of the king.
13 On one occasion when I was present he was asked, How many thousand books are in the library? And he replied, ‘More than two hundred thousand, O king, and I shall make endeavour in the immediate future to gather together the remainder also, so that the total of the five hundred thousand may be reached. I am told that the laws of the Jews are worth transcribing and deserve a place in your library.’
14 “What is to prevent you from doing this?’ replied the king. ‘Everything that is necessary has been placed at your disposal.’
15 ‘They need to be translated,’ answered Demetrius, ‘for in the country of the Jews they use a peculiar alphabet (just as the Egyptians, too, have a special form of letters) and speak a peculiar dialect.
16 They are suppose to use the Syriac tongue, but this is not the case; their language is quite different.’
17 And the king when he understood all the facts of the case ordered a letter to be written to the Jewish High Priest that his purpose (which has already been described) might be accomplished.
18 Thinking that the time had come to press the demand, which I had often laid before Sosibius of Tarentum and Andreas, the chief of the bodyguard, for the emancipation of the Jews who had been transported from Judea by the king’s father – for when by a combination of good fortune and courage he had brought his attack on the whole district of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia to a successful issue, in the process of terrorizing the country into subjection, he transported some of his foes and others he reduced to captivity.
19 The number of those whom he transported from the country of the Jews to Egypt amounted to no less than a hundred thousand.
20-22 (Speaks about how 30 thousand of these Hebrew slaves were used as soldiers in the service of the Pharaoh)
23 Having, as has already been stated, obtained an opportunity for securing their emancipation, I addressed the king with the following arguments. “Let us not be so unreasonable as to allow our deeds to give the lie to our words.
24 Since the law which we wish not only to transcribe but also to translate belongs to the whole Jewish race, what justification shall we be able to find for our embassy while such vast numbers of them remain in a state of slavery in your kingdom?
25 In the perfection and wealth of your clemency release those who are held in such miserable bondage, since as I have been at pains to discover, the God who gave them their law is the God who maintains your Kingdom.
26 They worship the same God – the Lord and Creator of the universe, as all other men, as we ourselves, O king, though we call him by different names, such as Zeus or Dis.
27 This name was very appropriately bestowed upon him by our first ancestors, in order to signify that He, through whom all things are endowed with life and come into being, is necessarily the Ruler and Lord of the universe.
28 Set all mankind an example of magnanimity by releasing those who are held in bondage.”
29 After a brief interval, while I was offering up an earnest prayer to God that He would so dispose the mind of the king that all the captives might be set at liberty – for the human race, being created of God, is swayed and influenced by Him.
30 Therefore with many divers prayers I called upon Him who ruleth the heart that the king might be constrained to grant my request.
31 For I had great hopes with regard to the salvation of the men since I was assured that God would grant a fulfillment of my prayer.
32 For when men from pure motives plan some action in the interest of righteousness and performance of noble deeds, Almighty God brings their efforts and purposes to a successful issue – the king raised his head and looking up at me with a cheerful countenance asked, ‘How many thousands do you think they will number?’
33 Andreas, who was standing near, replied, ‘A little more than a hundred thousand.’
34 ‘It is a small boon indeed.’ Said the king, ‘that Aristeas asks of us!’
35 Then Sosibius and some others who were present said, ‘Yes, but it will be a fit trinute to your magnanimity for you to offer the enfranchisement of these men as an act of devotion to the supreme God.
36 You have been greatly honoured by Almighty God and exalted above all your forefathers in glory and it is only fitting that you should render to Him the greatest thankoffering in your power.’
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