From kraft Mon Jan 23 23:45:39 1995
Subject: Query about "Auditors'" Participation
To: dss
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 23:45:39 -0500 (EST)
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL23-upenn2.9]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Length: 3272      
Status: RO


> Prof Kraft I would like to ask a question. I am listening in on the 
> discussions on DSS and would like to take part to the fullest extent I 
> can (taking into consideration that I am not in your lectures ...). 
> I have ordered shipped to me the two books mentioned.... 
> Being that I am new to 
> this type of thing, I would like to know what and how much I may add to 
> the discussions of this subject? I am unsure as to what role you see 
> people in my situation playing with regards to this class and the List. 

In theory, all possibilities are open -- just as though you were
actually here and auditing the course. In practice, of course, I could
not handle a flood of difficult questions or unsolicited materials, so
it is best to check as you are doing. It is excellent that you have
obtained the VanderKam and Fitzmyer books, since I will sometimes need
to refer questioners to them to avoid simply repeating their information.

> For example, would you want people who are reading this to submit 
> written material like someone in your class? (Obviously only if they 
> wanted). 

I had not anticipated that this would be normal for net auditors, but
I'm willing to experiment. Certainly any review comments you might wish
to offer on pertinent literature (books, articles) are most welcome.
What I would do with research papers from auditors, beyond issuing their
summaries on the list, would depend on how many and what quality. There
are just so many hours in a day!

> Do you accept questions based on the class notes? (For example 
> you have mentioned a later date for Philo then I have seen. Having read 
> some of his and Josephus' works I was curious as to how he could be 
> dated that late? Also you did not mention a Hebrew version of Josephus' 
> works, was there a reason?)

Yes, certainly, questions are most welcome. I will judge whether they
are of general interest (thus answered on the list), or more limited
(thus answered privately). My suspicion that Philo may have lived into
the late 60s (up to the brink of the first Jewish revolt) is based on
the evidence presented in two articles of mine, "Philo and the Sabbath
Crisis," in the Festschrift (volume honoring someone) for Helmut Koester
(The Future of Early Christianity, ed B. Pearson et al., Fortress, 1991,
131-141), and "Tiberius Julius Alexander and the Crisis in Alexandria
According to Josephus," in the Festschrift for John Strugnell (Of
Scribes and Scrolls, ed H. W. Attridge et al., University Press of
America, 1990, 175-184). The evidence is slim, but worth consideration.
Time will tell whether anyone else is convinced by it.

The Hebrew "Josippon" or "Josephus" seems to be a relatively late
composition (with a complex textual history) that is only remotely
connected to our first century Josephus and his writings -- Louis
Feldman refers to it as "the Hebrew paraphrase of the Jewish War" ("A
Selective Critical Bibliography of Josephus," p. 335, in Josephus, the
Bible, and History (ed Feldman and Hata; Wayne State Univ. Press, 1989).
To my knowledge, most scholars who have worked on the text have found it
to be of little value for recapturing the words of our first century
Josephus.

In any event, welcome aboard. Hope the ride proves valuable.

RAK