Harnessing the Prophetic Voice: Rewriting and Allusion in Prophetic Collections from the Second Century B.C.E.

Abstract

This dissertation examines the use of hypertextual and allusive compositional practices in prophetic collections from the second century B.C.E. Our analysis centers on the three best-preserved examples: 4QApocryphon of Jeremiah C, 4QPseudo-Ezekiel, and Daniel 7-12. While previous scholarship has observed that each of these works contains allusions and often, in some sense, "rewrites" earlier texts, there has not yet been a study that examines the multifarious referential quality of any one of these works as a whole and, much less, one that has examined them comparatively with regard to these features. This dissertation fills that gap. Our most basic claim is that, compositionally, these prophetic collections are characterized by a rhetorically central use of allusion and a multifaceted reliance on hypertextuality. The approach to hypertextuality that we have adopted is heavily indebted to Gérard Genette and allows us to appreciate the several ways in which these writings may be termed "rewritten." Our discussion is distributed among six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the main issues in depth. Here, we position our argument in light of earlier work that has been done on the use of allusion and rewriting in our texts, explain our methodology, and justify the plan of the ensuing chapters. Chapter 2 takes up a necessary preliminary issue in treating 4QApocryphon of Jeremiah C and 4QPseudo-Ezekiel (4Q383-391), namely, the issue of whether these should be understood as one or more literary works. Chapters 3-5 are the centerpiece of our analysis, where we examine the use of allusion and hypertextuality in 4QApocryphon of Jeremiah C, 4QPseudo-Ezekiel, and Daniel 7-12. These chapters also discuss other issues relevant to the compositional nature of these works, such as their overall structure and redactional history. Our chapters on 4QApocryphon of Jeremiah C and 4QPseudo-Ezekiel also give a fresh appraisal of their dating. Finally, chapter 6 brings together much of the information discussed in the preceding chapters in order to arrive at a general typology of the forms and functions of allusion and hypertextuality that are represented in these works.