Overview

The year 167 B.C.E. marked the beginning of a period of intense persecution for the people of Judea, as Seleucid emperor Antiochus IV Epiphanes attempted -- forcibly and brutally -- to eradicate traditional Jewish religious practices. In Apocalypse against Empire Anathea Portier-Young reconstructs the historical events and key players in this traumatic episode in Jewish history and provides a sophisticated treatment of resistance in early Judaism.Building on a solid contextual foundation, Portier-Young argues that the first Jewish apocalypses emerged as a literature of resistance to Hellenistic imperial rule. In particular, Portier-Young contends, the book of Daniel, the Apocalypse of Weeks, and the Book of Dreams were written to supply an oppressed people with a potent antidote to the destructive propaganda of the empire -- renewing their faith in the God of the covenant and answering state terror with radical visions of hope.

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9780802870834

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Reviews

James VanderKam-- University of Notre Dame In Apocalypse against Empire Anathea Portier-Young delves deeply into the meaning of empire, the methods used by empires, and the forms of resistance they engender. She then applies these insights to the sources for the historical context in which the earliest Jewish apocalypses were composed and to the texts themselves. The result is a refreshing and impressive explanation of Daniel and two Enochic texts the Apocalypse of Weeks and Book of Dreams. Carol Newsom-- Emory University Using methods developed by social scientists for the analysis of state terror and strategies of resistance, Portier-Young brings to life the ancient realities of Seleucid state terror in Judea in a way that few historians have captured. Against that background she makes a compelling case for the audacity of resistance grounded in the apocalyptic imaginations of 1 Enoch and Daniel. . . . Brings new depth to the claim that these are political apocalypses. -- Themelios Portier-Young's volume is a remarkable achievement in terms of its theoretical sophistication, historical sensibility, and textual rigor. -- Review of Biblical Literature An excellent study of Judea during the Seleucid period . . . Portier-Young's in-depth look at apocalypses in relation to the Seleucid Empire and Judaism is a substantial work in the field of biblical studies. Walter Brueggemann-- Columbia Theological Seminary A reference point for future study, one that cannot be ignored.

Author Information

Anathea E. Portier-Young is associate professor of Old Testament at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina.

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