Solomon and Ashmedai Redux: Redaction Criticism of bGitin 68b
This paper deals with the redaction criticism of a story from the Babylonian Talmud, bGit 68b. This study aims to distinguish further between the diverse sources of this complex narrative and to differentiate between the Eastern and Western elements that it contains. The conclusion is that the unusu...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn Press
2021
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| In: |
The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 2021, Volume: 111, Issue: 1, Pages: 21-54 |
| Further subjects: | B
Demonology
B Redaction Criticism B wild rooster (tarnegola bara) B ring of Solomon B Babylonia B Narratives B Magic B Roman Palestine B Angels B King Solomon B Ashmedai |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This paper deals with the redaction criticism of a story from the Babylonian Talmud, bGit 68b. This study aims to distinguish further between the diverse sources of this complex narrative and to differentiate between the Eastern and Western elements that it contains. The conclusion is that the unusually long story in bGitin is a product of a late and tendentious editing. It is based on a minimum of three once-independent narrative traditions. The first told of how King Solomon built the Temple with the help of a friendly demon; the second told of how King Solomon built the Temple with the help of a miraculous object called shamira. It seems that these stories were in competition with each other; that is, one of them clearly appeared as an antithesis to the other. The late editor decided to harmonize them, transforming the two tales into a single story about how a friendly demon built the Temple with the help of a miraculous object. This composite story served as an introduction to the third narrative tradition, mobilized by the editor. According to this account, the throne of King Solomon was captured by an insidious demon, and the king went into exile. Blending the story of how a friendly demon built the Temple with one about how the throne was usurped by an evil demon was the last stage in the tortuous emergence of this extraordinary tale. |
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| ISSN: | 1553-0604 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Jewish quarterly review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/jqr.2021.0002 |