A Hebrew Alexander Romance According to MS Heb.671.5 Paris, Biblothèque Nationale (review)

Hebrew Studies 40 (1999) 375 Reviews these pages. This does not, however, mean the book is unsuccessful-to the contrary. Gwynn Kessler Jewish Theological Seminary ofAmerica New York, NY 10027 gwkessler@jtsa.edu A HEBREW ALEXANDER ROMANCE ACCORDING TO MS HEB.671.S PARIS, BIBLOTHEQUE NATIONALE. By Jac. van Bekkum. Hebrew Language and Literature Series 1. pp. 183. Groningen: STYX, 1994. Cloth. We have here an excellent critical edition of a Hebrew version of the Alexander Romance. This is based on a manuscript from Paris, which takes into account the numerous difficult readings, undoubted misprints that have crept in, as well as providing necessary, but also necessarily speculative, additions that help to make sense of the text. It is a new edition of a manuscript previously published in 1886, but which is now seen to be in need of revision. The apparatus provided for the reader is clear and informative when necessary, but it also allows for a smooth reading of the text, insofar as is possible with this sort of material. The Alexander Romance was originally based on a Greek work, the so-called "Pseudo-Callisthenes," deriving from the Hellenistic period. This work was later translated into Latin in the fourth century. But the basis of the text in front of us is a later Latin translation, from the tenth century, which served as the source for many of the medieval Hebrew Alexander Romances. However, to complicate matters further, the immediate source is a lost Arabic version, dependent on the later Latin text The version dealt with here dates from the twelfth or thirteenth century, but very little information pertaining to it is available, as there is no colophon and the translator and/or copyist is unknown. Our editor has also compared this Paris manuscript with the so-called "MS London" from Jews' College and found the two similar, although distinct. So the line of tradition is: Greek, Latin, Arabic, through to the present Hebrew. Thus it originates, we presume . in Alexander's own time through various versions in many languages and rescensions. and into the late Middle Ages. What is indicated, both from the history of the work·s provenance and from the content itself. is the esteem in which Alexander the Great was held in the ancient world generally and specifically. in this instance, by the Hebrew Studies 40 (1999) 376 Reviews Iews. He is the hero par excellence, the great king, conqueror, and liberator. The story opens with the flight of the king of Egypt, Nectanebus (as he is known in the English, although the Hebrew reads something like "Natkibur"), from Egypt to Macedonia in dread of the accumulated power of Artaxerxes, king of Persia. The Egyptian king is a great magician, but still in awe of the mighty power and fears for his life. In Macedonia, Nectanebus transforms himself into a dragon and, on reverting to human fonn, lies with the Macedonian queen, wife of the famous king Philip. The product of this union is, of course, our own Alexander, who assumes mythical proportions in physical fonn and is quite unlike his supposed parents . Thus begins the sensational career of Alexander the Great, more myth than historical and here, even for the faithful Iews, partaking more of lore and legend than of mortal qualities. Indeed, the Jews clearly shared the common adoration of this international hero, an adoration apparently unmitigated by any presumed sublimation of earthly wonders to a higher power. The methods of our hero's conquest do not have to be spelled out; it is enough that they are itemized, however cursorily. Alexander possesses greater physical strength than any other mortal and, specifically, than any other king or warrior. He excels as horseman, as fighter, and as archer. But he is also willing to be a peace broker when the occasion demands. Very close to our author/editor/translator, evidently, is the encounter between Alexander and the High Priest in Jerusalem. In the course of his multiple conquests in the region, Alexander comes to Jerusalem. But following a dream (the work is of course full of magic), the great hero does not make war on the city. On the contrary, he wannly embraces...