The Jewish Novel in the Ancient World (review)

Book Reviews 101 this regard I have a suggestion: the introductory chapter on Pentateuchal criticism might well have been reduced to a few footnote references-there are a plethora ofworks that cover this-and its place taken by a careful argument for incorporating Jungian psychological theory into the interpretation of biblical texts. I realize my plea is probably in vain; it seems almost mandatory that technical studies such as this plod through the rather dry details of where we have been before they take us where they wish to go! Larry R. Helyer Department ofReligion & Philosophy Taylor University The Jewish Novel in the Ancient World, by Lawrence M. Wills. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995. 279 pp. $37.50. Lawrence Wills (presently Associate Professor ofBiblical Studies at Episcopal Divinity School) introduces the reader to an interesting collection ofoft-neglected Jewish works. All are narratives, relatively short in length, and written in Greek in the period between 200 BCE and 100 CEo Two ofthese, Esther and Daniel, are well known to any reader of the Hebrew Bible-though Wills broadens our purview by including the Greek additions to Daniel (Susanna and Bel and the Dragon). Three others, Tobit, Judith, and Second Maccabees, are probably more familiar to readers in the Christian tradition (Orthodox or Catholic) whose canon of scripture, based on the Septuagint, includes these works. Other works, Joseph and Aseneth, The Testament of Abraham, the Testament ofJoseph, Third Maccabees, are taken from the more nebulous and even less well-known category of the Pseudepigrapha. A few other short works, The Tobiad Romance and The Royal Family of Adiabene, have come down to us as part of The Antiquities of Josephus. What allows Wills to bring together these divergent works is his thesis that all these works are exempla of a new geme, "the Jewish novel." Wills outlines the distinctive features ofthis geme in a more general way in the Introduction and more technically, drawing upon modem literary theory, in the fmal chapter; the intermediate chapters are a discussion of the specific works, either individually or grouped into sub-categories (i.e., the "Historical Novel"). For Wills, the common features shared by all the works ofthis geme include "fanciful and idealized setting, adventurous tones, happy endings, and important woman characters" (p. 1). More specifically, there is often "a cavalier approach" to dates and personages and the niceties ofhistorical accuracy; a fascination with graphic details ofdangers and crises; and an exploration ofthe inner and emotional life of the characters. These are also the distinctive characteristics of the Hellenistic 102 SHOFAR Winter 1998 Vol. 16, No.2 Greek novels and early Christian novels; these comparative works are mentioned but described very briefly, probably too briefly, for the reader who has little familiarity with this body of literature. In addition to a traditional form-critical approach, Wills also asks the more sociologically oriented question ofwhy this particular geme ofliterature developed and became popular at this particular time. If"it is possible that Jewish novels were read by more Jews than any other type ofliterature" (p. 3), they provide a window into popular culture, a separate avenue ofentry from the more halakhic and theological literature of the "religious elite" that is often our basis of study. There is not space here to give a detailed comment on Wills' discussion of each individual book. Each chapter stands relatively independently and can serve as a helpful general introduction to the work under discussion. As might be expected, there is an emphasis on those features that are distinctive to the geme as Wills has defmed it, and a deemphasis on other elements that do not fit quite so neatly. Thus it seemed to me that Wills sometimes undervalued the didactic and religious elements of this literature, especially the significant prayer and hymnic passages in many of these works. In the first sentence ofhis introduction, Wills reminded us ofthe pioneering book of Elias Bickerman (1967) in which he explored Four Strange Books of the Bible, including Esther and Daniel. Wills has included even "stranger" books while at the same time demonstrating that none of this literature is so "strange" when it is placed within the broader context of literary...