The information about the first-century synagogue provided by Flavius Josephus must be handled with care when used in historical reconstructions. Josephus was a skilled rhetorician who was ideologically invested in the presentation of this institution. Due care must therefore be placed on understanding the context of his various mentions of synagogues within the overall rhetorical context of his works if we are interested in historical reconstruction of this Jewish institution. However, the tendentious nature of Josephus’ writings does not preclude historical study, not least because the assumptions and ideologies inherent in this tendenz are themselves historical. Especially in his later works (Antiquitates judaicae, Vita, and Contra Apionem), we find a deliberate presentation of the synagogue as a viable, supra-local rallying point for the Jews throughout the known world, as this institution represents an assembly in which the customs and Law of Judaism may be practiced and disseminated following the loss of the Temple and the Land. Even in the earliest work of Josephus, Bellum judaicum, we find a tendentious presentation of the synagogue as a ‘holy place’ whose precincts were breached due to the impiety of the Jewish insurgents and certain non-Jewish troublemakers. Due to the rhetorical nature of Josephus’ writings and the many hermeneutical issues that arise when we deal with space, the language of Edward Soja’s spatial theory is utilized, where heuristically profitable, in order to distinguish between the ‘spaces themselves’ (firstspace), the ideals held by the author regarding the institution (secondspace), and the combination of the two in the experience represented in the passages (thirdspace). It is precisely the rhetoric with which Josephus presents the synagogue that will lead us to a better understanding of the ideological importance that synagogues had in the lives of the communities and individuals inhabiting these spaces during the period in question. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This dissertation identifies and addresses key issues in Septuagint lexicography using case studies from the Greek version of Judges. The first chapter outlines the state of the question on the textual history of Judges in Hebrew and Greek, and also presents my lexicographical method and related matters. Chapter two surveys the history of Septuagint lexicography. I demonstrate how data about the meaning of Septuagint vocabulary has been insufficiently or in appropriately derived, expressed, and/or documented. I also highlight debates over the nature of post-classical Greek and the language of the Septuagint, which has predisposed scholars against viewing the Septuagint corpus as part of post-classical Greek in general. By pointing out methodological flaws that have plagued Septuagint lexicography-as well as theoretical problems in a Hebrew-priority view of the language-I argue for a Greek-priority view that evaluates Septuagint vocabulary in light of contemporary sources and emphasizes the importance of documentary evidence. The following chapters provide case studies from Greek Judges that demonstrate the benefits of a Greek-priority view. Many cases of consistent vocabulary disagreement in the textual history of the book cannot be explained on the basis of the Hebrew text nor given the data available in current lexicons. Examination of post-classical Greek evidence demonstrates that the motivation for the language change is multifaceted, but clearly includes matters of style and semantics in Greek independent from the source text. Chapter three focuses on παρατάσσω and παράταξις; chapter four on παιδάριον, παιδίον, νεανίας, and νεάνισκος; and chapter five on ἀπάντησις and συνάντησις. Each chapter concludes by discussing the relevance of the evidence for Septuagint lexicography, the motivation underlying the revision of Greek Judges, and the potential of Septuagint vocabulary to inform Greek lexicography in general. Chapter six summarizes my lexical analysis and discusses the benefits of a Greek-priority approach and its value for Septuagint lexicography. I posit a time-frame for the translation and revision of Greek Judges based on linguistic evidence. I conclude by emphasizing the need for renewed efforts in Septuagint lexicography to incorporate literary and nonliterary post-classical Greek sources. To address this need, I provide several sample lexicon entries for words discussed in the preceding study.

La thèse a pour objet d’étudier le phénomène de création festive qui traverse les communautés juives de l’Antiquité à partir du VIe siècle av. J.-C. Ces fêtes nouvelles, de par leur typologie, leur théologie, leurs rites et leurs fonctions, s’écartent du modèle biblique tout en le revendiquant. Leur multiplication à l’époque hellénistique, sensible à travers leur mention dans la littérature juive hellénisée, témoigne d’évolutions qui, même si elles peuvent procéder d’une dynamique interne au judaïsme, témoignent d’interactions avec les communautés religieuses du monde grec puis romain. D’essence essentiellement locale, elles constituent un critère de définition identitaire et sont instrumentalisées pour servir des intérêts variés, notamment en termes de légitimation de l’autorité. Leur caractère récent leur confère une souplesse qui permet une actualisation constante de leur signification au gré des conjonctures, que ce soit à l’échelle locale ou au sein de courants transversaux comme le judaïsme rabbinique. Elles fonctionnent donc comme un révélateur du degré d’intégration ou d’exclusion des communautés juives dans leur environnement politique, social, culturel et religieux. / This dissertation aims at studying festive creativity within ancient Jewish communities from the VIth century B.C. onwards. From a typological, a theological, a liturgical and a functional viewpoint, these new festivals divert from Biblical tradition even though they claim not to. Their increase during the Hellenistic period, a phenomenon made clear in Jewish Literature written in Greek, attest to an evolution which, even though it could, in some cases, proceed from an inherently Jewish dynamic, fall within the category of cultural and religious interactions with other religious communities from the Greek and Roman world. Of an essentially local provenance, they are instrumental to a community’ self-definition and are often used to legitimate their founder or their organizer’s authority. Since they only appeared recently, their meaning can be updated to reflect various situations, either regarding a specific place and time or within such movements as Rabbinic Judaism. New festivals bring light to the place of a Jewish community within its milieu, be it political, social, cultural or religious.