Reader Checked|OA 02/01/2014
To today’s confrontations between religion and science Jovanovic
|contrasts the vibrant collaboration that characterizes Jewish,
|Christian, and Islamic beginnings. Designation of the patriarch Joseph
|as both a dream interpreter and a diviner (Gen. 44.4, 15) is a
|specific example of biblical appropriation of the ancient
|Mediterranean understanding of cup divination and dream interpretation
|as among the scientific activities of its social, spiritual and
|academic elite.
Jovanovic argues that the image of Joseph as a Hellenistic scientist
|nourished the popularity of early Jewish and Christian literature on
|Joseph. The works of Josephus and Philo, Rabbinic midrashim, and the
|newly discovered The Ethiopic Story of Joseph, as well as Jubilees,
|The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs and Joseph and Aseneth, hold
|that Joseph’s profession was that of a scientist of vision. The
|interpretation of the symbolic images in dreams and cup divination was
|a scientific method of communication with the divine and of prediction
|of the future, which Jovanovic calls revelation by visual effects.
Joseph’s image as an Egyptian academic provoked varied responses in
|Hellenistic Jewish circles. The dismay expressed by Jubilees and Philo
|arose from Joseph’s perceived betrayal of religious and traditional
|values. The acclamation of Josephus and The Ethiopic Story of
|Josephdemonstrates that a number of Hellenistic Jews believed that
|their creative integration into the vibrant Hellenistic culture could
|be successful and deepen their own Jewish identity
While previous scholarship has focused on representations of Joseph
|either as an ethical model or as a type of Christ, this is the first
|major work that explores the image of Joseph as an ancient scholar and
|spiritual expert.