to deduce from it a date for the literary origin of the story. The example of Esther should also be used in the interpretation of Ezra‐Nehemiah. In both cases the Greek versions (1Esd. and Greek Esther) show that the legends about Israelites and Judeans during the Persian period – legends on which the self‐understanding of Judaism rests – were still relevant during Hellenistic times and were spun out further.
Next to the biblical sources that are set explicitly in the Persian period, scholarship generally dates several other writings or parts of biblical books to this period (Grabbe 2004: pp. 90–106). From the plethora of the material we will simply look at one (significant) example: the completion of the Jewish law in the form of the Pentateuch, the Torah of Moses, a document of which more than half was written or composed in the post‐monarchial period, i.e. during neo‐Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenistic times (Kratz 2000, 2015). Especially the multiple‐layered literary stratum, commonly called “Priestly Writing” (Kratz 2000: pp. 102–117, 226–248), is best explained in reference to the second temple period.
The literary development has been interpreted as a compromise (Blum 1990; Nihan 2007) between several rival groups within Israel (Deuteronomy/Priestly Writing; Golah/Land; Samaria/Judah) – a compromise prompted by an initiative of the Persian authorities or as part of the Persian legal practice called imperial authorization (Frei 1996; on Frei's thesis see Watts 2001; Knoppers and Levinson 2007). The historical hypothesis lacks any evidence and cannot be supported by the texts themselves. The literary development is undeniable but it can be shown only in a relative chronology of the literary strata. It is further undeniable that we have Pentateuchal manuscripts amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls, which attest for the period around the middle of the third century BCE several different versions of the texts, including the proto‐Samaritan version (Dušek 2012b: pp. 85–96). To this evidence we have to add the Septuagint that attests the dissemination of the Pentateuch amongst the Greek‐speaking Jews in Alexandria, and Ben Sira, who canvasses the biblical tradition around 200 BCE in Judah. However, which circles were responsible for the production and tradition of the Hebrew Pentateuchal manuscripts or for the Greek translation of the Torah remains – apart from the ancient legends (Ezra 7; Neh. 8; Letter of Aristeas Judaeus; Joseph) – unclear. It is equally unclear in which circles these documents were copied, studied, and adhered to and what status the Torah had in Samaria (Mt. Gerizim), Judah (Jerusalem), and Alexandria during the Persian and early Hellenistic period (Kratz 2007, 2010, 2013, 2015).
We have to admit that we know far less about the history and status of the Pentateuch as Torah during the Persian period than we would like to and we are forced to rely on speculation. The Maccabean revolt during the reign of Antiochus IV during the middle of the second century BCE may provide a historical starting point. Here the Torah is no longer a document of marginalized groups such as the religious community from Qumran but has started to play a significant role in the quarrel over political and economic influence between rival groups within Judaism. During the reign of the Hasmoneans it became (for the first time?) a political and legally binding document for entire Judaism. This is, however, a different story for which we would have to assess the sources for the Hellenistic period.
REFERENCES
1 Ariel, D.T. (ed.) (2000). Excavations at the City of David 1978–1985 Directed by Yigal Shiloh, Vol. VI: Inscriptions, Qedem 41. Jerusalem: The Institute of Archaeology – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
2 Avigad, N. (1976). Bullae and Seals from a Post‐Exilic Judean Archive, Qedem 4. Jerusalem: The Institute of Archaeology – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
3 Barag, D. (1986/7). A silver coin of Yohanan the high priest and the coinage of Judea in the fourth century B.C. Israel Numismatic Journal, 9, pp. 4–21.
4 Becking, B. (2011). Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Construction of Early Jewish Identity, Forschungen zum Alten Testament 80. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
5 Blum, E. (1990). Studien zur Komposition des Pentateuch, Beiheft zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentarische Wissenschaft 189. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter.
6 Carter, C.E. (1999). The Emergence of Yehud in the Persian Period: A Social and Demographic Study, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series 294. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
7 Clines, D.J.A. (1984). The Esther Scroll: The Story of the Story, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series 30. Sheffield: JSOT Press.
8 De Hemmer Gudme, A.K. (2013). Before the God in this Place for Good Remembrance: A Comparative Analysis of the Votive Inscriptions from Mount Gerizim, Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 441. Berlin: de Gruyter.
9 Dequeker, L. (1993). Darius the Persian and the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 4,24). In J. Quaegebeur (ed.), Ritual and Sacrifice in the Ancient Near East, Orientalia Lovaniensia periodica 55. Leuven: Peeters, pp. 67–92.
10 Dušek, J. (2007). Les manuscrits araméens du Wadi Daliyeh et la Samarie vers 450–332 av. J.‐C., Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 30. Leiden: Brill.
11 Dušek, J. (2012a). Archaeology and texts in the Persian period: focus on Sanballat. In M. Nissinen (ed.), Congress Volume Helsinki 2010, Vestus Testamentum: Supplements 148. Leiden: Brill, pp. 117–132.
12 Dušek, J. (2012b). Aramaic and Hebrew Inscriptions from Mt. Gerizim and Samaria between Antiochus III and Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 54. Leiden: Brill.
13 Edelman, D. (2005). The Origins of the ‘Second’ Temple: Persian Imperial Policy and the Rebuilding of Jerusalem, Bible World. London: Equinox Publishing.
14 Edelman, D. (2012). Apples and oranges: textual and archaeological evidence for reconstructing the history of Yehud in the Persian period. In M. Nissinen (ed.), Congress Volume Helsinki 2010, Vestus Testamentum: Supplements 148. Leiden: Brill, pp. 133–144.
15 Eph‘al, I., Naveh, J. (1996). Aramaic Ostraca of the Fourth Century BC from Idumaea. Jerusalem: Magnes Press Hebrew University/Israel Exploration Society.
16 Eshel, E. (2007). The onomasticon of mareshah in the Persian and Hellenistic periods. In O. Lipschits, G.N. Knoppers, and R. Albertz (eds.), Judah and the Judeans in the Fourth Century B.C.E. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, pp. 145–156.
17 Fox, M.V. (1991). The Redaction of the Books of Esther: On Reading Composite Texts, Society of Biblical Literature: Monograph Series 40. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.
18 Frei, P. (1996). Zentralgewalt und Lokalautonomie im Achämenidenreich. In P. Frei, K. Koch (eds.), Reichsidee und Reichsorganisation im Perserreich, 2 Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 55. Freiburg (CH)/Göttingen: Universitätsverlag/Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, pp. 5–131.
19 Frey, J., Schattner‐Rieser, U., and Schmid, K. (eds.) (2012). Die Samaritaner und die Bibel/The Samaritans and the Bible: Historische und literarische Wechselwirkungen zwischen biblischen und samaritanischen Traditionen/Historical and Literary Interactions Between Biblical and Samaritan Traditions, Studia Judaica: Forschungen zur Wissenschaft des Judentums 70. Berlin: de Gruyter.
20 Galling, K. (1964). Studien zur Geschichte Israels im persischen Zeitalter. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
21 Grabbe, L.L. (2004). A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period: Vol. 1: Yehud: A History of the Persian Province of Judah. London/New York: T&T Clark International.
22 Grätz, S. (2004). Das Edikt des Artaxerxes: Eine Untersuchung zum religionspolitischen und historischen Umfeld von Esra 7, 12–26, Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 337. Berlin, New York: de Gruyter.
23 Gropp, D.M. (2001). Wadi Daliyeh II. The Samaria Papyri from Wadi Daliyeh, Discoveries of the Judean Dessert XXVIII. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
24 Hagedorn, A. (2011). The absent prensence: cultural responses to Persian presence in the eastern Mediterranean. In O. Lipschits, G.N. Knoppers, and M. Oeming (eds.), Judah and the Judeans in the Achaemenid Period. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, pp. 39–66.
25 Hallaschka, M. (2011). Haggai und Sacharja 1–8. Eine redaktionsgeschichtliche