Would be a surprise if the term "house of X" would refer to the "founder Absalom of the houseof Absalom". More likely, the founder antedates any reference to his "house".
_Dierk
----- Original Message ----- From: "Dierk van den Berg" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Stephen Goranson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 9:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Megillot] Absalom, brother of Jannaeus (pesher Habakkuk v 9)
Would be a surprise if the term "house of X" would refer to the "founder Absalom of the houseof Absalom". More likely, the founder antedates any reference to his "house".
_Dierk
----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen Goranson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <g-megillot@McMaster.ca>
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2005 12:25 PM
Subject: [Megillot] Absalom, brother of Jannaeus (pesher Habakkuk v 9)
Let me renew my request for bibliography (if it exists) in which it is
asserted with confidence that Absalom, Jannaeus' brother, was the one
mentioned in pesher Habakkuk v 9. It's a bit curious that this may not have
been asserted earlier, though some of the reasons are apparent in retrospect.
While one cannot claim absolute certainty, the available evidence and the
context strongly indicate that he was that Absalom who was silent and did not
help the teacher of righteousness (Judah the Essene) when aggrieved by the
wicked priest Jannaeus (and, if he is a separate individual, unlikely in this
pesher, the Liar).
Brownlee in BASOR 1948 claimed that Absalom referred to David's son symbolically; but this Absalom was not rebelling, much less against his father, but acquiescing, just as Josephus describes him in both War and Antiquities.
Absalom was not a common name, but it was repeated among Hasmoneans. Tal
Ilan's fine Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity (2002) provides the
details. She also argues that Yannai was clearly from Yonathan; and she
provides attested double sigma Greek spellings of Joshua, from the same Hebrew
letters, in reverse order, as the Hebrew source of the Greek name
Essaioi/Ossaioi. Queen Alexandra, according to Talmud (bBer. 48a), had a
brother, but his name, Shimon ben Shetah, was not Absalom. Unlike the
Hasmonean Absalom use for the brother of Jannaeus, no evidence suggests she
had a brother Absalom. Nikos Kokkinos in Herodian Dynasty (1998) has
detailed genealogical discussion and a family tree--Herod married the
greatgrandaughter of our Absalom.
D.N. Freedman in BASOR 1949 provided an article claiming that Absalom was a
contemporary individual in history, and would provide a good time peg for the
scrolls, but missed the match. Similarly, Paul Winter, wrote that the pHab
reference was "Non-Allegorical" (PEQ 1959 38-46). Bilha Nitzan gives a useful
survey on "House of Absalom" in Encyclopedia of the DSS (2000). Books by
Brownlee, Delcor, Elliger, Nitzan, Horgan and others give useful commentary
and bibliography.
It is becoming clearer that Yannai was the "wicked priest," and that his surviving brother, Absalom, was silent and did not help the "teacher of righteousness," Judah the Essene.
best, Stephen Goranson
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