The Apple among the Trees: To Abraham (PBodmer 30) and the Apple at the Sacrifice of Isaac
In: Vigiliae ChristianaeSearch for other papers by Kevin J. Kalish in
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The poem from the Bodmer Papyrus (PBodmer 30) To Abraham contains a number of perplexing phrases and images—one in particular is the ambiguous word μῆλον, which appears in no other known text on the Sacrifice of Isaac. In this poem Abraham, in place of his son Isaac, chooses the μῆλον. I contribute to our understanding of how the poem works by demonstrating what μῆλον signifies in this context. I argue that the poem deliberately uses the ambiguous word μῆλον precisely because it can mean both sheep and apple. Moreover, when the apple is understood in the context of patristic interpretations of Song of Songs 2:3 (one of the few places μῆλον appears in the Septuagint), it becomes clear that the apple that Abraham chooses in place of his son points typologically to Christ and the meal Abraham prepares anticipates the Eucharist.
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1
Robin M. Jensen, “The Offering of Isaac in Jewish and Christian Tradition,” Biblical Interpretation 2 (1994): 85-110; Mishael Caspi and Sascha Benjamin Cohen, The Binding (Aqedah) and Its Transformations in Judaism and Islam: The Lambs of God (Lewiston 1995); Lukas Kundert, Die Opferung/Bindung Isaaks vol. 1-2 (Neukirchen-Vluyn 1998); Edward Noort and Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar, The Sacrifice of Isaac: The Aqedah (Genesis 22) and Its Interpretations (Leiden 2002); Edward Kessler, Bound by the Bible: Jews, Christians, and the Sacrifice of Isaac (Cambridge 2004).
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3
Enrico Livrea, “Un poema inedito di Dorotheos: Ad Abramo,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 100 (1994): 175-187. On the controversy surrounding this publication, see Hans E. Braun, “Mitteilung der Bibliotheca Bodmeriana,” zpe 103 (1994): 154.
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4
Tomasz Tadajczyk and Krzysztof Witczak, “Critical Notes to Dorotheos’ Hymn Πρὸς Ἀβραάμ,” Eos lxxxvi (1999): 257-65.
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6
Hilhorst, “The Bodmer Poem on the Sacrifice of Abraham,” 107-08.
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39
Livrea, “Un poema inedito di Dorotheos: Ad Abramo,” 183. Apollonius of Rhodes (1.1031; 3.656) has similar language, but in none of these is the bridal chamber ‘blossoming’ (θαλερὸν).
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54
Martens, “Revisiting the Allegory/Typology Distinction” 283-317.
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The Apple among the Trees: To Abraham (PBodmer 30) and the Apple at the Sacrifice of Isaac
In: Vigiliae ChristianaeSearch for other papers by Kevin J. Kalish in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
The poem from the Bodmer Papyrus (PBodmer 30) To Abraham contains a number of perplexing phrases and images—one in particular is the ambiguous word μῆλον, which appears in no other known text on the Sacrifice of Isaac. In this poem Abraham, in place of his son Isaac, chooses the μῆλον. I contribute to our understanding of how the poem works by demonstrating what μῆλον signifies in this context. I argue that the poem deliberately uses the ambiguous word μῆλον precisely because it can mean both sheep and apple. Moreover, when the apple is understood in the context of patristic interpretations of Song of Songs 2:3 (one of the few places μῆλον appears in the Septuagint), it becomes clear that the apple that Abraham chooses in place of his son points typologically to Christ and the meal Abraham prepares anticipates the Eucharist.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 241 | 51 | 10 |
| Full Text Views | 235 | 4 | 4 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 56 | 12 | 8 |
