Rewriting the Testament of Solomon (2005 Klutz), book

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Rewriting the Testament of Solomon: Tradition, Conflict and Identity in a Late Antique Pseudepigraphon (2005) is a book by Todd Klutz.

Abstract

"Todd Klutz examines the main issues in scholarship on the Testament of Solomon, for instance, the Testament's textual identity and its tradition history. By approaching the issues in the light of new thinking about 'magic' and the structure of texts, he also sheds light on the motivations behind its final redaction and the sorts of discourses to which its composition may have been a response. Klutz argues that the Colbert manuscript ('P') is unparalleled in value as a repository of clues to the Testament's literary sources and tradition history. Focusing special attention on the structure and dominant motifs of P, he identifies a previously unnoticed scheme of astrological motifs that indicates chapters 1-15 once circulated independently. As both this section and the material in chapter 18 (i.e., Solomon's interviews with the thirty-six decans, or the 'world-rulers of darkness'), are found to differ starkly in genre and point of view from the final eight chapters, an unprecedentedly clear history of the Testament's development is postulated. Most notably, Klutz argues that the final stage of the text's editing included the composition of chapters 19-26; the primary aim of which is to undermine the reputation of Solomon as the origin of a powerful tradition of magico-religious healthcare"--Publisher description.

Editions

Published in London [England]: T&T Clark, 2005 (Library of Second Temple Studies, 53).

External links

• [ Google Books]