Artapanus and Jewish Monotheism

I thought I would kill a couple birds with one stone by quoting some Artapanus and reflecting briefly on what his work might imply about Jewish monotheism at the time of Christ.

First, Artapanus was an Egyptian Jew who probably dates to the late 200's BC. I find Barclay's suggestion that he was from the environs of Heliopolis very interesting, although Alexandria gets mentioned more often (128 n.5). His writings unfortunately are only known to us second and third hand. Most think that Josephus used him as a source for this portion of the Antiquites. But it is in Eusebius that we have the three surviving excerpts. Unfortunately, however, Eusebius himself is drawing from another historian, Alexander Polyhistor, drawing from Artapanus. Such are the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Carl Holladay has suggested that Artapanus might have been "typical of a large segment of Diaspora Jews who did not find pagan traditions threatening or compromising to fidelity to their religious traditions" (193). I find this plausible, especially since I suspect Philo himself seems to have started out more friendly with such things (cf. "On the Eternity of the World," the fact that he probably had a gymnasium education and his nephew actually apostatized). I wonder if Philo only went nationalistic in the wake of polarizing political developments in his environment.

Perhaps even more important is the fact that Artapanus is likely pre-Maccabean. This is the period of history where Judaism could easily have gone either way. It could have fully Hellenized and disappeared into oblivion. Or, as did happen, some king could push a certain segment of Judaism just a little too hard with the resulting backlash of nationalism and ethnocentric revival. The rest is history, and it is hard to see Christianity having come into existence if it hadn't turned in this direction. Go Maccabees!

So what was Artapanus' understanding of God? Here are some excerpts from Eusebius' excerpts, translated by the honorable John J. Collins in vol. 2 of the OTP (with some slight modifications).
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Artapanus says in his Judaica that the Jews are named "Hermiouth," which, translated into Greek, is "Jews." They were called Hebrews after Abraham. He says that the latter came to Egypt with all his household to the Egyptian king Pharethothes, and taught him astrology. [from Fragment 1]

Artapanus says in his "on the Jews" that Joseph was a descendant of Abraham and son of Jacob... This man was the first to divide the land [of Egypt] and distinguish it with boundaries... This man also discovered measurements and on account of these things he was greatly loved by the Egyptians. He married Aseneth, the daughter of a Heliopolitan priest and begot children by her.

He [Artapanus] says that these, who were called Hermiouth, founded the temple in Athos and that in Heliopolis. [from Fragment 2]

Since she [one Egyptian queen] was barren, she adopted the child of one of the Jews and named it Moses. As a grown man he was called Mousaeus by the Greeks.

This Mousaeus was the teacher of Orpheus. As a grown man he bestowed many useful benefits on humankind, for he invented boats and devices for stone construction and the Egyptian arms and the implements for drawing water and for warfare, and philosophy. Further, he divided the state into 36 nomes and appointed for each of the nomes the god to be worshipped, and for the priests the sacred letters, and that they should be cats and dogs and ibises...

He did all these things for the sake of maintaining the monarchy firm for Chenephres... On account of these things then Moses was loved by the masses, and was deemed worthy of godlike honor by the priests and called Hermes, on account of the interpretation of sacred letters...

When Moses came to the district called Hermopolis, with about a hundred thousand farmers [as his army against the Ethiopians], he pitched a camp there... Those around Moses founded a city in that place on account of the size of the army, and made the ibis sacred there because it destroys the creatures that harm people. They called it Hermopolis.

The Ethiopians, even though they were his enemies, loved Moses so much that they learned the circumcision of the genital organs from him, and not only they, but also all the priests...

The king of the Egyptians [after Chenephres' death]... summoned him [Moses] and asked for what purpose he had come. He responded that the master of the universe had ordered him to release the Jews. When the king learned this, he confined him in prison. But when night came, all the doors of the prison opened of themselves, and some of the guards died, while others were relaxed by sleep and their weapons were broken.

Moses came out and went to the royal chambers. He found the doors open and went in. There, since the guards were relaxed, he woke the king. The latter was astonished at what had happened and bade Moses say the name of the god who had sent him, mocking him.

But he bent forward and pronounced it into his ear. When the king heard it, he fell down speechless but revived when taken hold of by Moses. He wrote the name on a tablet and sealed it, but one the priests who disparaged what was written on the tablet died with a convulsion.

... Again, Moses released a frog, through his staff, and in addition to these things, locusts and lice. On this account the Egyptians dedicate the rod in every temple, and similarly [they dedicate it] to Isis, since the earth is Isis, and when it was struck with the rod, it released its marvels. [excerpt from Fragment 3]
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We recognize in Artapanus "apologetic historiography," telling history in such a way as to defend your group against its detractors and despisers. The Egyptian Manetho had done the same against the Jews in the early 200s, considering them a collection of lepers.

Yet the way Artapanus goes about doing this is striking. Barclay categorizes him under the heading of "cultural convergence" or perhaps we might say cultural assimilation. He has Abraham teaching the Egyptians astrology and Joseph marries the daughter of an Egyptian priest no problem. Moses is the teacher of Orpheus in Greek religion.

Moses seemingly has no problem with helping the Egyptians worship their own gods--he even assigns them to them. Meanwhile, Moses himself is "like a god" to them. They call him Hermes. They found a temple in his honor.

The conception of God we draw from these excerpts is of God as indeed the "monarch of the universe," far superior to any of these other gods. I don't quite agree with either Barclay or Collins who stand on opposite ends of the spectrum on whether Artapanus takes the Egyptian gods seriously or not. He does not disparage or mock them, I would say (in tension with Collins). But he doesn't really invest them with full reality either (in tension with Barclay).

They seem representative to Artapanus. They depict a truth. But clearly the God whose name Moses knows is absolutely superior. Moses is godlike in the world of the Egyptians, but the monarch of the universe trumps him royally.

It looks like a kind of pluralistic henotheism. Artapanus does not exactly deny or affirm the existence of other gods, but he doesn't seem to have a problem with other people worshipping other gods. However, he only worships the sovereign God, it would seem.