Fourth Maccabees and the Promotion of the Jewish Philosophy: Rhetoric, Intertexture, and Reception

Fourth Maccabees is a superbly crafted oration that presents a case for the Jewish way of life couched almost entirely in terms of Greek ethical ideals. Its author delights in the Torah, the Law of Moses, as the divinely given path to becoming our best selves now. In this collection of essays spanning two decades of study, David deSilva examines the formative training that produced such an author, the rhetorical crafting and effect of his work, the author's creative use of both Jewish and Greek literary resources, and the book's enduring message and legacy in the Christian church.

David A. deSilva is Trustees' Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio, and an ordained elder in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is the author of twenty books, including Global Readings: A Sri Lankan Commentary on Paul's Letter to the Galatians (Cascade 2011); Seeing Things John's Way: The Rhetoric of the Book of Revelation (2009); An Introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, Methods & Ministry Formation (2004); Introducing the Apocrypha (2002); and Perseverance in Gratitude: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Epistle "to the Hebrews" (2000).