Revelation and Human Artefact: The Inspiration of the Pentateuch in the ‘Book of Aristeas'

Abstract

In sharp contrast to other highly Hellenized Jewish works, the Book of Aristeas depicts the Pentateuch as a purely human composition. Moses was endowed by God with a prodigious intellect so that he could compose a law superior to any other, but Israel’s legislator received no direct revelation or guidance. Likewise, the LXX translation is depicted as a purely human achievement. If the law is “inspired” for the author of Aristeas, it is only in the sense that skilled rational insight amounts to perception of the divine mind.