Demetrius the Chronographer

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Demetrius the Chronographer (or Demetrius the Chronicler;

chronicler (historian) of the late 3rd century BCE,[1] who lived probably in Alexandria and wrote in Greek
.

Works

His text is almost lost and only a few fragments have survived in the following ancient texts:

Praeparatio Evangelica,[2] (for fragments 1-5[3]), the Stromata of Clement of Alexandria[4] and in quotations from the book About Jews of the historian Alexander Polyhistor (used by Eusebius).[5]

From the orthography of proper names, and from various expressions used, it is evident that Demetrius used the

Jews. Josephus used Demetrius' chronicles for his Antiquities of the Jews and adopted his chronological system.[6]

Demetrius is not an

apologist in the usual meaning: his main focus is patriarchal chronology, and there is no attention given to theological matters.[7]
: 845 

Fragments

There are six fragments usually considered Demetrius' work. The first short fragment (found in Praeparatio Evangelica 9.19.4) is about the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen. 22).

The second fragment is the longest we have. It is found in Praeparatio Evangelica 9.21.1-19 and deals with the history of Jacob from the time of his emigration to Mesopotamia till his death. Demetrius endeavors to establish the Biblical chronology and gives the date of every incident in Jacob's life, even fixing the year and month in which each of Jacob's children was born. The excerpt concludes with the genealogy of Levi down to the birth of Aaron and Moses.

The third fragment (Praeparatio Evangelica 9.29.1-3) is an extract from the history of

Jethro in order to demonstrate that Zipporah, the wife of Moses, was a descendant of Abraham and Keturah. The fourth fragment (Praeparatio Evangelica 9.29.15) gives an account of the sweetening of the water of Marah (Exodus 15–:22–27). Fragment five (Praeparatio Evangelica 9.29.15-end) is very short and is about Israelites's weapons referred to in chapter 14 of Exodus.[7]

The last fragment was preserved by Clement of Alexandria (Stromata i. 21, 141), who gives the title of Demetrius' chronicles as Περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ Βασιλέων (On the Kings of Judea). This fragment endeavors to determine exactly the period of the exile of the Ten Lost Tribes, and that of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin till Ptolemy IV Philopator, in whose reign Demetrius evidently lived.

Date and proveniance

Fragment 6 refers to

Ptolemy IV (c. 221-204 B.C.); hence Demetrius'work is dated to his reign and placed in Egypt. Demetrius was the earliest known Jewish author writing in Greek.[3]

Notes

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Joseph Jacobs, Isaac Broydé (1901–1906). "Demetrius". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
  1. ISBN 978-0-86554-373-7
    .
  2. Praeparatio Evangelica
    , 9.19.4; 9.21.1-19; 9.29.1-3,15-16
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-385-18813-7
    (Vol. 2), p. 843
  4. ^ Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, i. 21, 141
  5. ISBN 978-1-56563-409-1
    .
  6. ^ 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia article "Demetrius"
  7. ^
    ISBN 0-385-18813-7
    .

References

External links

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