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Re: orion-list Another Proof for Doers = Essenes
T. Simms has commented on Suidas "the author".
Michael A. B. Deakin of Monash University, Clayton, Australia
had more things to say about this:
"The Suda Extract:
The so-called Suda Lexicon is [an]... encyclopedia arranged alphabetically and including a (somewhat unusually
long) entry on Hypatia. The name Suda is now seen as deriving from the Greek word for "fortress" and so the work
advertised itself as a "stronghold of knowledge", so to speak. However, older scholarship (and still a few contemporary
authors) employed the transliteration Suidae Lexicon, which translates from the Latin as "Suidas' Lexicon" and so the
tradition became established of referring to its "author" as Suidas (much as some 30th-century author might come to refer to
Britannicus and his wonderful encyclopedia).
The Suda of course predates the invention of the printing press and thus began its life (as did all the other primary sources)
in manuscript form. However there have now been several printings, of which the most authoritative is Ada Adler's edition: Suidae Lexicon (Stuttgart: Teubner, 1971 reprint of a 1935 original), in 5 volumes."
The point of the Suda entry is not its proximity to
the time of the Essenes. The point of the entry is that
it presents "novel" information about the Essene connection
to (1) the derivation of the group's name, and (2) the
"ethnic" nature of the group. The fact the text is
written as though the Pharisees and the Scribes were **still**
in existence suggests that as late as the Suda is, it is
based on material written much earlier.
As I said, even if the Suda determined to be ultimately
wrong, if we assume that the entry is **not** based on
someone's imagination, the information could very well
tell us the "incorrect" views of generations of people
living in Palestine (any time between the Maccabees and
the final revolt of 135 CE).
The novelty and the seriousness of the entry would suggest
at least a thorough examination of the Greek vocabulary
used, looking for internal clues as to the time of its
composition.
George Brooks
Tampa, FL
For private reply, e-mail to George Brooks <george.x.brooks@juno.com>
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