Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to discuss some basic problems and methodological steps
concerning the encounter between Hebrews and Greeks in the Classical period and its impact
on the Hellenistic era. The relationship between the Old Testament and Ancient Greek
literature will be examined on the basis of Genesis 2–3 and Alcibiades’s speech in Plato’s
Symposium (212c–223d). The following considerations and models of interpretation can arise
from the analysis of Alcibiades’s speech compared to M- and LXX-Genesis 2–3: (1) Ancient
Greek writers were familiar with Old Testament oral or written traditions through improvised
translations. They prepared the way for the LXX and, in their compositions, were in dispute
with them although they do not make specific references to the Hebrews and their literature;
(2) Hebrew authors knew the works of Ancient Greek authors and used Greek philosophical
terminology which they creatively adapted to Semitic models; (3) Both models are possible.
One should not rush to any decisions but examine each case individually, in the original
language.
