The Exaltation of Seth and Nazirite Asceticism in the Cave of Treasures

The Exaltation of Seth and Nazirite Asceticism in the Cave of TreasuresVigiliae ChristianaeSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/BHCGP2WN/tei

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2024-08-15-04:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.JasonScullyThe Exaltation of Seth and Nazirite Asceticism in the Cave of Treasureshttp://syriaca.org/cbss/BHCGP2WNhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/BHCGP2WNhttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/BHCGP2WNVigiliae Christianae68:32014310-328This article argues that the Cave of Treasures mixes Jewish themes concerning the exaltation of Seth with ascetical themes found in Syrian Christian writings about Nazirite purity. The Cave of Treasure’s emphasis on Seth’s priestly duty and sexual purity echoes Syriac Christian authors, like Ephrem and Aphrahat, who also describe Seth in terms of Nazirite purity. Since the East-Syriac recension of the text contains explicit Nazirite influences that are absent from the original pre-fourth-century West-Syriac recension, an East-Syrian scholar probably revised the composition sometime between the fifth- through seventh-centuries. The later redactor took the text’s original emphasis on purity and interpreted this purity according to the East Syriac model of Nazirite asceticism that was common among other seventh-century East-Syriac authors, like Dadisho and Isaac of Nineveh. Scully, Jason. “The Exaltation of Seth and Nazirite Asceticism in the Cave of Treasures.” Vigiliae Christianae 68:3 (2014): 310–28. Jason Scully, The Exaltation of Seth and Nazirite Asceticism in the Cave of Treasures,” Vigiliae Christianae 68:3 (2014): 310–28.Cave of TreasuresGenesisIV-VII CEJewish backgroundOld TestamentSethasceticismpurity