The Syrian–Palestinian Milieu in Late Antiquity

This chapter focuses on a unique corpus of early Christian literature in Syriac that reflects a synthesis of older patristic views of the Calf episode with specific themes that seem to have circulated widely in the Eastern Christian milieu, shared in common between communities of Jewish and Christian exegetes in this period. While continuing the tradition of anti-Jewish arguments predicated on the abiding impact of Israel’s sin with the Calf, authors such as Ephrem, Aphrahat, and Jacob of Serugh also developed a unique view of Aaron that dictated a more apologetic position regarding his culpability; this precisely paralleled the development of similar views of Aaron in Jewish tradition. This material provides us with a lens through which to examine the phenomenon of exegetical approaches that are held in common by different communities, yet deployed for opposite purposes. The chapter concludes by considering a possible historical context to Syrian Christian polemic against Jews based on the Calf narrative: the revival of priestly leadership, or at least interest in the priesthood and its role, among contemporary Jewish communities, especially in late antique Palestine.