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(1951) and The Prophet (1955). *Judeo-Provençal contains a
late 17th-century Tragediou de la Reine Esther by Mardochée
Astruc, revised and published by Jacob *Lunel (The Hague,
1774); *Ladino literature the early 15th-century Poema de Yoçef
and Abraham de Toledo’s Coplas de Yoçef (Constantinople,
1732); and *Judeo-Persian literature four poetic paraphrases
of Bible stories by the 14th-century writer Maulana *Shahin of
Shiraz, who was emulated by the poet *Imrani in the 16th century
and by Yusuf *Yahudi in the 18th century. In other literatures,
Jewish writers either followed conventional approaches
to Old Testament subjects, or, more frequently, reinterpreted
the biblical stories in the light of issues such as Jewish emancipation,
religious toleration, and political Zionism.
Allusions as well as explicit references to the Old Testament
pervade modern Hebrew literature. The earlier writers
based their works on biblical themes and biblical figures (see,
for instance, *Mapu’s prose or David *Frischmann’s Ba-Midbar).
*Agnon’s prose reverberates with biblical allusions and
motifs. Saul *Tchernichowsky wrote a number of poems focusing
on King Saul, disclosing his empathy for the rather tragic
figure of the first Hebrew king. Similarly, some poets identified
with biblical figures whose name they bore and expressed
it in verse: Legendary poetess *Raḥel (Bluwstein-Sel’a) wrote
a number poems about Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel, underscoring
her inability to give birth to the much-longed for son;
Avraham *Shlonsky mentioned his namesake, the biblical patriarch
Abraham, while poetess Yocheved *Bat-Miriam chose
her family name to underline her identification with Moses’
sister, Miriam. Moshe *Shamir depicts the political tensions
and military actions of the early state of Israel in the context
of the Hasmonean period (Melekh Basar va-Dam, 1954), and
reverts to an earlier biblical period, to the story of King David
and Bath-Sheba in Kivsat ha-Rash (1957). Other biblical heroes
feature prominently: Samson (for instance in David *Avidan’s
Shimshon ha-Gibbor), Sisra’s mother (notably, as a tragic figure!)
in a poem by Haim *Gouri), Job (as, for example, in Hanoch
*Levin’s play Yisurei Iyov (Job’s Passion, 1988). Shulamit
*Hareven based many of her prose works on biblical motives
(for instance, Sone ha-Nisim, The Miracle Hater, 1983). Meir
*Shalev gave his own original reading of the Bible in Tanakh
Akhshav (Bible Now) and coalesced biblical materials with
original fiction in some of his novels, as for example in Esav
(Esau, 1991). Zeruya *Shalev’s heroine Yaara in the bestseller
Love Life (1997) writes a dissertation on legends relating to the
destruction of the Temple and even *Kishon’s satirical oeuvre
is full of references to biblical characters. No doubt the most
prominent biblical motive in modern Hebrew literature is that
of the *Akedah, the binding of Isaac, which is handled, often
with ironic twists and in a most unconventional manner, in
poems by Amir *Gilboa, Yehuda *Amichai, David Avidan,
Tuvia Ruebner and Chanoch Levin, to name but a few. For
some of the poets (Gilboa, for instance) it is not only the son
who is sacrificed, but the father. Benjamin Galai, on the other
hand, sees (in “Sarah’s Lives”) the biblical mother Sarah as the
real victim of the planned sacrifice of her son, Isaac, while
Yehuda Amichai suggests that the real victim of that famous
biblical episode is neither Abraham nor Isaac, but – typically
for Amichai – the ram that was caught in the thicket by his
horns. The Bible has also served as a source of inspiration for
various historical novels, such as Shlomit Abrahmson’s Ma’ase
Tamar (2005), which is based on Genesis 38 and the biblical
figure of Judah’s daughter-in-law.
In *English literature a vast array of biblical figures appear
in poetry and prose from the seventh century C.E. onward.
Among the Puritans, John *Milton was outstanding
(Paradise Lost, 1667; Samson Agonistes, 1671), biblical motifs
also dominating some works by John Dryden (Absalom and
Achitophel, 1681). After a lull in the 18th century, the impact of
the Bible was again evident in Lord *Byron (Hebrew Melodies,
1815) and the scholarly Robert *Lowth and Matthew Arnold;
while a more mystical vein appeared in the writings of William
*Blake. The 19th century saw the emergence of a reckless
biblicism in various works by the British *Israelites. With the
exception of Isaac *Rosenberg, Jewish writers in England have
largely avoided biblical themes. Some later non-Jewish authors
who drew inspiration from the Bible were G.B. Shaw (Back
to Methuselah, 1921); J.M. Barrie (The Boy David, 1936); James
Bridie (plays including Tobias and the Angel, 1930); and Christopher
Fry (A Sleep of Prisoners, 1941). The Old Testament’s
first significant impact on *French literature can be traced to
the late 16th century, when French Protestants wrote epics of
biblical grandeur, notably Salluste *Du Bartas (La semaine
ou création du monde, 1578; La seconde semaine, 1584) and
Agrippa d’Aubigné (Les Tragiques, 1577–94; published 1616).
Biblical dramas of the same era were written by Jean de la
Taille (Saül le furieux, 1562) and Robert Garnier (Sédécie ou
les Juives, 1589). An epic poet of the Renaissance whose works
were full of biblical and kabbalistic allusions was Guy Le Fèvre
de la *Boderie. In the 17th century, Bossuet and *Pascal were
profoundly influenced by the Bible, as was the dramatist Jean
*Racine (Esther, 1689); Athalie, 1691). The 18th-century French
philosophers were mainly hostile to the Old Testament, but
later writers favorably reassessed the Bible, notably Chateaubriand,
and the poets Lamartine, de Vigny, and Victor Hugo.
Biblical themes also attracted the Catholic writers Léon *Bloy,
Paul *Claudel, and Charles *Péguy. In the 20th century, there
were plays by André Obey (Noé, 1931), and André Gide (Saül,
1903), and poems by Pierre Emmanuel and Jean Grosjean.
Among Jewish writers, Edmond *Fleg, André *Spire, Gustave
*Kahn (Images bibliques, 1929), and Benjamin *Fondane were
outstanding interpreters of the Bible. The impact of the Old
Testament in *Italian literature was rather more limited, although
the ex-Marrano poet Solomon *Usque wrote a Purim
play about Queen Esther (performed in Venice, 1558), which
was both successful and influential. Originally written in Portuguese
or Spanish it was reworked in Italian and published by
Leone *Modena (1619). Giambattista Andreini’s drama Adamo
(1613) is thought to have inspired the character of Satan in Milton’s
Paradise Lost; and biblical themes dominated some works
by Feo Belcari, Pietro Metastasio, and Vittorio Alfieri (Saul,
670 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3