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The Rabbis and Pliny the Elder: Jewish and Greco-Roman Attitudes toward Magic and
Empirical Knowledge
Author(s): Giuseppe Veltri
Source: Poetics Today, Vol. 19, No. 1, Hellenism and Hebraism Reconsidered: The Poetics of
Cultural Influence and Exchange I (Spring, 1998), pp. 63-89
Published by: Duke University Press
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Giuseppe Veltri
JewishStudies,Universityof Halle-Wittenberg
Abstract Hebraism and Hellenism reflect their mutual flow of ideas and rapports
especially in their relationship to magic and science. The emphasis of this article
is threefold. First, it points out the background of some customs and beliefs, which
in the Rabbinic literature are called "ways of the Amorite," and their similarity to
Greco-Roman practices, which, in Pliny'sNaturalHistoryare named "magic deceits."
Next, it identifies the halakhic principles that led the Rabbis to forbid or permit a
custom or a belief. Finally, Pliny's attitudes on magic and experimental science are
compared to those of the Rabbis. The examples of lore, magic, and custom that, in
Rabbinic Judaism, were labeled as "waysof the Amorite" show the deep similarities
between Jewish and Roman minds. Both Pliny and the Rabbis reflect a pragmatic
mentality, intent on examining and judging instructions that could be helpful or
harmful for the eventualities of everyday life.
How much and how deeply Greek culture (or, more precisely, the Hel-
lenistic version of Greek culture) permeated Rabbinic Judaism is an often
discussed question.' Most modern scholars have concentrated primarily
on researching the mutual exchange between these two cultures from a
perspective of intellectual history. Mere traces of philosophical, theologi-
cal, hermeneutical, and religious ideas have been treated in detail as main
1. See, for instance, Lieberman 1963; Hengel and Markschics 1989; cf. Feldman 1993, and
David Stern's introduction to the present volume.
PoeticsToday19:1 (Spring 1998). Copyright ? 1998 by The Porter Institute for Poetics and
Semiotics.
"Wissenschaft
2. Exceptforthe scholarsof the nineteenth-century desJudentums"(Samuel
Krauss,ImmanuelLow,and so on), there are some more recent,noteworthyapproaches;
see, for example,Sperber1990-91, 1994.Concerningsciencesee Ruderman:"Iwas unable
to findany extendeddiscussionof the possibleconnectionsbetweenmagicaland'scientific'
activityin ancientJudaism--as one might find, for example,in Greek,Roman,or medi-
evalculture-other thanthe merementionof the linksbetweenmagicandmedicine"(1995:
382).See also Alexander:"Ahistoryof earlyJewishscienceis a meaningfulprojectwhichis
yet to be written"(1995:245, n. 30).
3. Scholarswho maintainthatJudaismof late antiquitysharedwith its Greco-Romanen-
vironmentbeliefsaboutmagicand superstitions(Urbach1975:97ff;Lieberman1965:9iff.)
emphasize,on the otherhand,the eclecticnatureof the "commonpeople,"whilethe Rab-
bis playedthe role of the enlightenedteachers.
4. Aboutthistopic, see Hezser1993-94.
5. See Fogen1993for furtherdiscussionon this topic.
8. For similar results in other sectors of Rabbinic life, see M. Jacobs in press.
9. For complete references of Talmudic data on the darkheiha-'emoriand a more extensive
and detailed coverage of the topic, see Veltri in press a.
lo. See Lewy 1893; Blau 1898; Scheftelowitz 1925; Avishur 1984; Lieberman 1962b; Hadas-
Lebel 1979; Sperber 1990-91: 33-34; Veltri 1994.
11. The following translations from the Tosefta are at times radical adaptations from the
American text by Neusner (1981).
16. For the medicinal purposes of amulets see Preuss 19n1: 167-71, Zimmels 1952: 136.
17. See for instance Dioscorides De MateriaMedica, book 2, sec. 126 on the efficacy of the
root of the plantain (plantagomajor)as an amulet against glandular swelling.
amulet keeps away childish terrors and ailments due to teething" (1938-
62 28: 78, 257).18According to Pliny, the magi were accustomed to making
use of the teeth of hyenas: "They [scil. the magi] add that a hyaena's tooth
relieves toothache by the touch of the corresponding tooth, or by using it
as an amulet."'9
Also the application of a nail from the gallows of an impaled convict
finds a parallel in Pliny as a magical custom: "These also wrap up in wool
and tie around the neck of quartan patients a piece of a nail taken from a
cross, or else a cord taken from a crucifixion, and after the patient's neck
has been freed they hide it in a hole where the sunlight cannot reach."20
Pliny accepts the common idea that medicinal amulets are good for heal-
ing. His doubts about their customs originate in the further explications of
the magi and contents of their practices (see, for instance, Plinius JNaturalis
Historia,28: 9, 18-20 and below). From an analysis of Rabbinic literature
it can be inferred that the Rabbis also believed in the power of amulets
(Preuss 1911:167). However, some principles limit their use: A qame'ahwas
permitted only when it had been tested (mumheh, probatum).2
The Rabbis allowed the use of all amulets except for those that had
traces of idolatry.Yet in the judgment of special cases, the Rabbinic prac-
tice stresses the principle of healing as being much higher than the danger
of idolatry, which is to be avoided. According to the Babylonian Talmud,
'Avodah Zarah 55a, having recourse to even idolatrous remedies is per-
mitted, in order that the patient does not lose trust in God. In the Middle
Ages, the principle of healing went so far as to permit not only the use of
gentile names, the so-called nominabarbara,but even the use of the name
"Jesus" because of its therapeutic value. As Rabbi Menahem of Speyer
says: "The sounds produce the healing, not the words."22
If a piece of breadfell fromhis hand,
whoeversays:
Give it backto me,
18. "Dens lupi adalligatus infantium pavores prohibet dentiendique morbos," vols. 361, 407,
408. English translation by W. H. S. Jones.
19. NaturalisHistoria28:27, 95: "Dentes eius dentium doloribus tactu prodesse vel alligatos
ordine." English translation by W. H. S. Jones.
20. Plinius NaturalisHistoria28:11,46: "Iidem in quartanis fragmentum clavi a cruce involu-
tum lana collo subnectunt aut spartum e cruce, liberatoque condunt caverna, quam sol non
attingat." English translation by W. H. S. Jones. On these customs see Lewy 1893: 141.
21. For further references to the magical-medical therapy and to the indication of "very ap-
proved ones," see Zimmels 1952: 112.
22. Gloss from a Mordecaims. quoted in Trachtenberg 1939: 200; 304, n. 15; Zimmels
1952: 141.
Some customs and beliefs about both dropping bread from the table and
leaving crumbs on the table have been transmitted from antiquity. Pliny
considers, for instance, the following "superstitions"to be deeply rooted
in the Roman mind (conscientia):
Foodalso that fell fromthe hand used to be put back at least duringcourses,
and it was forbiddento blow off, for tidiness,any dirt;augurieshavebeen re-
corded from the words, or thoughtsof the diner who droppedfood, a very
dreadfulomen being if the chief priest(pontifex)shoulddo so at a formaldin-
ner.In anycaseputtingit backon the tableandburningit beforethe household
deity(Lares)countsas expiation.23
Pythagoras, however, "bade his disciples not to pick up fallen crumbs,
either in order to accustom them not to eat immoderately, or because they
could connect with a person's death; nay, even, according to Aristopha-
nes, crumbs belong to the heroes, for in his Heroeshe says: 'Nor taste ye of
what falls beneath the board"' (Diogenes Laertius 1972 [1925] 8: 8, 34).
A very interesting rational and magical explanation of the custom of
picking up crumbs is transmitted by Abbaye in the Babylonian Talmud.
The purpose of picking up fallen crumbs is to be tidy or, rather, to avert
poverty:
Abbayesaid: At first I believed that the reason why one [usually]picks up
[fallen]crumbswas merelytidiness.My mastersaidto me thatit mightlead to
poverty.24
The angelof povertywasfollowinga man [in orderto catchhim at fault],but
he couldnot [catchhim]becausehe wascarefulabout[fallen]crumbs.One day
he was eating some bread[outdoors]and [then] some crumbsfell amongthe
[The angelof poverty]said:"Now,he will surelyfall into my hands!"26
yavleh.25
Afterhe had eaten,he tooka spadeand dug up theyavlehand threwit into a
23. NaturalisHistoria28:5,27: "Cibus etiam e manu prolapsus, reddebatur, utique per men-
sas, vetanbantque munditiarum causa deflare; et sunt condita auguria, quid loquenti cogi-
tantive id acciderit, inter exsecratissima, si pontifici accidat dicis causa epulanti. in mensa
utique id reponi adolerique ad Larem piatio est." English translation by W. H. S. Jones.
24. See the Babylonian Talmud, Pesahim llb: "[To leave] crumbs lie in the house leads to
poverty."
25. A species of grass. For this translation see Jastrow 1903: 561.
26. Because he would not be able to pick up every fallen crumb from the grass.
river.7 [Then] he heard [the angel of poverty] saying: Alas, he has driven me
out of his house! (Hullim lo5b)
He who says:
Do not clasp your hands behind your back,
so that you should obstruct the work for us.
(Tosefta Shabbat 6:9)
The text seems to describe a custom that was very popular in antiquity.
Pliny writes,
To sit in the presence of pregnant women, or when medicine is being given
to patients, with the fingers interlaced comb-wise, is to be guilty of sorcery
(veneficiumest), a discovery made, it is said, when Alcmena was giving birth to
Hercules.
The sorcery is worse (peius)if the hands are clasped round one knee or both,
and also to cross the knees first in one way and then in the other. For this rea-
son our ancestors forbade such postures at councils of war and officials, on the
ground that they were an obstacle to the transaction of all business.28
To untie and to bind are technical terms both in judicial and magical
terminology. The basic principle of the procedure is that (legal and magi-
cal) authority has the pcwer to obstruct someone's action. The concept
occurs in the Aramaic translation (Targum) of Deuteronomy 24:6: "No-
body is allowed to bind the brides because this is sorcery."
He who pours out water onto the street and says HD':
this is a custom of the Amorite.
If he did so [to warn] people who are on the street, or passing by:
this is permitted
(Tosefta Shabbat 6:11)
To pour water onto the street where no city-sewer system existed was
common. In their daily housecleaning, housewives were accustomed to
throwing out the garbage onto the street (see, for instance, the Palestinian
Talmud Mo'ed Qatan 3:1 [81d]). Well-mannered people, of course, cried
out in warning when people were in the street or passing by (See Lewy
1893: 36).
However, both crying out and pouring water onto the floor or out of
27. Demons are afraid of water. See Goldziher 1910:20-46; Scheftelowitz 1925: 72ff.
28. Plinius NaturalisHistoria28:17,59: "Adsideregravidis, vel cum remedia alicui adhibean-
tur, digitis pectinatim inter se inplexis veneficium est, idque conpertum tradunt Alcmena
Herculem pariente; peius, si circa unum ambove genua; item poplites alternis genibus im-
poni. ideo haec in consiliis ducum potestatiumve fieri vetuere maiores velut omnem actum
inpedientia." English translation by W. H. S. Jones.
42. Plinius NaturalisHistoria 28:4,19-20: "defigi quidem diris deprecationibus nemo non
metuit. hoc pertinet ovorum quae exorbuerit quisque calices coclearumque protinus frangi
aut isdem coclearibus perforari. hinc Theocriti apud Graecos, Catulli apud nos proximeque
Vergilii incantamentorum amatoria imitatio. multi figlinarum opera rumpi credunt tali
modo, nonpaucietiamserpentes; ipsas recanere et hunc unum illis esse intellectum contrahique
Marsorum cantu etiam in nocturna quiete. etiam parietes incendiorum deprecationibus
conscribuntur. neque est facile dictu externa verba atque ineffabilia abrogent fidem validius
an Latina inopinata et quae inridicula videri cogit animus semper aliquid immensum ex-
spectans ac dignum deo movendo, immo vero quod numini imperet." English translation
by W. H. S. Jones, my italics.
The main problem in dealing with the customs of the Amorite is that
the Rabbis tend not to give any reasons why they allow or forbid a custom
or procedure. A very typical example is in Tosefta Shabbat 6:4:
GoodManners
He who pours out water onto the street and says HD':
this is a custom of the Amorite.
If he did so [to warn] people who are on the street, or passing by:
this is permitted
(Tosefta Shabbat 6:11)
He who says:
Do not come between us
so that our love does not fail.
This is a custom of the Amorite.
But if this was said in order to pay respect, it is permitted.
(7:12)
Both the shouting while pouring water to avert demons (see above) and
the conjuration against being separated by chance have here been reinter-
preted as being good manners: to warn someone on the street and to pay
respect to a loved one.
CommonSense
He who says:
Do not sit on the plough
in order that you do not make the work hard for us.
Do not sit on the plough
in order that it should not be broken
These are ways of the Amorite.
But if he said this
so that it really should not break,
this is permitted.
(6:8)
EstablishedandRootedConvictions
He who throws a piece of iron into a cemetery
and says HD'
This is a way of the Amorite.
But if he did so because of witchcraft,
this is permitted.
(6:12)
He who puts a staff of wood or iron
under his head,
EmpiricalObservation
She who shoutsat an ovennot to let
the breadfall,
She who putssplintersinto the handleof a pot thatit
shouldnot boil over,
These arewaysof the Amorite.
But she may put splintersof mulberryor shardsof glass
into the pot,
so thatit will boil morequickly.
[However],the Hakhamimsaidthat she shouldnot do so
with thosemade out of glass,
becauseof the dangerto life.
(6:14)
Pliny tells us that it was usual to put certain kinds of twigs into the pot
so that it could boil more quickly (Naturalis Historia 23:64, 127). The Rab-
bis allowed this custom but rejected the use of glass because of the danger
to life. This is a typical example of their empirical-pragmatical mentality.
They did not allow shouting at an oven, perhaps because of the "magical"
thinking this custom evoked, nor putting splinters into the handle, maybe
because of the use of splinters as amulets.
The examples I have presented show the attitude of Rabbinic Juda-
ism toward magic, superstitions, and science. In all of them the practical,
pragmatic tendency cannot be overlooked. Yet it should be stressed that
the introduction of "intention"into discussions of the ways of the Amorite
illustrates the difficulty in finding clear-cut criteria to define a procedure
or belief. Everywhere else it is emphasized that, in order to make a proper
decision according to the relevant Halakhah, it is necessary (especially in
criminal law) to ascertain the facts and the nature of the case, for example,
with the help of witnesses. The intention behind an act, however, cannot
be ascertained, and intention plays little or no role in determining the per-
missibility of an act (unless it has a visible corollary). Unstated intention
here is seen as the critical factor, which suggests that the Rabbis were try-
ing to reinterpret certain practices they worried about and that were in
fact forbidden but that they were unable to suppress. They used "inten-
tion" as a loophole through which to make the forbidden permissible.
Another principle of Rabbinic Halakhah concerning the ways of the
Amorite has to be emphasized for its "scientific" and modern value:
"Whatever is used to bring about healing does not belong to the ways of
the Amorite" (Palestinian Talmud, Shabbat 6:10 [8c/37-39]). Doubtless
the meaning of this statement is that Rabbinic authorities did accept cer-
tain "foreign"customs for healing purposes and did not forbid them. We
do not know whether "Jewishskill in effecting cures"attracted non-Jews to
Judaism, as Louis Feldman (1993:381) claims. But from this example of the
Halakhah we can only infer that Rabbinic Judaism was open to "pagan"
influences as long as they brought about effective and skillful cures. There-
fore even a pagan physician was allowed to treat a Jew according to the
Palestinian Talmud ('AvodahZarah 2:1 [40c]).
43. See Ernout 1964. See also the detailed study by Koves-Zulauf 1972 and a critique of
Koves-Zulauf by Baumer (1984).
44. Plinius NaturalisHistoria28:3,10: "Ex homine remediorum primum maximae quaestio-
nis et semper incertae est, polleantne aliquid verba et incantamenta carminum. quod si
verum est, homini acceptum fieri oportere conveniat, sed viritim sapientissimi cuiusque re-
spuit fides, in universum vero omnibus horis credit vita nec sentit." English translation by
W. H. S. Jones.
Pliny refuses the magicaevanitatesnot because they are "magic" but only
because they are vanitates,that is, an exaggerated claim in the efficacy of
plants in nonmedical (or empirical) sectors. He does not shy away from
using foreign (and strange) healing methods, if they are comprehensible.
47. CodexTheodosianus 9.16.3, a.321/4 (318 Seek): "Idem A. et Caes. ad Bassum P(raefectum)
V(rbi). Eorum est scientia punienda et severissimis merito legibus vindicanda, qui magi-
cis adcinti artibus aut contra hominum moliti salutem aut pudicos ad libidinem deflexisse
animos detegentur. Nullis vero criminationibus inplicanda sund remedia humanis quae-
sita corporibus aut in agrestibus locis, ne maturis vindemiis metuerentur imbres aut ruentis
grandinis lapidatione quaterentur, innocenter adhibita suffragia, quibus non cuiusque salus
aut existimatio laederetur, sed quorum proficerent actus, ne divina munera et labores homi-
num sternerentur. Dat. x Kal. Iun. Aquil(eiae) Crispo et Constantino Caess. Conss." Latin
text taken from Fogen 1993: 323, where an exhaustive comment on the text can be found.
Comparingthe Incomparable
I conclude with the more theoretical question of how to compare the atti-
tudes of Pliny and the Rabbis to magic and the empirical sciences that,
despite their similarities, clearly did not stem from the same socio-cultural
environment nor the same religious or philosophical ideas. In fact, Pliny
belonged to the Roman "establishment"and to the elite of Latin scholar-
ship, whereas the Jews were among the minority subject peoples under
Roman imperial rule scattered from Orient to Occident.
To understand the similarities, we do not necessarily have to speak of
mutual influences. There is no evidence, as a matter of fact, that the Rab-
bis did indeed read the NaturalisHistoria,nor can we prove that Pliny had
informants among the Rabbis. The best explanation for their shared ap-
proaches can be found in certain tendencies of the first centuries C.E.until
Justinian's rule (527-565) when the medical schools and academies were
gradually losing their influence, and encyclopedists like Pliny (but also
Dioscorides) were trying to keep records for posterity.
Neither Pliny nor the Rabbis were keen experimenters in scientific mat-
ters; their purpose was to examine, judge, and record past and present
experiences that could be helpful for everyday life. The Rabbis, like
Pliny,48likely learned their (almost pseudo-) medical recipes/prescriptions
and pharmaceutical knowledge almost exclusively from books and infor-
mants.49Neither of them were students of particular schools of medicine,
but tried to base their knowledge on the (intellectual) experience of reality.
The intellectual element of Rabbinic Judaism seems at times to be the
main feature of its exegesis of traditions and texts. The area of thought
common to both Pliny and the Rabbis consists in their pragmatical atti-
tude to reality and their method of recording past experience.
A further question concerning the use of the label darkheiha-'emorias
a rhetoric category should not be overlooked. The phrase "ways of the
Amorite" (but also Pliny's "magic deceits") belongs without doubt to a
rhetorical dimension: They attribute certain customs to "foreign,"fictive
elements (or peoples) and are used to explain, even distinguish, the "com-
mon" practices and modes of behaviors as categories. The rhetoric of
separation was nothing but the use of a category of social identity to for-
bid something that was, for whatever reason, not acceptable. We may ask
why the Rabbis chose to transmit both forbidden and allowed customs,
and never resorted to censorship. Perhaps it was because they could not
48. For Pliny's method in his NaturalisHistoria,see Lloyd 1979: 137ff., and 148f.
49. The ancient sources show evidence of a very small number of Jewish doctors who were
trained in medical schools. See Veltri in press a.
suppress them at all. On the other hand, like Pliny, the Rabbis sought to
provide records of events, procedures, and medical knowledge classified as
either helpful or dangerous. It was up to their readers and commentators
to accept or reject their findings.
The principle of empirical evidence, expressly noted by both Pliny and
the Rabbis, is surely a "modern" aspect that nonetheless should not be
exaggerated. In late antiquity "magic" and "science" not only encom-
passed scientific phenomena and religious practices, but also had legal
consequences. Supporters of magic were to be prosecuted and severely
punished. In Rabbinic Halakhah and Roman Law the penalty for effective
(namely,proved)magical procedures was death. In other words, magic was
considered a real and potential danger to public and private life, which is
why one could defy "magic" with the help of one's own magic.
The empirical principle of first examining and then accepting new sci-
ences and findings (remediaquaesitacorporibus) was also an achievement of
Roman Law that unfortunately appeared and disappeared with Constan-
tine the Great. In Judaism, it formed a halakhic tradition that flourished,
especially in the Middle Ages, when Greek medicine though the mediation
of Arabs once more addressed the question of the legitimacy of "foreign"
customs.
These examples of lore, magic, and custom show the deep similarity of
Jewish and Roman minds. It is hard to say whether the Jews borrowed
such customs from the Romans or vice versa. The term darkheiha-'emori
may even be a metathesis of darkheiha-romi,which would mean "ways of
the Roman" (see Goldin 1976: 117).The main point to be emphasized, in
conclusion, is that the Jews and Greeks (that is, Pliny) show parallels in
their attitudes to magic and sciences more than in realiathemselves. Wide-
spread customs and beliefs were tested with reference to their utility and
harmfulness. In judging magic and science(s), both the Rabbis and Pliny
reflect a pragmatic approach, intent on accepting or avoiding what could
be respectively helpful or dangerous for the eventualities of everyday life.
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