“The flower of the whole world”: A homily on converts from the Jerusalem talmud analyzed in light of greco-roman floral motifs

This study explores the possibility that Roman political rhetoric is reflected in a passage from Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 2:7, 5b-c that expounds on Song of Songs 6:2. This text equates lilies with converts to Judaism, whom God would pluck from among the nations and gather into Israel, a description which echoes a distinctive floral metaphor that occurs in two Roman sources that address broadening the membership of the Roman Senate and increasing its numbers by recruiting provincial leaders: namely, the Lyon Tablet and the speech by Nazarius in Latin Panegyric X (4).35.1-3. In these Roman and talmudic sources, a higher being identifies the finest men from all other nations and promotes them into a superior community: the Roman emperor elevates provincials to the senatorial order and the God of Israel selects gentiles for the people of Israel. In this study, we survey the use of floral metaphors in Jewish, Christian, Greek, and Roman literature to argue that this talmudic passage applies a Roman motif to present the incorporation of proselytes into Israel in a favorable light.