Understanding Josephus : seven perspectives / edited by Steve Mason.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Mason, Steve, 1957-

Series:

Journal for the study of the Pseudepigrapha. Supplement series ; 32.

Journal for the study of the pseudepigrapha. Supplement series ; 32

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Josephus, Flavius.

Jews--History--168 B.C.-135 A.D--Historiography.

Jews.

History.

Historiography.

Physical Description:

260 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Sheffield, England : Sheffield Academic Press, [1998]

Summary:

Josephus's thirty volumes (more consulted than read) are considered the ultimate reference work for Judaism in the Graeco-Roman period. Even the more sceptical, who would wish to read between the lines, must often resort to arbitrary techniques because it is not apparent where the 'lines' are. This volume of essays by seven prominent scholars-John Barclay, Per Bilde, Steve Mason, Tessa Rajak, Joseph Sievers, Paul Spilsbury and Gregory E. Sterling-is another step in the effort to change the way we look at this most famous/notorious ancient Jewish historian. It introduces him as a rational being, a first-century author, and a thinker, with his own literary and social contexts-on the premise that he is worth trying to understand. Three essays deal with his Jewish Antiquities, two with Against Apion, and two with the larger themes of afterlife and apocalyptic in his writings. An up-to-date assessment of Josephus and his modern scholarly interpreters, for expert and non-expert alike.

Contents:

Josephus and the afterlife / Joseph Sievers

Josephus and Jewish apocalypticism / Per Bilde

Should any wish to enquire further (Ant. 1.25) : the aim and audience of Josephus's Judean antiquities/life / Steve Mason

The invisible presence : Josephus's retelling of Ruth / Gregory E. Sterling

God and Israel in Josephus : a patron-client relationship / Paul Spilsbury

Josephus v. Apion : analysis of an argument / John M.G. Barclay

The Against Apion and the continuities in Josephus's political thought / Tessa Rajak.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

1850758786

OCLC:

40340016