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Contesting Jewish History in Late Antique Christianity and Early Medieval Judaism
Flavius Josephusâ Jewish War between the Latin On the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Hebrew Book of Yosippon
Series: - Ãtudes sur le judaïsme médiéval, Volume: 105
Author:
The open access publication of this book was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
On the Destruction of Jerusalem, an anonymous Latin Christian text from Late Antiquity (c. 375 CE), paraphrased Flavius Josephusâ Greek Jewish War (ca. 75 CE) to reinterpret the Roman-Jewish War (66-70 CE) and the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple (70 CE) as proof that God had abandoned the Jews (because they had rejected Jesus Christ). No Jewish alternative to this supersessionist historiography existed for hundreds of years. Then, around 900 CE, the anonymous Hebrew Book of Yosippon rewrote this history anew, based on the narrative of On the Destruction Jerusalem. This monograph provides the first extensive comparison of these texts, showing how the Book of Yosippon biblicized, theologized, and Judaized its Latin source, overwriting the Christian narrative of late-Second Temple Judaism and underwriting a new version of that story. In so doing, the Book of Yosippon resurrected the spirit of Hellenistic Judaism, reclaiming Jewish history for the Jews in the Early Middle Ages.
On the Destruction of Jerusalem, an anonymous Latin Christian text from Late Antiquity (c. 375 CE), paraphrased Flavius Josephusâ Greek Jewish War (ca. 75 CE) to reinterpret the Roman-Jewish War (66-70 CE) and the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple (70 CE) as proof that God had abandoned the Jews (because they had rejected Jesus Christ). No Jewish alternative to this supersessionist historiography existed for hundreds of years. Then, around 900 CE, the anonymous Hebrew Book of Yosippon rewrote this history anew, based on the narrative of On the Destruction Jerusalem. This monograph provides the first extensive comparison of these texts, showing how the Book of Yosippon biblicized, theologized, and Judaized its Latin source, overwriting the Christian narrative of late-Second Temple Judaism and underwriting a new version of that story. In so doing, the Book of Yosippon resurrected the spirit of Hellenistic Judaism, reclaiming Jewish history for the Jews in the Early Middle Ages.
Carson Bay is Associate Professor of Classics & Biblical Studies at the University of Austin (UATX). His publications include the monograph Biblical Heroes and Classical Culture in Christian Late Antiquity: The Historiography, Exemplarity, and Anti-Judaism of Pseudo-Hegesippus (Cambridge University Press, 2023).
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Historiographical Contest: Latin De Excidio to Hebrew Sefer Yosippon
â1âBackground: Sefer Yosippon, Scholarly Disciplinarity, & the State of Research
â2âSefer Yosippon: Beginnings & Endings
1 Historical Context, Methodological Framework, Theoretical Considerations
â1âHistorical Context: Date, Author, Provenance, & Beyond
â2âImagining the Emergence of Sefer Yosippon in History
â3âMethodology & Argument
â4âBiblicizing, Theologizing, Judaizing
â5âUnderwriting Hellenistic Judaism, Overwriting Roman Christianity
â6âTaking Jewish History Back
â7âA Final Note on Method
â8âDisciplinary Considerations
2 Negotiating Jewishness, Part 1: De Excidio 3.16 & Sefer Yosippon 67 (ס×)
â1âJosephus, Part 1: âMessiah of Warâ (×ש×× ×××××) & More
â2âJosephus, Part 2: Mighty Man & Messiah, Priest & Prince of the King
â3âExegeting Moses & Aaron between Divine Chastisement and Self-Sacrifice
â4âSaul, Jonathan, David: Fated Warriors and Prophetic Kings
â5âConclusion: Jewishness, Jotapata, & Josephus the War Messiah +
3 Negotiating Jewishness, Part 2: De Excidio 3.17 & Sefer Yosippon 67 (ס×)
â1âTheology, Anthropology, Ontology: God and Humans according to Josephus
â2âSaints & Scriptures against Suicide: Abraham and Moses as Paradigms of a Good Death
â3âSaints & Scriptures against Suicide: The Case of Job
â4âA Virtuous End: The Virtues of Death between Ps-Hegesippus & Sefer Yosippon
â5âKing Saul the Suicide: A Negative Example & Josephusâ Exemplary Reversal
â6âAaron against Suicide: Between the Living and the Dead
â7âWisdom, Philosophy, & Suicide: The Latter Part of Josephusâ Argument
â8âConclusion: Concept & Authority between DEH and SY
4 Addressing the Jews, Part 1: De Excidio 5.15 & Sefer Yosippon 78 (×¢×)
â1âTo Tear down or to Build up? Josephus as Prophet
â2âSanctifying Josephan Oratory: The Temple & the Lord
â3âShifting Heroes between De Excidio & Sefer Yosippon
â4âHellenism, Hasmoneans, & the Rise of the âKittimâ
â5âConclusion: Underwriting, Overwriting, and the Spirit of Hellenistic Judaism
5 Addressing the Jews, Part 2: De Excidio 5.16 & Sefer Yosippon 78 (×¢×)
â1âAbraham, Sarah, & Pharaoh: Genesis 12 (and 20) between DEH 5.16 & SY 78 (×¢×)
â2âTrimming the Tape: Tracking Omissions between DEH 5.16 & SY 78 (×¢×)
â3âAdding to the Scene: Assessing Additions between DEH 5.16 & SY 78
â4âSwitching the Script: Measuring Transformations between DEH 5.16 & SY 78 (×¢×)
â5âConclusion: The Final Speech of Flavius JosephusâDirectorâs Cut
6 Lamenting Jewish History, Part 1: De Excidio 5.2 & Sefer Yosippon 73 (×¢×)
â1âThe Rhetoric of Structure: Omissions, Additions, & Alterations in SY 73 (×¢×)
â2âRhetorical Erasure: The Major Omissions of SY 73 (×¢×)
â3âRhetorical Creation: The Additions of SY 73 (×¢×)
â4âRhetorical Change: The Alterations of SY 73 (×¢×)
â5âInference & Interpretation: Contested Endings between DEH 5.2.1 and SY 73 (×¢×)
â6âCo-Producing Religious History: BJ 5.19â20, DEH 5.2.1, and SY 73 (×¢×)
â7âConclusion: The Lament over Jerusalem, the Same yet Different
7 Lamenting Jewish History, Part 2: De Excidio 5.22 & Sefer Yosippon 81 (פ×)
â1âSimon/Simeon, Matthias/Amitai, & and the Narrative Context of DEH 5.22 // SY 81 (פ×)
â2âMore God: Theologization by the Numbers
â3âA New Biblicization: Scriptural Poetics & Historiographical Speech-Writing
â4âJudaizing Responsibility: Ideas of Martyrdom between Matthias and Amitai
â5âRevenge of the Co-Produced: Identity, History, & Speech in DEH 5.22 & SY 81 (פ×)
â6âConclusion: Rehabilitating Amitai, Reframing the Jews
Conclusion: After Sefer Yosippon & De Excidio Hierosolymitano
â1âSefer Yosippon & the Spirit of Hellenistic Judaism
â2âSefer Yosippon & the Reversal of Christian Supersessionism
â3âSefer Yosippon & Historiography in the Medieval World
Bibliography
Prologue
Historiographical Contest: Latin De Excidio to Hebrew Sefer Yosippon
â1âBackground: Sefer Yosippon, Scholarly Disciplinarity, & the State of Research
â2âSefer Yosippon: Beginnings & Endings
1 Historical Context, Methodological Framework, Theoretical Considerations
â1âHistorical Context: Date, Author, Provenance, & Beyond
â2âImagining the Emergence of Sefer Yosippon in History
â3âMethodology & Argument
â4âBiblicizing, Theologizing, Judaizing
â5âUnderwriting Hellenistic Judaism, Overwriting Roman Christianity
â6âTaking Jewish History Back
â7âA Final Note on Method
â8âDisciplinary Considerations
2 Negotiating Jewishness, Part 1: De Excidio 3.16 & Sefer Yosippon 67 (ס×)
â1âJosephus, Part 1: âMessiah of Warâ (×ש×× ×××××) & More
â2âJosephus, Part 2: Mighty Man & Messiah, Priest & Prince of the King
â3âExegeting Moses & Aaron between Divine Chastisement and Self-Sacrifice
â4âSaul, Jonathan, David: Fated Warriors and Prophetic Kings
â5âConclusion: Jewishness, Jotapata, & Josephus the War Messiah +
3 Negotiating Jewishness, Part 2: De Excidio 3.17 & Sefer Yosippon 67 (ס×)
â1âTheology, Anthropology, Ontology: God and Humans according to Josephus
â2âSaints & Scriptures against Suicide: Abraham and Moses as Paradigms of a Good Death
â3âSaints & Scriptures against Suicide: The Case of Job
â4âA Virtuous End: The Virtues of Death between Ps-Hegesippus & Sefer Yosippon
â5âKing Saul the Suicide: A Negative Example & Josephusâ Exemplary Reversal
â6âAaron against Suicide: Between the Living and the Dead
â7âWisdom, Philosophy, & Suicide: The Latter Part of Josephusâ Argument
â8âConclusion: Concept & Authority between DEH and SY
4 Addressing the Jews, Part 1: De Excidio 5.15 & Sefer Yosippon 78 (×¢×)
â1âTo Tear down or to Build up? Josephus as Prophet
â2âSanctifying Josephan Oratory: The Temple & the Lord
â3âShifting Heroes between De Excidio & Sefer Yosippon
â4âHellenism, Hasmoneans, & the Rise of the âKittimâ
â5âConclusion: Underwriting, Overwriting, and the Spirit of Hellenistic Judaism
5 Addressing the Jews, Part 2: De Excidio 5.16 & Sefer Yosippon 78 (×¢×)
â1âAbraham, Sarah, & Pharaoh: Genesis 12 (and 20) between DEH 5.16 & SY 78 (×¢×)
â2âTrimming the Tape: Tracking Omissions between DEH 5.16 & SY 78 (×¢×)
â3âAdding to the Scene: Assessing Additions between DEH 5.16 & SY 78
â4âSwitching the Script: Measuring Transformations between DEH 5.16 & SY 78 (×¢×)
â5âConclusion: The Final Speech of Flavius JosephusâDirectorâs Cut
6 Lamenting Jewish History, Part 1: De Excidio 5.2 & Sefer Yosippon 73 (×¢×)
â1âThe Rhetoric of Structure: Omissions, Additions, & Alterations in SY 73 (×¢×)
â2âRhetorical Erasure: The Major Omissions of SY 73 (×¢×)
â3âRhetorical Creation: The Additions of SY 73 (×¢×)
â4âRhetorical Change: The Alterations of SY 73 (×¢×)
â5âInference & Interpretation: Contested Endings between DEH 5.2.1 and SY 73 (×¢×)
â6âCo-Producing Religious History: BJ 5.19â20, DEH 5.2.1, and SY 73 (×¢×)
â7âConclusion: The Lament over Jerusalem, the Same yet Different
7 Lamenting Jewish History, Part 2: De Excidio 5.22 & Sefer Yosippon 81 (פ×)
â1âSimon/Simeon, Matthias/Amitai, & and the Narrative Context of DEH 5.22 // SY 81 (פ×)
â2âMore God: Theologization by the Numbers
â3âA New Biblicization: Scriptural Poetics & Historiographical Speech-Writing
â4âJudaizing Responsibility: Ideas of Martyrdom between Matthias and Amitai
â5âRevenge of the Co-Produced: Identity, History, & Speech in DEH 5.22 & SY 81 (פ×)
â6âConclusion: Rehabilitating Amitai, Reframing the Jews
Conclusion: After Sefer Yosippon & De Excidio Hierosolymitano
â1âSefer Yosippon & the Spirit of Hellenistic Judaism
â2âSefer Yosippon & the Reversal of Christian Supersessionism
â3âSefer Yosippon & Historiography in the Medieval World
Bibliography
Specialists/libraries/institutes in: Flavius Josephus, Second Temple Judaism, Jewish Studies, Medieval Studies, historiography, Hebrew literature, Jewish-Christian relations, Reception Studies, Religious Studies, Biblical Studies, Late Antiquity, Byzantium, Literary History, Intellectual History.