Book Description:
Flavius Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, is without a doubt the most important witness to ancient Judaism from the close of the biblical period to the aftermath of the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. His four surviving works Judean War, Judean Antiqities, Life, and Against Apion provide the narrative structure for interpreting the other, more fragmentary written sources and physical remains for this period. His descriptions of the Temple, the Judean countryside, Jewish Roman relations and conflicts, and groups and institutions of ancient Judea have become indispensable for the student of early Judaism, of Classics, and of Christian origins alike. The priestly aristocrat Josephus was born in 37 CE and died around the year 100. After fighting against the Romans in the war of 66 73 and surrendering in the earliest phase of the campaign, he moved to Rome where he began a productive literary career. His four surviving works in thirty Greek volumes are widely excerpted for historical purposes, but still not often read in their literary and historical contexts. This project aims to assist every serious reader of Josephus by providing a new literal translation, along with a commentary suggesting literary and historical connections. This is the first comprehensive literary historical commentary on the works of Flavius Josephus in English. Scholar Steve Mason, York University, Toronto, edits the scheduled 10 volumes. This volume provides a new English translation of and commentary on Josephus' Judean Antiquities 5 7 in which he retells the history of Israel from the entry into the land down to the death of King David. The commentary devotes special attention to the ways in which Josephus deals with the data of his biblical sources, i.e. the Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and 1 Chronicles. It likewise looks to the question of the biblical text forms used by Josephus and calls attention to Jewish and Greco Roman parallels to his presentation. The book is intended primarily for biblicists and scholars of ancient Judaism. Readership: This book is intended primarily for biblicists and scholars of ancient Judaism.
|
