Jewish War (Flavius ​​Josephus)

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The foreword to the Jewish War in Latin translation in a manuscript in the Rakow Research Library, Corning Museum of Glass
The beginning of the Jewish War in Latin translation in the manuscript Cologne, Dombibliothek, 163, fol. 101r (12th century)
The Jewish War in Latin translation in the Florence manuscript, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana , Plut. 66.7, fol. 1r (15th century)

The work of Jewish war or history of the Jewish War ( ancient Greek Περὶ τοῦ Ἰουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου Perì toῦ Ioudaikoῦ polémou or Ἱστορία Ἰουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου πρὸς Ῥωμαίους Historia Ioudaikoῦ polémou Pros Rhōmaíous , Latin De bello Iudaico or Bellum Iudaicum ) and Antiquities of the Jews are the two major works of Roman Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus . The Jewish War deals with the uprising of the Jews against the Romans in the years 66 to 74 as well as previous events that led to this revolt.

The Chronicle of Flavius ​​Josephus, written from a Roman point of view, is the most important source on the course of the Jewish war. The oldest surviving manuscript of the work in Latin translation was created at the end of the 6th century in Italy and is now in the Kassel University Library .

Structure and content

As Josephus explains in the preface himself, the treatise consists of seven "books". Thematically, the history is divided into two main parts. The first, smaller part contains the prehistory of the Jewish war and ends with chapter 14 of the 2nd book. Using passages from the 1st Book of the Maccabees , he describes the occupation of Jerusalem by the Seleucids under Antiochus IV in 167 BC. And the subsequent uprising led by the Maccabees . This is followed by the death of King Herod and the murder of the Roman procurator Gessius Florus , which, in the author's opinion, triggered the Jewish uprising. The second, more extensive part deals with the war itself under the leadership of the Zealots , which Josephus witnessed as an eyewitness. These include detailed descriptions of the defense of the fortress of Jotapata in Galilee , the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple there on the orders of Titus in the year 70. The work closes with the depiction of the triumphal procession of Titus in Rome and the defeat of the last Jewish rebels ( Sicarians ) in the fortresses of Herodium , Machaerus and Masada .

Language versions

A first, non-preserved version was in the author's mother tongue, probably written in Aramaic . Around the year 75, during the reign of Emperor Vespasian , Josephus translated his own work into Greek . An Old Church Slavonic translation has also been preserved, but it differs significantly from the Greek version. On the one hand, numerous narrative parts are omitted, on the other hand, over 20 passages, some with references to John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth , are not available in the original. In the 4th century there was a free Latin adaptation of the so-called Pseudo-Hegesippus , which was first printed in Paris in 1510.

reception

Jüdische Chronic , an early German translation of the Jewish War , 1552. Title page with a fantasy author portrait

The history of the Jewish War was after their formation to Christian chroniclers, the most important source of Jewish history until the destruction of the Second Temple. Church fathers such as Eusebius of Caesarea and Origen saw his tradition as a testimony to Christian salvation history and interpreted the end of the Second Temple as a punishment for the death of Jesus Christ. In the Middle Ages, the story of the Jewish war was one of the most widely circulated historical works. Josephus was received late in the Jewish tradition. His behavior during the Jewish War was considered a betrayal and apology for Titus ' behavior in the destruction of Jerusalem . At the beginning of the 10th century, the history of the Jewish war in Italy was first translated into Hebrew and integrated into the Jewish tradition. In the centuries that followed, the so-called Sefer Yosippon was also viewed in Judaism as the historical work on the late biblical books Esther and Daniel and the Second Temple.

Editions and translations

  • Flavius ​​Josephus: History of the Jewish War . Translated and provided with an introduction and comments by Dr. Heinrich Clementz . With a detailed index of names and subjects (= library of complete literature . Volume 1424/1435), Hendel, Halle o. J. [approx. 1900] ( digitized version ). Reprint: Fourier, Wiesbaden 1979. 11th edition 1994, ISBN 3-921695-00-7
    • New edition (fourth edition): History of the Jewish War - Smaller Writings. With paragraph counting according to Benedict Niese, Marix, Wiesbaden, 2012.
  • Jewish War , translated from the Greek and provided with an appendix with detailed comments by Philipp Kohout , Linz 1901 ( digitized version ) (incomplete).
  • De bello Judaico. Greek and German = The Jewish War . Edited with an introduction and annotations by Otto Michel and Otto Bauernfeind . 3 volumes. Kösel, Munich / Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1962–1969.

bibliography

1 work editions

  • Flavius ​​Josephus: History of the Jewish War or On the Fall of the Jewish People and its Capital Jerusalem. With plans and a new map of the promised land. From d. Greek for readers of all levels newly translated., Through. u. ed. v. August Friedrich Gfrörer. With geogr. u. hist. explanation v. Wilhelm Hoffmann. Stuttgart 1836. XXVI, 322, 334 pp.
  • Flavii Iosephi Opera. Edidit et apparatu critico instruxit Benedictus Niese. 7 vols. Berlin 1885–1895. - Vol. 6: De bello Iudaico libros VII. Ediderunt Justus a Destinon et Benedictus Niese. 1894. LXXVI, 628 pp.
  • Flavius ​​Josephus: History of the Jewish War. With extensive name register. Trans. U. with inlet u. Note vers. v. Heinrich Clementz. Halle Saale 1900. 696 pp.
  • Flavius ​​Josephus' Jewish War. From d. Greek transl. u. with an appendix v. detailed Note vers. v. Philipp Kohout. Linz 1901. X, 816 pp.
  • Flavius ​​Josephus: De bello Judaico. The Jewish War. Bilingual edition of the seven books. 2 in 4 floors. Ed. U. with an introduction and with a note vers. v. Otto Michel u. Otto Bauernfeind. Munich 1959–1969. - Vol. 1: Book I – III. 1959. XXXVI, 464 pp. - Vol. 2.1: Book IV – V. 1963. XII, 274 pp. - Vol. 2.2: Book VI – VII. 1969. 288 pp. - Erg.-Vol .: Supplements and registers. 1969. XXVIII, 150 pp.

2 tools

  • Topographical-historical lexicon on the writings of Flavius ​​Josephus. Compiled by compilation u. ed. v. Gustav Boettger. Leipzig 1879. XIV, 286 pp.
  • A lexicon to Josephus. 4 fasc. Compiled by Henry S. Thackeray and Ralph Marcus. Paris 1930–1955. - Fasc. 1: Α to ἀργός. 1930. X, 80 pp. - Fasc. 2: Ἀργύρεος to διαστέλλειν. 1934. pp. 81-160. - Fasc. 3: Διάστημα to ἐγγῶνιος. 1948. pp. 161-208. - Fasc. 4: Ἐγείρειν to ἐμφιλοχῶρειν. 1955. pp. 209-256. [More not published]
  • Louis H. Feldman: Scholarship on Philo and Josephus, 1937–1962. New York (New York) 1962. VI, 62 pp.
  • A complete concordance to Flavius ​​Josephus. Edited by Karl Heinrich Rengstorfand Abraham Schalit. Leiden 1968-1983. - Vol. 1: Α – Δ. 1973. XXVIII, 546 pp. - Vol. 2: Ε-Κ. 1975. 550 pp. - Vol. 3: Λ – Π. 1979. 598 pp. - Vol. 4: Ρ-Ω. 1983. 398 S. - Suppl.-Vol .: Dictionary of names for Flavius ​​Josephus. Edit v. Abraham Shalit. 1968. XVI, 144 pp.
  • Heinz Schreckenberg: Bibliography on Flavius ​​Josephus. 2 vols. Leiden 1968–1979. Vol. 1: Bibliography. 1968. XVIII, 336 S. Vol. 2: Supplementary volume with complete register. 1979. XII, 242 pp.
  • Louis H. Feldman: Josephus and modern scholarship (1937–1980). Berlin 1984. VI, 1.056 pp.
  • Louis H. Feldman: Josephus. A supplementary bibliography. New York (New York) 1986. XVIII, 696 pp.

3 fonts

  • Gustav Hölscher: The sources of Josephus for the time from exile to the Jewish war. Leipzig 1904. 86 pp.
  • Richard Laqueur: The Jewish historian Flavius ​​Josephus. A biographical attempt on a new source-critical basis. Giessen 1920. VII, 280 pp.
  • Wilhelm Weber: Josephus and Vespasian. Investigations into the “Jewish War” by Flavius ​​Josephus. Berlin 1921. VIII, 288 pp.
  • Helgo Lindner: The historical conception of Flavius ​​Josephus in the "Bellum Judaicum". At the same time a contribution to the source question. Leiden 1972. XII, 166 pp.
  • Willem Cornelis van Unnik: Flavius ​​Josephus as a historical writer. Heidelberg 1978. 68 pp.
  • Günther Baumbach: The Pharisee Depiction of Josephus - prophariate or anti-pharisee? Münster 1997. 42 pp.
  • Saskia Dönitz: Tradition and reception of the Sefer Yosippon. Tübingen 2013. XII, 340 pp.
  • Sören Swoboda: Death and Dying in War with Josephus. The intentions of Bellum and Antiquitates in the context of Greco-Roman historiography. Tübingen 2014. XVI, 602 pp.
  • Vitor Hugo Schell: The Areopagus speech of Paul and speeches with Josephus. A comparative study of Acts. 17 and the historiographical works of Josephus. Tübingen 2016. XII, 318 pp.

4 essays

  • Gustav Hölscher: Art. Josephus. The writer. In: Realencyclopadie der classical antiquity science. Vol. 9, 1916. Col. 1.934-2.000.
  • Hans Drexler: Josephus and the history of the Jewish uprising. In: Klio. Vol. 19, 1924. pp. 277-312.
  • Josephus Studies. Studies on Josephus, ancient Judaism and the New Testament. Dedicated to Otto Michel on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Edited by Otto Betz. Göttingen 1974. 414 pp.
  • Otto Michel: The salvation of Israel and the role of Rome after the speeches in the "Bellum Iudaicum". Analysis and Perspectives. In: Rise and Fall of the Roman World. History and culture of Rome as reflected in recent research. Edited by Hildegard Temporini u. Wolfgang Haase. Vol. 21: Religion. Hellenistic Judaism in Roman times. Philon and Josephus. Half vol. 2: Principate. Berlin 1984. pp. 945-976.
  • Günter Mayer: Art. Josephus Flavius. In: Theological Real Encyclopedia. Edited by Gerhard Müller. Vol. 17: Jesus Christ V - Catechism Sermon. Berlin 1988. pp. 258-264.
  • René Bloch: Art. Iosephos Flavios (Flavius ​​Josephus). Bellum iudaicum. In: The New Pauly. Suppl.-Vol. 7: The reception of ancient literature. Cultural-historical dictionary of works. Edited by Christine Walde. Stuttgart 2010. pp. 397-406.

Web links

Commons : Jewish War (Flavius ​​Josephus)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Flavius ​​Josephus, Ιουδαϊκός Πόλεμος , in Greek  - sources and full texts
Wikisource: Flavius ​​Josephus, Juedischer Krieg , in German translation by Philipp Kohout, 1901  - sources and full texts

Remarks

  1. ↑ Digital copy of Codex 2 ° Ms. theol. 65; on the codex see Konrad Wiedemann: Manuscripta theologica. The manuscripts in folio (= The manuscripts of the Kassel University Library - State Library and Murhard Library of the City of Kassel. Volume 1,1). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1994, p. 96 ( online ); Rolf Bergmann , Stefanie Stricker (Ed.): Catalog of the Old High German and Old Saxon gloss manuscripts. Volume 1. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, p. 735 f. No. 334.
  2. ↑ According to the preface "in my mother tongue".
  3. ^ Introduction by Heinrich Clementz
  4. ↑ Flavius ​​Josephus: On the Jewish War: Book 1-4. Edited from the Slavic translation and compared with the Greek text by Alexander Berendts and Konrad Grass. Dorpat 1926-1927.
  5. ↑ Christian-Georges Schwentzel: Hérode le Grand , Édition Pygmalion, Paris 2011, p. 94.
  6. ^ Saskia Dönitz: Tradition and reception of the Sefer Yosippon . Pp. 3-5.