From Josephus to Yosippon and Beyond

Carson Bay, PhD (2018), Florida State University, is Postdoctoral Researcher in the Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Bern. He has published on Josephus, his Latin reception and Pseudo-Hegesippus, and the Hebrew Sefer Yosippon. His book Biblical Heroes and Classical Culture in Christian Late Antiquity: The Historiography, Exemplarity, and Anti-Judaism of Pseudo-Hegesippus (Cambridge University Press, 2023), won a 2023 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award. Michael Avioz, PhD (2002), Bar-Ilan University, is Full Professor in the Department of Bible at Bar-Ilan University. His research focuses on biblical historiography and early biblical interpretation. He is author of numerous scholarly articles and books, including Josephus’ Interpretation of the Books of Samuel and, most recently, Legal Exegesis of Scripture in the Works of Josephus (T&T Clark, 2020). Jan Willem van Henten, PhD (1986), Leiden University, is Emeritus Professor of Religion at the University of Amsterdam, and Extra-Ordinary Professor of Biblical Studies at Stellenbosch University. He is editor of The Books of the Maccabees: Literary, Historical, and Religious Perspectives (Peeters, 2022) and co-author of Jewish Martyrdom in Antiquity: From the Books of Maccabees to the Babylonian Talmud (Brill, 2023, with Friedrich Avemarie and Yair Furstenberg).

• AcknowledgementsList of FiguresAbbreviationsNotes on Contributors1 An Introduction to Josephus, Yosippon, and Beyond: The Past, Present, and Future of a Josephan Legacy in Modern ScholarshipCarson Bay, Michael Avioz and Jan Willem van HentenPart 1: Flavius Josephus: Context, Greek Text, and Literary Features2 Interpreting Josephus Contextually: Composition, Audiences, Messages, and MeaningSteve Mason3 Josephus and the BibleErich S. Gruen4 Ancient Jewish Court-Tales, Scriptural Adaptation, and Greco-Roman Discourses of Exemplarity: Joseph, Esther, and Agrippa I in Josephus’ Antiquitates JudaicaeDavid R. Edwards5 The Language of the Law: Narratology and Register Variation in Josephus’ Cultic Laws and ConstitutionSilvia Castelli6 Free Speech and Moses’ Laws: The Limits of παρρησία in Josephus’ WorksUrsula WestwoodPart 2: Sefer Yosippon and Latin Josephus: Manuscripts and Text Criticism7 The Hebrew Manuscripts of Sefer YosipponSaskia Dönitz8 Beyond Flusser: The Text of Latin Antiquities 13 and Sefer YosipponDavid B. LevensonPart 3: Sefer Yosippon: Traditions, Intertexts, and (Re-)Interpretations9 The Beginning of the End: Yosippon’s ‘Aeneid’ and Adso’s ApocalypseRuth Nisse10 The Maccabean Mother and Her Seven Sons in Sefer Yosippon 15: Interconnections with Previous Versions of the Martyrdom and Important MotifsJan Willem van Henten11 Killing Matthias: De excidio 5.22 and Sefer Yosippon 81 (פא)Carson Bay12 Yosippon as an Innovative and Creative GeniusSteven Bowman13 Sefer Yosippon as a Source for Hasmonean History: The Mysterious Story of John Hyrcanus and the ParthiansKenneth Atkinson14 Sefer Yosippon and Sefer Masaʿot: A ReconsiderationDaniel Stein KokinPart 4: Beyond Josephus and Yosippon: Reception, Afterlives, and Legacy15 English Versions of Josephus in the Nineteenth Century: Omissions and AdditionsMartin Goodman16 Josephus on the School BenchMeir Ben Shahar17 ‘Josephus Proudly Presents’: Figurations of Josephus Presenting His Work in High Medieval Latin Manuscripts (12th and 13th Centuries)Katharina Heyden18 Between Josephus and Yosippon: Lamdan’s MasadaYael S. Feldman19 Schalit’s Modern Hebrew Translation of Josephus’ Antiquitates Judaicae: A ReassessmentMichael Avioz20 Zena Ayhud (The History of the Jews): The Text and Context of the Ethiopic Version of Sefer YosipponYonatan Binyam21 The Christian Reception of Sefer Yosippon in Western EuropeNadia Zeldes22 Un-writing the End: Histories and Counter-histories in the Early Modern YosipponAndrea SchatzIndex of Modern AuthorsIndex of Ancient and Medieval SourcesIndex of Subjects