The Jewish War
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War of the Jews
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|
 Hebrew–Latin edition of The Jewish War (Basle, 1559) | |
| Author | Josephus |
|---|---|
| Original title | Flavius Josephus's Books of the History of the Jewish War against the Romans |
| Country | Roman Empire |
| Language | Aramaic (lost), Greek |
| Genre | History |
Publication date | c. AD 75 |
| Followed by | Antiquities of the Jews |
The Jewish War or Judean War[1][2][3] (in full History of the Jewish War against the Romans; Greek: Ἱστορία Ἰουδαϊκοῦ πολέμου πρὸς Ῥωμαίους, Ηistoria Ioudaikou polemou pros Rōmaious), also referred to in English as The Wars of the Jews, is a book written by Josephus, a first-century Roman-Jewish historian. It has been described by Steve Mason as "perhaps the most influential non-biblical text of Western history".[4]
Content
Divided into seven books, it opens with a summary of
Aramaic or Hebrew[5] – though this version has not survived. It was later translated into Greek, probably under the supervision of Josephus himself. Buth and Pierce wrote "the current Greek edition does not appear to be a translation, but must be considered a new edition, a complete re-working of the first writing and likely a considerable expansion."[6]
The sources of the
The text also survives in an Old Slavonic version, as well as Hebrew which contains material not found in the Greek version, and which is lacking other material found in the Greek version.[8]
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The Jewish War, 1493 Italian translation -
1581 German translation of Josephi’s The Jewish War in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland.
Influence
Josephus was a popular writer among Christians in the fourth century and beyond as an independent witness to the events before, during, and after the life of
Gutenberg Press) led to the work receiving a number of new translations into the vernacular languages of Europe; the original Greek text was also published in Basel in 1544. In English, the most influential translations were Thomas Lodge's 1602 translation (The Tragic History of the Jews), followed by William Whiston's 1760s translation (The Wars of the Jews).[9]
On the Jewish side, Josephus was far more obscure, as he was perceived as a traitor. Rabbinical writings for a millennium after his death (e.g. the
Yosippon, which paraphrases Pseudo-Hegesippus's Latin version of The Jewish War (among other works), and included additional historical snippets at times. Jews generally distrusted Christian translations of Josephus until the 19th century, when sufficiently "neutral" vernacular language translations were made. Kalman Schulman finally created a translation of the Greek text of Josephus into Hebrew in 1863, although many rabbis continued to prefer the Yosippon version. By the 20th century, Jewish attitudes toward Josephus had softened, as Jews found parts of The Jewish War inspiring and favorable to the Jews. The last stand at Masada was seen as inspirational rather than tragic, for example. A 1938 / 1941 play, Jerusalem and Rome, was loosely based on The Jewish War, and various novels were written.[10] These 20th century interpretations inevitably reflected the concerns of the era, unsurprisingly, such as the persecution of Jews in Russia and Nazi-era Europe, the nascent Zionist movement, and the situation of Jewish settlers in the British Mandate of Palestine.[9]
For scholars, Josephus is and remains an invaluable resource for study of the Jewish-Roman war. While he is clearly deferential toward his Flavian dynasty Roman patrons, he is generally considered a relatively neutral source.[9]
References
- ISBN 978-9004169340. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
- ISBN 9781589834064. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
- ISBN 9781451407136. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
- ISBN 978-1-4443-3533-0.
- ^ Randall Buth and Chad Pierce "EBRAISTI in Ancient Texts, Does ἑβραιστί ever Mean 'Aramaic'?" in Buth and Notley eds., Language Environment of First Century Judaea, Brill, 2014: 88–89, and footnote 64
- ^ Buth and Pierce, op. cit., p89, footnote 64
- ^ "See". Classics.mit.edu. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
- ^ Christopher M. Weimer. "The Slavonic Josephus' Account Of The Baptist And Jesus". Gnosis.org. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
- ^ a b c Josephus, Flavius (2017) [c. 75]. The Jewish War. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. xxix–xxxv.. Information is from the Introduction, by Martin Goodman.
- ^ Bistritzky’s Play 'Jerusalem and Rome' (1938/1941)
Literature
- The Jewish War: Revised Edition. ISBN 0-14-044420-3.
- H. Leeming and K. Leeming: "Josephus' 'Jewish War' and Its Slavonic Version: A Synoptic Comparison." Ancient Judaism & Early Christianity, Brill (1999). ISBN 90-04-11438-6.
- Pothou, Vassiliki (2023). Thukydides second-hand bei Flavius Josephus: zur Rezeption thukydideischer Motive im Bellum Judaicum. Leiden; Boston: Brill. ISBN 9789004545861.
External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Jewish War.
- Resources > Second Temple and Talmudic Era > Flavius Josephus The Jewish History Resource Center – Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
- The Wars of the Jews at Project Gutenberg, William Whiston translation
The Wars of the Jews public domain audiobook at LibriVox- The Wars of the Jews at the Perseus Project, W. Whiston translation
- Notes on the Old Slavonic Josephus
- Hear a discussion and analysis of this monograph, on an episode of the radio series Invitation to Learning.
- Loeb Classical Library Josephus Volume 2 The Jewish War Books 1–3, H. St. J. Thackeray translation
- Loeb Classical Library Josephus Volume 3 The Jewish War Books 4–7
