Early Judaism- A Comprehensive Overview

both are set in or near Mesopotamia and have to do with conversion. This

correspondence is enhanced by Josephus’s mention in the later story of

Noah’s ark, with the same language he had used to describe it in book 1

(20.24-26; 1.90-92). This suggests the same kind of symmetrical composi-

tion that his other works attest.Antiquities’unmistakable turning point,

for example, comes precisely halfway through, at the end of book 10, with

the fall of the First Temple and its implications for understanding divine

providence(pronoia) —a marked theme of the work; book 20 ends on the

eve of the Second Temple’s destruction, referring the audience toWa rfor

the rest (20.258). Books 9–10 and 11–12 chart the path to the destruction of

Solomon’s Temple and its rebuilding afterward. Along the way, other

matching panels command our attention: the elaboration of the peerless

Judean constitution in books 3 and 4 corresponds to the Judean and Ro-

man constitutional crises, caused by tyrannical monarchs and their succes-

sion woes, in books 17–19. The careers of King Saul (book 6) and King

Herod (books 14–17) have striking similarities, as these outstanding repre-

sentatives of manly virtue are undone by the fatal flaws of tyrants. The

whole work thus reflects a coherent design. This design precludes the com-

mon but antecedently implausible assumption that Josephus made it up as

he went along, filling the later volumes with a miscellaneous hodgepodge.

An Illustrative Theme: The Judean Constitution

The question of unity is decisively settled by the work’s coherence of

theme. Of the continuing themes from the prologue, one must suffice here

as an illustration: that of the constitution, introduced above. In a later

summary (Apion2.287) Josephus reflects that he wrote theAntiquitiesin

order to give a detailed account of the Judean laws and constitution. The

prologue also establishes the theme as fundamental, and it remains promi-

nent throughout. Thus at the end of book 20 he provides a summary of the

constitutional changes, using the wordpoliteiarepeatedly (20.229, 251,

261): the nation began as an aristocracy, then was subject to monarchs (un-

der judges and prophets), to kings, to priestly aristocrats again, to kings

(later Hasmoneans and Herodians), and most recently to priestly aristo-

crats — including himself — after the removal of Archelaus in 6c.e.Be-

tween the prologue and these concluding summaries, pointed asides keep

the audience aware of the theme. It emerges that, although the form of

government did change over time, its normative shape — so Moses and

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steve mason, james s. mclaren, and john m. g. barclay

EERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:10 PM