Reviews for Israel's Prophets and Israel's Past: Essays on the Relationship of Prophetic Texts and Israelite History in Honor of John H. Hayes

The average rating for Israel's Prophets and Israel's Past: Essays on the Relationship of Prophetic Texts and Israelite History in Honor of John H. Hayes based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-04-02 00:00:00 Paul Nugent Flavius Josephus wrote this History of the Jewish Peoples around the time of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. He was of the Jewish elite, an adherent of the Pharisaical sect, and distinguished himself by his high standards of learning. Greek at the time was the Lingua Franca of the Roman Empire, and in this he became fluent. He wanted to make an apologia for the Jewish rebellion that was fermenting in the Judaean Provinces at that time. He also desired to make for the Jewish people a history that excelled that of the Romans, and explained Jewish law to the Romans, all without arousing their jealousy or continuing their wrath. Knowing his audience, he carefully sculpted the history making it more likely to be read in Roman circles than Jewish ones. His ages and dates do not resonate neatly with the Torah (though most of his references seem to be taken therefrom, and in light of modern scholarship, some of his assertions are incorrect (i.e. s.264). However, as a grand historical gesture, Josephus' Jewish Antiquities is an eye-opening look at the Jewish people as a classical race. This being said, I highly prize the Loeb Classic edition for allowing me to skim the text in its original language, with which, alas, I have lost some use. Exceptionally rarely is the translated copy better than the original - and in Koiné Greek, there are nuances and subtleties of language that lose themselves in modern English.

Review # 2 was written on 2016-09-03 00:00:00 Shane Chaddick Josephus had access to texts that no longer exist, and folklore. Details about Moses you never read in the Bible: long winded speeches, descriptions of him in childhood. Expanded discussions of the genocide advocated in the Bible. IF you suspected David was a creep and a usurper, there is more evidence here, although Josephus himself follows the conventional view that David was wonderful and devout. An astute historian, keenly and openly aware of his own motives, Josephus is underappreciated, perhaps because he was a Roman officer at the time of the Jewish rebellion. Although he offers no insight into such mysteries as the Easu/Jacob hairy man, smooth man thing, there is a lot more detail. Why did Jacob (farmer, favorite of his mother) who did so many sneaky things to his brother Esau (hunter, favorite of his father), turn out to be the chosen one? I must explain that I mine the Bible for traces of stone age roots, along the lines pointed out by Robert Graves and James Frasier.