Reading Josephus’ “Prophetic” Inspiration in the Cave of Jotapata (J.W. 3.351–354) in a Roman Context

Bibliographic Data

ID21022286
AuthorsEelco Glas (0000-0002-1499-0450, University of Groningen Groningen the Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume52
Issue4-5
Pages522-556
Publication date2021-06-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal for the Study of Judaism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2212 • E-ISSN: 1570-0631
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/15700631-bja10034
OpenAlexW3176544982
LanguageEN
References cited21

This article offers a literary analysis of the famous episode in Judean War 3.351–354, in which Josephus suddenly recalls his “nightly dreams.” It takes up the question of how Josephus characterizes himself in this episode in consideration of an elite audience located in Rome steeped in Greco-Roman learning. In explaining this episode, scholars have put special emphasis on parallels with discourses of Judean prophecy and biblical prophets, such as Jeremiah and Daniel. The hypothesis that Josephus consciously presents himself as a prophet has found widespread acceptance and grown to become almost undisputable since the 1970s. In addition to challenging the view that Josephus explicitly and deliberately presents himself as a biblical prophet, the present contribution develops an interpretation that considers the historiographical outlook of the whole War as a military-political composition imbued with classicizing features

Archaeology · Art · Biblical studies · Context (archaeology) · Dead Sea Scrolls · Elite · Hebrew Bible · Historiography · Interpretation (philosophy) · Jewish studies · Josephus · Judaism · Linguistics · Literature · Parallels · Politics · Reading (process) · Reflexive pronoun · Theology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History · Law · Philosophy

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