Bibliography
| Title: Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees: a composition-critical study Secondary Title: Studia Post-Biblica (StPB) 39 Pages: XV, 424 Type: Book Year: 1991 Abstract: "The revision of a doctoral dissertation directed by R.N. Longenecker and accepted by the University of Toronto, this volume first discusses method in studying Pharisaic history and the scholarly interpretations of Jesephus' Pharisees. Next it considers the purpose and outlook of Josephus' War, and focuses on his treatments of the Pharisees in War 1:107-114; 1:571; and 2:162-166. Then after remarks on the purpose and outlook of Josephus' Antiquities, it examines what is said about the Pharisees in Ant. 3:171-173; 13:288-298; 13:400-432; 17:41-45 and 18:12-15. Finally it deals with the purpose and origin of Josephus' Life and the statements about the Pharisees in Life 10-12 and 189-198. Also included are an excursus on Josephus as an author as well as appendixes on (1) the historiography of War and Antiquities (in dialogue with H.W. Attridge) and (2) scholarly interpretations of Josephus on fate and free will. Mason concludes that Josephus' antipathy toward the Pharisees had only personal causes and that the differences of emphasis in his Pharisaic passages are traceable to his literary purposes".
"Josephus was not, and never claimed to be, a Pharisee. He consistenly represents the Pharisees as the dominant, key relligious group among the Jews, although he regarded their popularity as a unpleasant fact. Mason distinguishes two sets of passages in which Josephus discusses the Pharisees: the "school" passage in which the various schools of Jewish thought are portrayed, and the historical passges in which their influece in history is traced. In the school out of envy, they consistently oppose their rulers. Mason attempts to account for Josephus' antipathy in terms of the historian's personal history: just as the Pharisees plotted against Herod, so they also sought to oust him from his position of commander in Galilee. Masons's book includes a report on earlier critical work on the Pharisees (M. Smith, J. Neusner, E. Rivkin, and others). It will be widely discussed as a major assault on the Smith/Neusner theory".
"This is an important book. In as much as Josephus is our most vital source for the history of the Pharisees, its most important conclusions challenge several widely held vies: 1) that Josephus was a Pharisee; 2) that in passages where he is critical of the Pharisees he is dependent upon sources that were negatively disposed to them; 3) that there is a basic difference between Josephus' attitude toward the Pharisees in the Jewish". Keywords: Groups and Religious Movements in Palestinian Judaism Josephus, Flavius, views on Pharisees. Pharisees, Historiography. |