Bibliography
| Title: Josephus' Portrait of Moses (Three Parts) Secondary Title: JQR Volume: 82; 83; 83 Pages: 285-328; 7-50; 301-330 Type: Journal Article Year: 1992/1994 Abstract: Kugler, Robert A. in: OTA 22.1 (1999), 133: "F. calls Josephus' portrait of Moses "the most revealing example of his goals and methods in the rewritten Bible, which comprises half of the Antiquities" (p. 330). He notes how Moses' singular importance for understanding the nation as a whole made him a focal point for Josephus' attempt to answer anti-Jewish critics (cf. Against Apion). Thus Moses is portrayed for the sake of his non-Jewish audience as a "combination of Thucydides' Pericles, Plato's philosopher-king, Virgil's Aeneas, and Stoic sage" (ibid.). Moreover, says F., the enhancement of dramatic nature of Josephus's account of Moses makes it more appealing to non-Jewish readers for whom the work was meant".
Begg, Christopher T.: "Because Moses was the one figure in the Jewish tradition who was well known to the pagan world and because he had been reviled by several anti-Jewish writers, Josephus can be assumed to have felt a special need to paint a favorable picture of him. Several events in Moses' life presented a particular problem to Josephus. Despite his promise in his proem to add nothing to, and to subtract nothing from, the biblical text, in almost all of these cases Josephus simply omits the embarrassing episodes. On the other hand, he is careful to avoid the undue aggrandizement and near deification of Moses found in the Samaritan tradition and, to a lesser degree, in the rabbinic tradtion, with which there is good reason to believe he was well aquainted. Likewise, beause his sophisticated aucience would undoubtedly have found the biblical miracles hardly credible, he tends to downgrade or rationalize them, or, as in the case of the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, he makes a point of nothing as a parallel the crossing of the Pamphylian Sea by Alexander the Great. Because the Antiquities is an apologetic work directed primarily to non-Jews, Josephus portrays Moses as embodying the qualities of the great heroes of the Greeks and Romans, notably the external qualities of good birth and handsome stature, precociousness in youth, and the four cardinal virtures of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice, as supplemented by what was, in effect, a fifth cardinal virtue, piety. Moses' appeal to this audience is particularly effective because he is depicted as the ideal leader, especthially in meeting the test of sedition and in coping with the unruly mob. Josephus' tone here is highly reminiscent of Thucydides' portrait of Pericles, of Plato' s description of the philosopher-king, of Virgil' s portrayal of Aeneas, and of the traditional Stoic sage; and concurrently, the role of Aaron as his spokesman is considerably downgraded. It is particularly as an educator, a legislator, a poet, and above all as a general and a prophet that Moses excels. In stressing these achivements Josephus shifts the focus from God to Moses. Josephus' modifications of the biblical narrative of Moses are occasioned by his apologetic concern to defend the Jews against the charges of their critics, particularly cowardice, provincialism, and intolerance, and by his positive desire to portray a personality fully comparable to such great leaders, whether historical or legendary, as Heracles, Lycurgus, Aeneas, and Pericles. Finally, Josephus has included several motifs - notably irony and suspense - from the Greek tragedians in order to render his narrative more dramatic". Keywords: Antiquities |