Bibliography
| Title: Josephus' Expositions of Biblical Law. An Internal Analysis Type: Thesis Year: 1988 Abstract: "This dissertation addresses the contradiction between the introduction to Josephus' Mosaic Constitution (Antiquities 4.196-4.197) and the actual contents of Josephan law, presented at various points in the Josephan pentateuchal narrative (Antiquities 3.224-3.286, 4.67-4.75, 4.78-4.81, 4.199-301). In his introduction to the Mosaic Constitution Josephus claims that all is here written as he (Moses) left it. Josephus' one innovation has been to classify the several subjects for he left what he wrote in a scattered condition. In fact, many Josephan laws depart from their biblical counterparts. Previous scholarship has attempted to compare Josephan modifications of biblical law with other sources and traditions, and to draw conclusions from these comparisons. Undoubtedly, the comparative approach to Josephan law has validity. Josephus did not live, think, or write in a vacuum. However, such external analysis must be accompanied by internal analysis. Before attributing a Josephan departure to an external source, one must ask whether an internal literary process is at work, whether the Josephan desire to impose order and coherence upon biblical law may have resulted in changes to the content and style of the law, as well as to its structure. This dissertation attempts to meet Josephus on his own terms. It assumes that Josephus' stated objective--the restructuring of biblical law--plays a significant role in Josephan law, and is worthy of investigation. Careful scrutiny of the text reveals a set of literary devices and mental processes that are characteristic of Josephan modification to the structure and content of biblical law, leading us to conclude that the desire to impose order and coherence upon biblical law is the driving force behind Josephan modification of both structure and content, and that literary methods and mental processes used consistently throughout Josephan legal expositions are the primary elements of these modifications". Keywords: Antiquities |