Bay, Contesting Jewish History in Late Antique Christianity and Early Medieval Judaism (Brill, open access)

NEW BOOK FROM BRILL:

Contesting Jewish History in Late Antique Christianity and Early Medieval Judaism

Flavius Josephus’ Jewish War between the Latin On the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Hebrew Book of Yosippon

Series:
Études sur le judaïsme médiéval, Volume: 105

Author: Carson Bay

The open access publication of this book was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

On the Destruction of Jerusalem, an anonymous Latin Christian text from Late Antiquity (c. 375 CE), paraphrased Flavius Josephus’ Greek Jewish War (ca. 75 CE) to reinterpret the Roman-Jewish War (66-70 CE) and the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple (70 CE) as proof that God had abandoned the Jews (because they had rejected Jesus Christ). No Jewish alternative to this supersessionist historiography existed for hundreds of years. Then, around 900 CE, the anonymous Hebrew Book of Yosippon rewrote this history anew, based on the narrative of On the Destruction Jerusalem. This monograph provides the first extensive comparison of these texts, showing how the Book of Yosippon biblicized, theologized, and Judaized its Latin source, overwriting the Christian narrative of late-Second Temple Judaism and underwriting a new version of that story. In so doing, the Book of Yosippon resurrected the spirit of Hellenistic Judaism, reclaiming Jewish history for the Jews in the Early Middle Ages.

Copyright Year: 2026

E-Book (PDF)
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75911-4
Publication: 22 Sep 2026

Hardback
Availability: Published
ISBN: 978-90-04-75910-7
Publication: 14 Oct 2026
EUR €101.00

For PaleoJudaica posts on Pseudo-Hegesippus' De excidio Hierosolymita ("On the Destruction of Jerusalem"), including posts on Carson Bay's previous work on the subject, see here and links. Posts on or involving Sefer Yosippon are here, here, and here.

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