Josephus on the Decalogue

de Vos, J. Cornelis

Forschungsartikel (Zeitschrift)

Zusammenfassung

First, Josephus begins his summary of the law in the third book of Antiquities with a summary of the Decalogue. This, of course, fits the biblical original. However, just after his presentation of the Decalogue, he only states that Moses intermediated laws from God, not which laws he presents. This seems to point to an appraisal of the Decalogue as the essence of the law. Second, Josephus further writes that it is not permitted "for us," for the Jews, to speak the commandments openly verbatim, thus referring to the holy status of the Decalogue because it was God himself who spoke directly to the Hebrews in the first person and using the ineffable Tetragrammaton. Third, if the introduction of the summary of the law, points to the Decalogue, then the Decalogue furthers εὐδαιμονία and is an expression of the πολιτείας κόσμος. This is strengthened by the whole rationale of the Jewish Antiquities, in which Josephus wants to show by means of his exposition of the history of the Jews that God provides the best πολιτεία and brings εὐδαιμονία to those who follow the divine will. This refers not only to Jews but to all humans. That is why Josephus emptied the Decalogue of all particularistic Jewish elements. In short, for Josephus the Decalogue functions as the constitution of the world and as the provider of happiness for all.

Details zur Publikation

Herausgeber*innen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
Verlag: Harrassowitz
Sprache, in der die Publikation verfasst ist: Englisch