Language:
English
Year of publication:
1998
Titel der Quelle:
Jewish History
Angaben zur Quelle:
12,1 (1998) 93-122
Keywords:
Hecataeus,
;
Manetho
;
Josephus, Flavius.
;
Civilization, Greco-Roman
;
Exodus, The, in literature
;
Antisemitism in literature
;
Jews History To 600
;
Jews History 168 B.C.-135 A.D.
Abstract:
Discusses versions of the Exodus story as told by Greco-Roman writers in the Hellenistic and Roman period. Disputes the generally held view, based on the works of Josephus, that imputes polemical intent to Greco-Roman writings about the Jews in the ancient period. Contends that some writers, like Pompeius Trogus, had no polemical purpose at all, and others (e.g. Strabo, generally considered as pro-Jewish, and Lysimachus, considered anti-Jewish) were subject to questionable interpretation by Josephus who misread them for his own polemical purposes. Thus, for example, Josephus claimed that Manetho's description of an ancient people who invaded Egypt referred to the Jews when, in fact, it referred to the Hyksos. Other anti-Jewish writings which Josephus attributed to Manetho were probably not his work at all. Suggests that the ostensibly anti-Jewish Exodus stories cited by Josephus in "Contra Apionem" were probably devised by Jews who created them from existing Egyptian stories in order to enhance their own standing in the Egypt to which they had returned. See the responses to this article in this issue of the journal, by Louis H. Feldman, John G. Gager, and Joseph Mélèze-Modrzejewski (pp. 133-136).
Description / Table of Contents:
Feldman, Louis H.. Did Jews reshape the tale of the Exodus? 123-127. Appeared also in his "Judaism and Hellenism Reconsidered" (2006) 129-134.
Description / Table of Contents:
Gager, John G.. Some thoughts on Greco-Roman versions of the Exodus story. 129-132.
Description / Table of Contents:
Mélèze-Modrzejewski, Joseph. The Exodus traditions; parody or parallel version? 133-136.
Note:
Appeared also in his collected articles "Heritage and Hellenism" (1998) and in his "Constructs of Identity in Hellenistic Judaism" (2016) 197-227.
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
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