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Document Details : Title: Herod's Age When Appointed Strategos of Galilee Subtitle: Scribal Error or Literary Motif? Author(s): SHARON, Nadav Journal: Biblica Volume: 95 Issue: 1 Date: 2014 Pages: 49-63 DOI: 10.2143/BIB.95.1.3186100 Abstract : In Antiquities Josephus says that Herod was only fifteen-years-old when appointed strategos of Galilee in 47 BCE. This is often dismissed as scribal error and corrected to twenty-five, because it contradicts other Herodian biographical information. However, this unattested emendation does not fit the immediate context, whereas 'fifteen' does. This paper suggests that rather than a scribal error, this is a literary motif, presenting Herod as a particularly young military hero. The specific age of fifteen may have had a deeper intention, fictively linking Herod's birth to the year 63, the year of Augustus' birth and Pompey's conquest of the Temple. |
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