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Document Details :

Title: The Priest Josephus Away from the Temple
Subtitle: A Changed Man?
Author(s): MASON, Steve
Journal: Revue de Qumran
Volume: 26    Issue: 3   Date: numéro 103, 2014   
Pages: 375-402
DOI: 10.2143/RQ.26.3.3178219

Abstract :
Michael Tuval’s recent book, From Jerusalem Priest to Roman Jew (Tübingen, 2013), offers a sweeping reinterpretation of the works of Josephus in the context of Diaspora Judaism. Developing approaches initiated by Daniel R. Schwartz, Tuval understands Josephus to have undergone a dramatic change of identity between the composition of his two major histories, from being a temple-centred Jerusalem priest to embracing the temple-less values of his adoptive Judaean home. This article works through some issues of method and considers illustrative texts to test the explanatory hypothesis. It sympathetically challenges both Tuval’s portrait of Diaspora Judaism and his explanation of Josephus’ works against that background.

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