The Jerusalem Temple and Jewish Identity between Pseudo-Hegesippus and Sefer Yosippon: The Discursive Aftermath of Josephus’ Temple Ekphrasis

Josephus’ Temple ekphrasis in his Jewish War (5.136–247) is a significant literary monument. The description of this quintessential Jewish holy place has a great deal to do with Jewish identity. In the late fourth century, the Latin Christian author Pseudo-Hegesippus, in his work On the Destruction...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bay, Carson 1986- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2022
In: European journal of jewish studies
Year: 2022, Volume: 16, Issue: 2, Pages: 281-305
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Josephus, Flavius 37-100, De bello Judaico 5,212-237 / Temple (Jerusalem, Motiv) / Ekphrasis / De excidio urbis Hierosolymitanae / Josippon / Religious identity
IxTheo Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
AX Inter-religious relations
BH Judaism
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
HD Early Judaism
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
TG High Middle Ages
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Summary:Josephus’ Temple ekphrasis in his Jewish War (5.136–247) is a significant literary monument. The description of this quintessential Jewish holy place has a great deal to do with Jewish identity. In the late fourth century, the Latin Christian author Pseudo-Hegesippus, in his work On the Destruction of Jerusalem, rewrote the Temple description to emphasize Christian identity as central to the Temple’s construction, not Jewish identity. In the tenth century, the Jewish author of the Hebrew Sefer Yosippon rewrote the Temple description again to emphasize Jewish identity. By reading these Greek, Latin, and Hebrew Temple descriptions comparatively, one may identify an ongoing identity discourse about Jewish and/or Christian identity vis-à-vis the Jerusalem Temple. These three accounts, with each subsequent account based on the one that came before, illustrate a back-and-forth discussion between Jewish and Christian authors across a millennium about what the Temple means and is/was for Jews and Christians.
ISSN:1872-471X
Contains:Enthalten in: European journal of jewish studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/1872471X-bja10005