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

Full title
The Jerusalem Temple and Jewish Identity between Pseudo-Hegesippus and Sefer Yosippon: The Discursive Aftermath of Josephus’ Temple Ekphrasis
Updated By
Research notes

SB/not checked/04/12/2022

Reference type
Author(s)
Bay, Carson
Year
2022
Journal / Book Title || Series Title
European Journal of Jewish Studies
Volume
16
Issue / Series Volume
2
Pages
281–305
Work type
Label
12/12/2022
Abstract

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.