על יוספוס וספרי המקבים, פילולוגיה והיסטוריוגראפיה

In response to a review by D. Schwartz (Tarbiẕ, LX [1991], pp. 443-450) of Bar-Kochva's Judas Maccabaeus (Cambridge 1989), the author discusses in detail three issues raised in it: (1) Did Josephus consult the Hebrew original of I Maccabees when writing his version of the Hasmonaean Revolt in Jewish Antiquities, Book XII? (2) Can we rely on the account by II Macabees of the numerical strength and tactical division of the Jewish force in the battle of Emmaus, and on the reference to the participation of the elephants in the battle of Adasa? (3) When is one allowed to draw on pieces of information from II Maccabees for the reconstruction of the military campaigns? The paper closes with reflections on the perception of the image of Judas Maccabaeus and his military achievements current in Israeli scholarship after the Yom Kippur War of October 1973.