The Solomonic Temple of Josephus’ Antiquities

This introductory article aims to explicate certain aspects of Josephus’ recounting of the biblical story of the Solomonic Temple’s construction, attempting to understand the messages the author wanted to convey to his Roman audience and how the audience may have comprehended them. I will show that Josephus weaves a compelling story by making changes and adding details to the biblical account to further his intention to convince his readership of the antiquity of the Jerusalem Temple. He presents the opulence of the building, with its sumptuous furnishings and personnel designed to draw attention to the greatness of the Judean God and his worldwide dominion. Josephus also underlines the centrality and relevance of the Temple, not only for Judeans but for all nations, hoping thereby to generate sympathy in the Roman readers for the idea that the now-destroyed Temple should be rebuilt.