Wikipedia

Josippon

(Redirected fromYosippon)

Josippon(Hebrew:ספר יוסיפוןSefer Yosipon) is achronicleofJewish historyfromAdamto the age ofTitus.[1]It is named after its supposed author,Flavius Josephus,though it was actually composed in the 10th century inSouthern Italy.TheEthiopic versionofJosipponis recognized ascanonicalby theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churchand theEritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church.[2]

Josippon (1546)

History

edit

The anonymous author of the work writes that he is copying from the writings of the old Jewish-Roman historian Josephus, whom the author calls Joseph ben Gorion (יוסף בן גוריון). The nameJosephis given the Greek endingon,resulting in the book's titleJosephon,Joseppon,orJosippon.HisArabicnameYusibusis, according to Wellhausen, identical with "Hegesippus".A gloss gives the form from ItalianGiuseppe.Trieber held the singular view that the author lived in the fourth century and derived much of his material from Hegesippus. In the Arabic and Yemenite translations, the author is called"Yusuf ibn Qaryun."[citation needed]

TheSefer Josipponwas compiled inHebrewearly in the 10th century by a Jewish native of theGreek-speaking communityof theCatepanate of ItalyinSouthern Italy,which was at that time part of theByzantine Empire.[3]The version edited and expanded byYehudah ibn Moskoni(1328-1377), a Romaniote fromOhrid,in the Balkan region, was printed inConstantinoplein 1510 and translated to English in 1558.[4][5]Moskoni was part of a Byzantine Greek-Jewish milieu that produced a number of philosophical works in Hebrew and a common intellectual community of Jews in the Mediterranean.[6]Moskoni's version ofJosipponbecame the most popular book published by Jews and about Jews for non-Jews, who ascribed its authenticity to the Roman Josephus, until the 20th century.[7]

The first edition was printed inMantuain 1476. The book subsequently appeared in many forms, one of the most popular being inYiddish,with quaint illustrations.[1]As the Muslim writeribn Hazm(d. 1063) was acquainted with the Arabic translation by aYemenite Jew,Daniel Chwolsonproposes that the author lived at the beginning of the ninth century.Ibn Khaldun(1332-1406) 'sMuqaddimah(1377) also contains a post-biblical Jewish history of the "Israelites in Syria" and he relied on Jewish sources, such as the Arabic translation ofJosipponbyZachariah ibn Said,aYemenite Jew,according toKhalifa(d. 1655).[8][9]Saskia Dönitzhas analyzed an earlier Egyptian version older than the version reconstructed byDavid Flusser,drawing on the work of a parallel Judaeo-ArabicJosipponbyShulamit Selaand fragments in the Cairo Geniza, which indicate thatJosipponis a composite text written by multiple authors over time.[10][11][12][13][14]

Josipponwas also a popular work or avolksbuch,and had further influence such as its Latin translation byChristian HebraistSebastian Münsterwhich was translated into English byPeter Morvyn,a fellow ofMagdalen CollegeinOxfordand aCanonofLichfield,printed byRichard Jugge,printer to the Queen in England, and according toLucien Wolfmay have played a role in theresettlement of the Jews in England.[15][16]Munster also translated the historical work of ibn Daud which was included with Morwyng's edition.[17]Steven Bowmannotes thatJosipponis an early work that inspired Jewish nationalism and had a significant influence on midrashic literature and talmudic chroniclers as well as secular historians, though consideredaggadahby mainstream Jewish thought, and acted as anur-textfor 19th century efforts in Jewish national history.[7]

Content

edit

Commencing withAdamand the geographical conditions of the first millennium BCE, the author passes to the legendary history of Rome and Babylon, to the accounts ofDaniel,Zerubbabel(according to theApocrypha), theSecond Temple,andCyrus the Great,and to the histories ofAlexander the Greatand his successors. He then gives the history of the Jews down to the destruction of the Temple. The last part contains, among other things, a brief history ofHannibaland an account of the coronation of an emperor, which, according toBasnage[18]refers to that ofOtto I, Holy Roman Emperor(crowned 962); this would be the only and a most valuable source of information concerning this event. If Basnage's conjecture is correct, the date of the composition of the "Yosippon" may be placed at the end of the 10th century. "Yosippon" is written in comparatively pureBiblical Hebrew,shows a predilection for certain Biblical phrases and archaisms, and is rich in poetical passages and in maxims and philosophical speculations.

Value as a historical source

edit
Printer'sfleuronfrom 1706 edition of Josippon

"Yosippon" was one of the most highly respected historical sources on Jewish history in theMiddle Ages,and was frequently reprinted.[19][20]It relies on theHegesippus(orPseudo-Hegesippus), a Latin translator ofAntiquitiesand Josephus'The Jewish War.[21]The author had access to a decent library of material and drew on1 Maccabees,2 Maccabees,Jerome's translation ofEusebius,theAeneid,Macrobius,Orosius,andLivy.[22]Like its namesake and inspiration, the work commingles Roman history and Jewish history.[23]

Joseph Justus Scaligerin his "Elenchus Trihæresii Nicolai Serarii" was the first to doubt its worth;Jan Drusius(d. 1609) held it to be historically valueless on account of its many chronological mistakes;ZunzandDelitzschhave branded the author as an impostor. Both the manuscripts and printed editions contain a number of historical errors, discrepancies or misinterpretations when compared to the originalJosephusand other sources it drew upon, and subjective commentary from the author. But there is scarcely any book in Jewish literature that has undergone more changes at the hands of copyists and compilers;Judah ibn Moskoniknew of no less than four different compilations or abridgments. The later printed editions are one-third larger than the editio princeps ofMantua.

However, in modern times,Josipponwas once again recognized as an important source in its own right.[16]Josipponis considered a valuable source for certain topics, such as theHasmonean dynastyandJewish history in Italyand theByzantine Empire,and it paraphrases much of Josephus.[24]David FlusserandSteven Bowmanwrote modern critical editions, and the latter considers it a mix of history andmidrash.[7][25][26]

Literary criticism

edit

Sebastian Münster's edition[27]omits as not genuine the legendary introduction[28]with its genealogical list,[29]and also ch. lxvii. to the end, narratingVespasianandTitus'expedition against Jerusalem.Azariah dei Rossialso recognized that theAlexander RomanceofPseudo-Callisthenesin a Hebrew translation had been smuggled into the first edition; and, followingDavid Kimchi,Rapoportshowed that the last chapter belonged toAbraham ibn Daud.[30]Zunzhas shown many other portions of the work to be Spanish additions, made in the twelfth century. Almost the whole account ofAlexander the Greatandhis successorshas been proved by Trieber to be of later origin. According to that critic, the part of the work original with its author ended with ch. lv. (the dedication ofHerod's Temple), more or less of the remainder being taken fromPseudo-Hegesippus,and perhaps added as early as the 5th century. This would explain the numerous contradictions and style-differences between these two parts.

There remains, as the nucleus of the whole chronicle, a history of the Second Temple, beginning with theapocryphalstories concerningDaniel,Zerubbabel,etc., and finishing with the restoration of the Temple under Herod. A copyist of Pseudo-Hegesippus, however, identified the "Joseph ben Gorion" (Josephum Gorione Genitum), a prefect of Jerusalem, mentioned in iii. 3, 2 et seq., with the historianJosephus ben Mattithiah,at this time governor of the troops inGalilee.This may account for the fact that the chronicle was ascribed to Joseph b. Gorion.

Julius Wellhausen,agreeing with Trieber, denies that the genuine part has any historical value whatever. Trieber contends that the author did not draw his information directly from Josephus or from theSecond Book of Maccabees,as is usually believed, and as Wellhausen maintains. He believes that both II Maccabees and the "Yosippon" used the work ofJason of Cyrene,and Josephus and the "Yosippon" that ofNicholas of Damascus.[citation needed]

The book emphasized national pride rather than religious devotion. It was the first time that the biblical phrase "like sheep to the slaughter"was inverted and used in opposition to pacifist martyrdom: contrary to previous accounts,Matityahuwas credited as having said, "Be strong and let us be strengthened and let us die fighting and not die as sheep led to the slaughter" during theMaccabean Revolt.[31]

Editions

edit
  1. The first edition of the "Yosippon" was published inMantuabyAbraham Conat(1476–79), who also wrote a preface to it. Other editions are:
  2. Constantinople,1510; arranged and enlarged, with a preface byTam ibn Yahyaben David. It is borrowed to a great extent from that ofJudah Leon ben Moses Mosconi(b. 1328), published inOtzar Ṭob,1878, i. 017et seq.[32]The text in this edition is divided into ninety-seven chapters.
  3. Basel, 1541; with aLatinpreface, and a translation from the text of the editio princeps, by Sebastian Münster. The edition, however, contains only chapters iv. to lxiii.; the remaining chapters have been translated into Latin byDavid Kyberus(Historia Belli Judaici,inDe la Bigne'sBibliotheca Patrum,Paris).
  4. Venice, 1544; reprinted from the Constantinople edition, as were all the following editions.
  5. Cracow, 1588 and 1599.
  6. Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1689.
  7. Gotha, 1707 and 1710; with Münster's preface and a Latin translation and notes by Friedrich Breithaupt. Other editions appeared at Amsterdam (1723), Prague (1784),Warsaw(1845 and 1871),Zhitomir(1851), andLvov(1855).[33]

Translations and compilations

edit

A Yiddish translation with illustrations was published by Michael Adam (Zürich,1546;Prague,1607;Amsterdam,1661); it was later revised byMenahem ben Solomon ha-Levi,and published under the titleKeter Torah(Amsterdam, 1743). Another Latin translation, withTam ibn Yahya's preface, was published byJoseph Gagnier(Oxford,1706); a French translation of Kyberus' Latin supplement by F. de Belleforest was published inGilbert Génébrard's French translation of Josephus (Paris, 1609). An abstract was made in southern Italy, about 1150, by Jerahmeel ben Solomon[34]and the translation of a portion byMoses Gaster,inThe Chronicles of Jerahmeel.[35]Another abstract, made in 1161 byAbraham ibn Daudand used as the third book of hisSefer Seder ha-Qabbalahwas published (Mantua,1513;Venice,1545;Basel,1580, etc.), with Münster's Latin translation, atWorms(1529) and Basel (1559).

An English translation of this abstract was made by Peter Morvyn (London, 1558, 1561, 1575, 1608). A Yiddish compendium byEdel bat Moseswas published inKrakówin 1670; the oldest German extract, under the title "Joseppi Jüdische Historien" (author not known) is described in Wolf, "Bibl. Hebr." (iii. 389). Some short extracts, in German, are given inJoseph Zedner,Auswahl aus Hebräischen Schriftstellern(pp. 16 et seq.), and in Winter and Wünsche,Die Jüdische Litteratur.(iii. 310 et seq.).

In November 2022, Bowman released his English translation of Sepher Yosippon, which is a translation of David Flusser's critical edition of the text.[22]Moreover, in 2023 an English translation of Hayim Hominer's edition of Yosippon, as well as an English translation based on the critical edition of Murad Kamil's Ge'ez text, called Zena Ayhud, are being prepared for publishing.

References

edit
  1. ^abOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Josippon".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 521.
  2. ^Metzger, Bruce M.(1993) "Bible." In Metzger, Bruce M.; Coogan, Michael David.The Oxford Companion to the Bible.Oxford University Press. p. 79.ISBN978-0-19-974391-9
  3. ^Dönitz, Saskia (1 January 2012),"Historiography Among Byzantine Jews: The Case Of Sefer Yosippon",Jews in Byzantium,Brill, pp. 951–968,doi:10.1163/ej.9789004203556.i-1010.171,ISBN978-90-04-21644-0,retrieved29 October2023
  4. ^Roth, Norman (8 April 2014).Medieval Jewish Civilization.Routledge.doi:10.4324/9780203953068.ISBN978-0-203-95306-8.
  5. ^Bonfil, Robert; Irshai, Oded; Stroumsa, Guy G.; Talgam, Rina (1 January 2012).Jews in Byzantium.BRILL.doi:10.1163/ej.9789004203556.i-1010.ISBN978-90-04-21644-0.
  6. ^Sackson, Adrian (2014)."Joseph ben Moses Qilti: Preliminary Study of a Greek-Jewish Philosopher".Jewish Studies Quarterly.21(4): 328–361.doi:10.1628/094457014X14127716907065.ISSN0944-5706.JSTOR24751788.
  7. ^abcBowman, Steven (1995)."'Yosippon' and Jewish Nationalism ".Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research.61:23–51.ISSN0065-6798.JSTOR4618850.
  8. ^Bland, Kalman (1 January 1986),"An Islamic Theory of Jewish History: The Case of Ibn Khaldun",Ibn Khaldun and Islamic Ideology,Brill, pp. 37–45,doi:10.1163/9789004474000_006,ISBN978-90-04-47400-0,retrieved8 November2023
  9. ^Fischel, Walter J. (1961)."Ibn Khaldūn's Use of Historical Sources".Studia Islamica(14): 109–119.doi:10.2307/1595187.ISSN0585-5292.JSTOR1595187.
  10. ^Ilan, Nahem."Josippon, Book of".De Gruyter.doi:10.1515/ebr.josipponbookof.Retrieved8 November2023.
  11. ^Sela, Shulamit (1991).Book of Josippon and its parallel versions in Arabic and Judaeo-Arabic(in Hebrew). Universiṭat Tel Aviv, ha-Ḥug le-Historyah shel ʻam Yiśraʼel.
  12. ^Dönitz, Saskia (1 January 2013),"Josephus Torn to Pieces—Fragments of Sefer Yosippon in Genizat Germania",Books within Books,Brill, pp. 83–95,doi:10.1163/9789004258501_007,ISBN978-90-04-25850-1,retrieved8 November2023
  13. ^Vollandt, Ronny (19 November 2014)."Ancient Jewish Historiography in Arabic Garb: Sefer Josippon between Southern Italy and Coptic Cairo".Zutot.11(1): 70–80.doi:10.1163/18750214-12341264.ISSN1571-7283.
  14. ^"Bowman on Sela, 'Sefer Yosef ben Guryon ha-ʻArvi' | H-Net".networks.h-net.org.Retrieved8 November2023.
  15. ^Wolf, Lucien (1908).""Josippon" in England ".Transactions (Jewish Historical Society of England).6:277–288.ISSN2047-2331.JSTOR29777757.
  16. ^abReiner, Jacob (1967)."The English Yosippon".The Jewish Quarterly Review.58(2): 126–142.doi:10.2307/1453342.ISSN0021-6682.JSTOR1453342.
  17. ^Vehlow, Katja (2017)."Fascinated by Josephus: Early Modern Vernacular Readers and Ibn Daud's Twelfth-Century Hebrew Epitome of Josippon".The Sixteenth Century Journal.48(2): 413–435.doi:10.1086/SCJ4802005.ISSN0361-0160.JSTOR44816356.S2CID166029181.
  18. ^Histoire des Juifs,vii. 89, Paris, 1710.
  19. ^Yerushalmi, Yosef Hayim (1979)."Clio and the Jews: Reflections on Jewish Historiography in the Sixteenth Century".Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research.46/47: 607–638.doi:10.2307/3622374.ISSN0065-6798.JSTOR3622374.
  20. ^Schatz, Andrea (2019).Josephus in modern Jewish culture.Studies in Jewish history and culture. Leiden Boston (N.Y.): Brill.ISBN978-90-04-39308-0.
  21. ^Avioz, Michael (2019)."The Place of Josephus in Abravanel's Writings".Hebrew Studies.60:357–374.ISSN0146-4094.JSTOR26833120.
  22. ^abSepher Yosippon: A Tenth-Century History of Ancient Israel.Wayne State University Press. 9 November 2022.ISBN978-0-8143-4945-8.
  23. ^Bowman, Steven (2010)."Jewish Responses to Byzantine Polemics from the Ninth through the Eleventh Centuries".Shofar.28(3): 103–115.ISSN0882-8539.JSTOR10.5703/shofar.28.3.103.
  24. ^Atkinson, Kenneth (31 May 2024), "Sefer Yosippon as a Source for Hasmonean History: The Mysterious Story of John Hyrcanus and the Parthians",From Josephus to Yosippon and Beyond,BRILL, pp. 403–422,doi:10.1163/9789004693296_014,ISBN978-90-04-69328-9
  25. ^Sepher Yosippon.Wayne State University Press. 2022.doi:10.1353/book.118841.ISBN978-0-8143-4945-8.
  26. ^Flusser, David (1 January 1987),"Josippon, a Medieval Hebrew Version of Josephus",Josephus, Judaism and Christianity,BRILL, pp. 386–397,doi:10.1163/9789004671799_024,ISBN978-90-04-67179-9,retrieved13 September2024
  27. ^Basel,1541.
  28. ^ch. i.-iii.
  29. ^which addition, however, was made as early as the 12th century; seeAbraham ibn Ezraon Psalm cx. 5;David Kimchi,"Sefer ha-Shorashim," s.v.
  30. ^see Kimchi onZechariahxi. 14[1];alsoSefer ha-Shorashim.
  31. ^Feldman, Yael S.(2013).""Not as Sheep Led to Slaughter"?: On Trauma, Selective Memory, and the Making of Historical Consciousness "(PDF).Jewish Social Studies.19(3): 155–156.doi:10.2979/jewisocistud.19.3.139.ISSN1527-2028.S2CID162015828.
  32. ^see Berliner's "Magazin," 1876, p. 153.
  33. ^see Steinschneider, "Hebr. Bibl." xi. 62.
  34. ^See the fragments published by Neubauer,M. J. C.i. 190;J. Q. R.xi. 364.
  35. ^TheChronicles of Jerahmeel,London, 1899.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Gottheil, Richard; Max Schloessinger (1901–1906)."Joseph ben Gorion".InSinger, Isidore;et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia.New York: Funk & Wagnalls.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Josippon&oldid=1258950756"