Bibliography and Reviews:

Books and Articles on Josephus

         The books mentioned elsewhere on the Flavius Josephus web site are listed here, together with many other useful works. To find a specific author or title, use the Find function on your web browser menu to find that word on this page.
        I include here reviews or summaries of some of the works; I will add more over time.
        The scholarly literature on Josephus is massive. The best bibliography on the whole of these works is Louis Feldman's Josephus and Modern Scholarship. Unfortunately it is expensive, but if you can find a copy in the library you will be well rewarded.
                                                            - G. J. Goldberg
                                                           Flavius Josephus Home Page
 

    Editions of Josephus
        Complete Works
        Condensed Versions
    Josephus Studies
    Bibliographies and Scholarly Aids
    Josephus in Literary Fiction
    First-Century Judaea
    Links to Book Reviews - Society of Biblical Literature
 


Many of these can be found in your local public or university library.
You can also purchase many of these books now from Amazon.com. Click on the
order link next to the book title to go to Amazon's  page for the book.
 

Editions of the Complete Works of Josephus

                    The Works of Josephus

                    Translated by William Whiston

        William Whiston, professor of mathematics at Cambridge, published his translation of all of Josephus' works in 1737. It proved to be very popular, supplanting  previous English translations by Thomas Lodge and Roger L'Estrange. There have been many editions of Whiston over the past 260 years.

        While Whiston's  is the only single-volume translation widely available, its now-antiquated English can be unpleasant for modern readers. (See my note on the translations on this web site.) Moreover, it is based on Greek manuscripts that are now not considered the best. For those seeking a better (and much more expensive) translation, see the Loeb Edition.  A new translation is being prepared by the Josephus Project.
 
 

     Hendrickson Publishers

    I recommend the Hendrickson edition of Josephus.. It has been re-typeset into a clearer font than previous editions, and best of all it includes the section-by-section numbering system which has been available only in the more expensive Loeb editions. With this numbering system one can easily find and refer to particular sentences, rather than whole chapters. It has a good index which unfortunately is marred by typographical errors in the reference numbers, often getting the chapter and paragraph correct but identifying the wrong book.

         Hendrickson Publishers
         Paperback Updated edition (May 1995)
          Order
 

    There is also a hardcover edition:

                Hardcover - 926 pages New update edition
                (December 1988)
                ISBN: 0913573868
           Order
 
 

                    Kregel Publications

            The Kregel edition, whose cover is shown here, has been the standard for the past twenty years. Some may prefer the denser text of these pages than that of the Hendrickson.

                        Kregel Publications; ISBN: 082542951X
                        Hardcover (December 1974)
                        Order
 
 

               Thomas Nelson

            There are new editions from Thomas Nelson, Inc.

                     Hardcover - 1200 pages (January 1999)
                     ISBN: 0785214275
                     Order

                      Paperback (January 1999)
                      Not Yet Available
 

                And there is now a version on CD-ROM:

                The Complete Works of Philo & Josephus
                     CD-ROM
                     Logos Research Systems Inc.; ISBN: 1577991923
                      Order

                The Loeb Classical Library

                Harvard University Press

                    The multi-volume Loeb edition contains the complete text of Josephus' works in the original Greek with an English translation on facing, with copious footnotes. It is the standard edition in English for scholarly study of Josephus. The last volume of the Antiquities, Book XX, has an excellent index. For more information, see the  Loeb Classical Library web site.
               Warning! The purchaser should be careful to note the contents of each volume purchased,, in that the books of Josephus have been divided differently among the volumes  over the years. At one time there were nine volumes, but in the latest printing there are thirteen.

                       The Life and  Against Apion
                  (Loeb Classical Library, 186)
                       Translated by H.  St. John Thackeray
                       ISBN: 067992059
                  Order
 

                        The Jewish War : Books I-II
                   (Loeb Classical Library, 203)
                        Translated by H.  St. John Thackeray
                        Hardcover (January 1927)
                        ISBN: 0674992237
                   Order

                         The Jewish War,  Books  III-IV
                   (Loeb Classical Library, 487)
                        Translated by H.  St. John Thackeray
                        ISBN: 0 674 99536 8
 

                       The Jewish War,  Books V-VII
                   (Loeb Classical Library, 210)
                       Translated by H.  St. John Thackeray
                        Hardcover - 488 pages (January 1927; 1997)
                        Harvard Univ Pr; ISBN: 0674995694
                    Order
 
 

                       Jewish Antiquities, Books I-IV
                        (Loeb Classical Library, 242)
                       Translated by H.  St. John Thackeray
                        Hardcover (1930; June 1967)
                        Harvard Univ Pr; ISBN: 0674992679

                       Jewish Antiquities, Books V-VIII
                        (Loeb Classical Library, 281)
                       Translated by H.  St. John Thackeray and Ralph Marcus
                        Hardcover (1934, 1988)
                        ISBN: 0674993101
                   Order

                        Jewish Antiquities, Books IX-XI
                        (Loeb Classical Library, 326)
                       Translated by Ralph Marcus
                        Hardcover (1937,  1995)
                        ISBN: 0674993608
                   Order

                       Jewish Antiquities, Books XII-XIV
                        (Loeb Classical Library, 365 )
                       Translated by Ralph Marcus
                        Hardcover (1933, 1986)
                        ISBN: 0674994027
                   Order

                       Jewish Antiquities, Books XV-XVII
                        (Loeb Classical Library, 410 )
                       Translated by Ralph Marcus and Allen Wikgren
                        Hardcover (1963, 1990)
                        ISBN: 0674994515
                   Order

                       Jewish Antiquities, Books XVIII-XIX
                        (Loeb Classical Library, 433 )
                       Translated by L. H. Feldman
                        Hardcover (1965)
                        ISBN: 0674994779

                       Jewish Antiquities, Book XX
                        (Loeb Classical Library, 456 )
                       Translated by L. H. Feldman
                        Hardcover (1965, 1981)
                        ISBN: 0674995023
                   Order
 

            The 1998 printings of the Jewish Antiquities are divided as follows:

            BOOKS I-III  (LCL 242)   ISBN: 0 674 99575 9
            BOOKS IV-VI (LCL 490) ISBN: 0 674 99539 2
            BOOKS VII-VIII (LCL 281)
            BOOKS IX-XI (LCL 326) ISBN: 0 674 99360 8
            BOOKS XII-XIII (LCL 365)  ISBN: 0 674 99577-5
            BOOKS XIV-XV (LCL 489) ISBN: 0 674 99538 4
            BOOK XVI-XVII (LCL 410) ISBN: 0 674 99578 3
            BOOKS XVIII-XIX (LCL 433) ISBN: 0 674 99477 9
            BOOK XX (LCL 456)   ISBN: 0 674 99502 3
 
 

Condensed Versions of Josephus

                Penguin Classics

             A lively  translation and modest condensation of the Jewish War makes the Penguin Classics edition an excellent introduction to Josephus. I recommend it.

               The Jewish War
                    The Penguin Classics
                     G. A. Williamson (Translator), E. Mary Smallwood  (Photographer)
                     Paperback - 511 pages Reissue edition (April 1984)
                     Viking Pr; ISBN: 0140444203
                 Order
 
 

                    Josephus, the Essential Works : A Condensation of Jewish
                     Antiquities and the Jewish War
                     Paul L. Maier (Editor)
                     Hardcover (December 1995)
                     Kregel Publications; ISBN: 082543260X
                Order

                Josephus : The Essential Writings
                     Paul L. Maier (Editor
                     Paperback (July 1990)
                     Kregel Publications; ISBN: 0825429641
                 Order

                 The Topical Josephus; Historical Accounts That Shed Light on the Bible
                        by  Cleon L. Rogers
                        Paperback - 238 pages (December 1992)
                        Zondervan Publishing Company; ISBN: 0310230179
                   Order
 
 

Josephus Studies

                    Josephus and the New Testament
                         by Steve Mason
                         Paperback - 248 pages (September 1993)
                         Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.; ISBN: 0943575990
                   Order
     
 Steve Mason's introduction to the relation between Josephus and the New Testament has become the standard work on the subject. It covers the intersection of the environments of Josephus and the gospel writers, New Testament figures in Josephus, and original research by Mason on the relation between the speeches in Acts and the speeches reported in the Jewish War.
   

                   Josephus, Judaism and Christianity
                       by Louis H. Feldman, Gohei Hata
                       Paperback (November 1987)
                       Wayne State Univ Pr; ISBN: 0814318320
                  Order

                      Josephus, the Bible and History
                       by Louis Feldman (Editor), Gohei Hata (Editor)
                       Paperback - 474 pages (January 1989)
                       Wayne State Univ Pr; ISBN: 0814319831
                  Order

These two collections edited by Feldman and Hata provide a wide array of articles focused on aspects of Josephus. A very stimulating set and a great bargain.
                       
                     Josephus : The Man and the Historian
                         by H. St. John Thackery
                         Hardcover Revised edition (February 1968)
                         Ktav Publishing House; ISBN: 087068115X
                   Order

                     The Brill Josephus Project
                        ed. Steve Mason
        The first comprehensive commentary on the works of Josephus. Volumes will appear over the course of several years starting in 2000. For more information see www.brill.nl  or editor Steven Mason's Brill Josephus Project page.

                    Josephus's Interpretation of the Bible
                        (Hellenistic Culture and Society, No 27)
                         by Louis H. Feldman
                         Hardcover - 750 pages (December 1998)
                         University of California Press; ISBN: 0520208536
                   Order
Flavius Josephus between Jerusalem and Rome : his life, his
works and their importance
by Per Bilde
Sheffield Academic Press (1988), ISBN: 1850750602

This overview of Josephus analyzes his works in new ways and also serves as a review of modern scholarship on Josephus. A highlight of the book is the study of changing fashions in the scholarly and popular opinion of Josephus' character. Concerning this, Bilde introduces the concept of the "classical conception of Josephus," flourishing the greatest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which pictured Josephus as weak in character and incapable as a historian; and against this Bilde identifies the "modern conception of Josephus" which views him as a skilled author sincere in his descriptions of himself and his times. Also discussed is evidence for Josephus' reliability as a historian and how his works can be used in a variety of disciplines.

Josephus : The Historian and His Society
by Tessa Rajak
ASIN: 0800607171

This study of Josephus' life and environment has become one of the standard studies of Josephus. It covers Josephus as a writer in Greek and Aramaic and his participation in and interpretation of  revolution and civil war in Judea and Galilee.

Order


Josephus in Galilee and Rome : his vita and development as a
historian
 by Shaye J. D. Cohen
ASIN: 9004059229


Flavius Josephus and Flavian Rome
edited by Jonathan Edmondson, Steve Mason, and James Rives
(Oxford, 2005)

A collection of essays considering the influence of the city of Rome on Josephus's writing, and of Josephus' effect on his Roman contemporaries.  The essays are gathered into three broad topics: "Josephus in the social and political context of Flavian Rome",  "The impact of the Jewish war in Flavian Rome", and "Josephus: Literature and historiography in Flavian Rome."


The Jewish Revolts against Rome, A.D. 66-135:
A Military Analysis
by James. J. Bloom
Published by McFarland (June 17, 2010)
ISBN: 978-0786444793
This analytical history focuses objectively on the military aspects of all three Judean uprisings. The events leading up to each rebellion are detailed, while the nine appendices cover such topics as the nature and number of the Jewish rebels and the factual reliability of the controversial Josephus.


        Flavius Josephe
        by Denis Lamour
        Les Belles Lettres (Paris, Feb 2000)
        In French; 144 pages
An introduction to Josephus and his works for the French-speaking public. In Denis Lamour's words, "After a biographic summary, I attempt to explain Josephus' view of history and the importance of his works in Jewish historiography. I argue that Josephus' big mistake is to have written his Life."  It can be ordered at  http://www.alapage.com.


                   Josephus and History of the Greco-Roman Period : Essays in
                         Memory of Morton Smith (Studia Post Biblica, 41)
                         by F. Parente (Editor), J. Sievers (Editor)
                         Hardcover (August 1997)
                         Brill Academic Publishers; ISBN: 9004101144
                    Order

                        Prophetic Figures in Late Second Temple Jewish Palestine : The
                         Evidence from Josephus
                         by Rebecca Gray
                         Hardcover (April 1993)
                         Oxford Univ Press; ISBN: 019507615X
                   Order

                        Flavius Josephus, the Zealots and Yavne : Towards a Rereading of
                         the War of the Jews
                         by Monette Bohrmann
                        Paperback (June 1994)
                        Peter Lang Publishing; ISBN: 3906752100
                   Order
 

                 The Historical Method of Flavius Josephus
                      by Pere Villalba I Varneda
                      Hardcover Vol 19 (August 1997)
                      Brill Academic Publishers; ISBN: 9004076166
                 Order

                    Jewish Rights in the Roman World - The Greek and Roman
                     Documents Quoted by Josephus Flavius
                     by Miriam Pucci Ben Zeev
                     Hardcover - 531 pages 0 edition (December 1998)
                    J.C.B. Mohr; ISBN: 3161470435
               Order

               Josephus and Judaean Politics
                    (Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition, Vol 18)
                     by  Seth Schwartz
                     Hardcover (August 1997)
                     Brill Academic Publishers; ISBN: 9004092307
                Order
 

                    Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees : A Composition-Critical Study
                     (Studia Post-Biblica, Vol 39)
                     by Steve Mason
 

The Image of the Jew in Flavius Josephus' Paraphrase of the Bible, by Paul Spilsbury(Mohr Siebeck, Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism No. 69, 1998)
 

Turbulent times? : Josephus and scholarship on Judaea in the first century CE , by James S. McLaren. (Sheffield, England : Sheffield Academic Press, 1998).

 
The following are from Brill's series of studies in ancient Judaism and early Christianigy, (Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums):
Josephus and Faith: Pistis and  Pisteuein as Faith Terminology in the Writings of Flavius Josephus and in   the New Testament, by Dennis R   Lindsay. (Brill, 1993).

Ein Bild des Judentums fuer Nichtjuden von Flavius Josephus: Untersuchungen zu seiner Schrift Contra Apionem, by Christine Gerber.   (Brill, 1997).

Bibliographies and Scholarly Aids

                Josephus and Modern Scholarship, 1937-1980
                     by Louis H. Feldman
                     Hardcover (January 1984)
                     Walter De Gruyter; ISBN: 3110081385
                 Order  ($371.35)

                 Bibiliographie Zu Flavius Josephus
                      by H. Schreckenberg
                      Hardcover Vol 1 (August 1997)
                      Brill Academic Publishers; ISBN: 9004001158
                 Order
 
 

                 A Complete Concordance to Flavius Josephus
                      by K.H. Rengstorf (Editor), E. Buck (Editor), E. Guting (Editor)
                      Hardcover (August 1997)
                      Brill Academic Publishers; ISBN: 9004036555
                 Order now

                A Complete Concordance to Flavius Josephus : Namenworterbuch
                Zu Flavius Josephus
                     by A. Schalit (Editor)
                     Hardcover (August 1997)
                     Brill Academic Publishers; ISBN: 9004018573
                Order now
 
 

First-Century Judaea

The Herodian Dynasty: Origins, Role in Society and Eclipse, by Dr. Nikos Kokkinos.  ( (Sheffield, England : Sheffield Academic Press, 1998).
            Josephus is the primary source for our knowledge of the Herod family. This book  heavily analyzes Josephus as it examines the origins of the Herod family, measures its impact on Jewish society, and discusses the influence it exerted beyond Judaea. It argues that the Herodian dynasty played a central part in the workings of the Eastern Roman Empire. For more description, see The Kokkinos Archaeological Home Page.
The Ruling Class of Judaea: The origins of the Jewish Revolt against Rome A.D. 66-70, by Martin Goodman.
            An examination of the cause of the War with emphasis on the power elite and why they could not keep the peace. Very closely examines everything Josephus mentions  -- and deliberately fails to mention -- about the Judean aristocracy.
 
 

Josephus in Literary Fiction

El profeta y el traidor
     by Gustavo R. Giorgi
    (Ediciones PROA of Buenos Aires, www.edicionesproa.com, 1999)
        A novel based on the life of Josephus, told in first person from Josephus' point of view.

 
 
 

Lion Feuchtwanger and his Josephus Trilogy
        A review and introduction by Jim Bloom
The neglected German-Jewish author Lion Feuchtwanger is one of the most stalwart defenders of Josephus’ blighted reputation. Feuchtwanger’s fiction trilogy, approximately based on Josephus’ discernible life history, is considered by many Josephan scholars to be in the forefront of the modern tendency towards moderation of the latter’s conventional traitor image. This article discusses Feuchtwanger's work and describes the re-discovery of Feuchtwanger's stage play about Josephus.


 
 
 

Links to Book Reviews

 

Society of Biblical Literature - Book Reviews


Josephus's Interpretation of the Bible
by  Louis H. Feldman


Studies in Josephus's Rewritten Bible
by  Louis H. Feldman


by James S. McLaren Reviewed by L. H. Feldman
Reviewed by J. Sievers

 Understanding Josephus: Seven Perspectives
Steve Mason,  ed.  (JSPSup 32. Sheffield )
 
 

Dreams and Dream Reports in the Writings of Josephus
by Robert Karl Gnuse

"Remember Amalek!": Vengeance, Zealotry, and Group Destruction in the Bible, According to Philo, Pseudo-Philo, and Josephus Louis H. Feldman



Flavius Josephus Home Page