Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees: A Composition-Critical Study

by Steve Mason

Mason has answered the call of scholars for a new, critical history of the Pharisees. Required is a careful analysis of each source's evidence as a prior condition of historical judgements. By analyzing Flavius Josephus' portrayal of the group, this study clarifies some of the crucial evidence that any hypothesis must explain.
Josephus writes about the Pharisees in three of his four extant works, describing their actions under the Hashmoneans, Herod the Great, and during his own tenure as Galilean commander of the revolt against Rome. This study tries to show how his discussions of the Pharisees contribute to his literary aims. With the help of K.H. Rengstorf's new concordance, the author explores the ten pertinent passages in their contexts, supplying also introductory chapters on the Jedean War , the Jewish Antiquities , and the Life . This analysis yields the conclusion that, although the Pharisees were the most popular party in first-century Judaism, Josephus was consistently hostile toward them for reasons peculiar to his own situation.


Please note that Flavius Josephus on the Pharisees was previously published by Brill in hardback (ISBN 90 04 09181 5, no longer available).

444 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2001

Reviews

[Logan Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic, fantastic study with wide-ranging implications, only some of which have begun to make sufficient inroads into New Testament scholarship, despite that this was published now over 30 years ago. A must-read for anyone who wants to say anything about the Pharisees.

[Laura Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very helpful (and paradigm-breaking) diachronic look at how Josephus views the Pharisees in his three books that include information about them. The historical debate about what Pharisees were actually like rages on!