Judeophobia: Attitudes toward the Jews in the Ancient World

by Peter Schäfer

Taking a fresh look at what the Greeks and Romans thought about Jews and Judaism, Peter Schäfer locates the origin of anti-Semitism in the ancient world. Judeophobia firmly establishes Hellenistic Egypt as the generating source of anti-Semitism, with roots extending back into Egypt’s pre-Hellenistic history.

A pattern of ingrained hostility toward an alien culture emerges when Schäfer surveys an illuminating spectrum of comments on Jews and their religion in Greek and Roman writings, focusing on the topics that most interested the pagan classical the exodus or, as it was widely interpreted, expulsion from Egypt; the nature of the Jewish god; food restrictions, in particular abstinence from pork; laws relating to the sabbath; the practice of circumcision; and Jewish proselytism. He then probes key incidents, two fierce outbursts of hostility in the destruction of a Jewish temple in Elephantine in 410 B.C.E. and the riots in Alexandria in 38 C.E. Asking what fueled these attacks on Jewish communities, the author discovers deep-seated ethnic resentments. It was from Egypt that hatred of Jews, based on allegations of impiety, xenophobia, and misanthropy, was transported first to Syria-Palestine and then to Rome, where it acquired a new fear of this small but distinctive community. To the hatred and fear, ingredients of Christian theology were soon added―a mix all too familiar in Western history.

Genres: History, Religion, Antisemitism, Judaica, Philosophy, Academia, Nonfiction

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Peter Schäfer is a prolific German scholar of ancient religious studies, who has made contributions to the field of ancient Judaism and early Christianity through monographs, co-edited volumes, numerous articles, and his trademark synoptic editions.

Reviews

[Hoyden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm cheating a little on this one. I had to read it for a qualifying exam... and I passed the exam, so whatever I learned from it has been filed away to make room for the info I need to learn for the next exam.

Anyway, I remember liking it a lot, but I agree with Emily that you don't need to read the whole thing. Intro and the first few chapters.

[∂]

Pretty great. The use of summarized and quoted sources without really interrogating the summarizers and quoters is problematic. The last chapter is straight up bad, the German and American stuffy ivory tower debate between “legitimate” anti-Judaism and “illegitimate” antisemitism is absolutely bonkers and even engaging with it briefly delegitimizes the entire book in my eyes.

[Adam Aptowitzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned some fascinating information, but at points the author understand a scholarly review of certain academic positions which is too much for a novice like me.

[Sarah Eisenstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are at all interested in Jewish history or the ancient world, read this. For a history book, pretty comprehensible.