Prophetic Figures in Late Second Temple Jewish Palestine: The Evidence from Josephus (review)

Hebrew Studies 35 (1994) 146 Reviews those reading only the Hebrew). Occasionally the Isaiah verse is cited incorrectly , or differently in the text and translation (e.g., 1:3,8:8,44:12). Some readers may wish to have had more of Perez' fmdings presented in the introduction . On the other hand, the full indices of verses, sources, and topics are useful and provide ready reference to the scope of Ibn Bal'am's interests. Ibn Bal'am's commentary represents an important transitional stage in the history of Jewish Bible criticism. His forbears were Sa'adiah and Hai, I:byyuj and al-Fasi, and Arabic 'adab literature; his successors the likes of Ibn Ezra and David Kimchi. The text itself, and what is probably the most significant aspect of the notes, the comparative references to earlier and later works, contribute greatly to our understanding of the underpinnings of classic biblical commentaries, at least in the Sephardic world. The current volume does much to illustrate the approach of a representative of the heady days of the eleventh and twelfth centuries in Muslim Spain, aware of secular and religious poetry, conversant with and often critical of Geonic interpretations , and passionately excited about the new sciences of grammar and lexicography. Seth Ward University ofDenver Denver, CO 80208 PROPHETIC FIGURES IN LATE SECOND TEMPLE JEWISH PALESTINE: THE EVIDENCE FROM JOSEPHUS. By Rebecca Gray. pp. xvii +238. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Cloth, $45.00. This, the first systematic, critical survey of post-biblical prophetic figures-particularly the Essenes and the so-called "sign prophets"-as delineated in Josephus' writings, is a revised version of the author's doctoral dissertation at Oxford. It is marked by a carefully nuanced examination of the original texts. The figures who are examined represent a broad gamut of conceptions of prophecy. Some, such as Jesus the son of Ananias and Menahem the Essene, are reminiscent of Jeremiah in that they preach social, moral, and religious reform. Others, such as Theudas and the anonymous Egyptian, are more like messianic figures. The author emphasizes three features of Josephus' understanding of these latter-day prophets: the predictive aspect, the interest in prophecy as requiring technical expertise (especially in Hebrew Studies 35 (1994) 147 Reviews the interpretation of dreams), and the connection between prophecy and priesthood. Not all of these characteristics are found in every prophet, but not surprisingly all three of them are present in a contemporary prophet named Flavius Josephus-the predictive aspect in his prophecy that Vespasian would become emperor, the expertise as seen in his interpretation of the dream that he had in Galilee early in the war (Life 208-210), and the connection with the priesthood as perceived in his statement that it was his priestly training in scripture that enabled him to interpret dreams. We may conjecture that Josephus saw a kinship between the prophet and the historian not only in that both deal with the past, but also in that both seek to predict the future, as we see notably in Thucydides' famous remark (1.22.4) that "whoever wishes to have a clear view of events which have happened and of those which will some day, in all human probability, happen again in the same or similar way" will find his history useful. . Dr. Gray is especially to be commended for her excellent insights in noting typological correspondences between Josephus and the ancient prophets, especially Jeremiah and Daniel-what David Daube has termed retrofigurement, whereby features of one's own life are transposed onto an earlier figure. These correspondences are particularly to be seen when one compares Josephus' account of these prophets with the biblical text. The author might have perceived further insights into Josephus' view of the nature of prophecy if she had compared Josephus' interpretation of such prophets as Elijah, Elisha, and Jonah with the biblical text. In the case of Elijah we may note the striking fact that Josephus' chief interest is not in the miracles that he performs; in particular, Josephus, in accordance with his rationalizing tendency, says nothing about Elijah going up in a whirlwind in a chariot of fire into heaven (2 Kgs 1:11-12); instead...