The Philistines in Josephus' writings

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Abstract

One of the bitterest enemies of the Israelites that challenged them from the conquest of Canaan till the early monarchy period was the Philistines. They are mentioned mainly in the so-called «Deuteronomitic History» and some references to them are scattered throughout the Pentateuch, the Latter Prophets, and the Book of Chronicles. Josephus mentions the Philistines when he retells the biblical narratives from Joshua to Kings in his Antiquities of the Jews. My aim in this paper is to explore the ways in which Josephus constructs the Philistines' ethnic identity as «the others» in relation to his people. I shall show how Josephus' defines the Philistines through their titles, their military behavior, their unique practices and the overall relationship between them and the Israelites. I shall also examine the question whether Josephus is projecting his Greco-Roman present into his retelling of the Philistines' past.
Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)144-155
Number of pages12
JournalTheologische Zeitschrift
Volume71
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

RAMBI Publications

  • RAMBI Publications
  • Josephus, Flavius
  • Philistines
  • Ethnicity in post-biblical literature

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