The Jerusalem Temple and Jewish Identity between Pseudo-Hegesippus and Sefer Yosippon: The Discursive Aftermath of Josephus’ Temple Ekphrasis

Abstract

Josephus’ Temple ekphrasis in his Jewish War (5.136–247) is a significant literary monument. The description of this quintessential Jewish holy place has a great deal to do with Jewish identity. In the late fourth century, the Latin Christian author Pseudo-Hegesippus, in his work On the Destruction of Jerusalem, rewrote the Temple description to emphasize Christian identity as central to the Temple’s construction, not Jewish identity. In the tenth century, the Jewish author of the Hebrew Sefer Yosippon rewrote the Temple description again to emphasize Jewish identity. By reading these Greek, Latin, and Hebrew Temple descriptions comparatively, one may identify an ongoing identity discourse about Jewish and/or Christian identity vis-à-vis the Jerusalem Temple. These three accounts, with each subsequent account based on the one that came before, illustrate a back-and-forth discussion between Jewish and Christian authors across a millennium about what the Temple means and is/was for Jews and Christians.