E. Nodet and the Slavonic Josephus

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maryhelena
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E. Nodet and the Slavonic Josephus

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While recently viewing a review of Alice Whealey’s book on Josephus and the TF, I noticed that the reviewer, Steve Mason, made mention of the Slavonic Josephus:
Although Whealey doubts that any contemporary scholar would support Eisler’s assertions, a few have recently moved in that direction:

See E. Nodet, “Jewish Features in the ‘Slavonic’ War of Josephus.......and H. Leeming and K. Lemming.....Josephus ’Jewish War and Its Slavonic Version, A synoptic Comparision.

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/4 ... 4247637503
An article by Nodet is available below:
Appendix II
The Slavonic Version of the Jewish War
Etienne Nodet

https://www.academia.edu/6883079/The_Sl ... f_Josephus

https://ebaf.academia.edu/EtienneNodet
This Appendix seems to have been taken from Nodet’ book: ‘The Historical Jesus ? (translated from the French by J. Edward Crowley).

While I find Nodet’s “Attempt at an Interpretation” questionable, I’m far more interested in his arguments for authenticity for Slavonic Josephus.

Nodet gives three reasons for his proposal:
First, here is oriental evidence that the Aramaic version circulated. Shortly after the sack Seleucia by the Romans in 165, a certain Mara Bar Serapion wrote in Aramaic a letter encouragement to his son, inviting him to study philosophy. In the extract quoted here, he draws a parallel between what happened after the deaths Socrates, Pythagoras, and a wise king of the Jews. This is Jesus, but Mara knows him through a non-Christian source, which can scarcely be any other author than Josephus—especially since the Slavonic text War 5.195)mentions a trilingual inscription which speaks of “Jesus the king who did not reign, crucified by the Jews because he announced the ruin the city and the desolation the temple”:

But what else can we say, when the wise men are systematically eliminated by tyrants, when their wisdom meets only insults, and their thoughts are attacked with no possibility of defence ? What advantage did the Athenians draw from having put Socrates to death? This brought upon them famine and plague. Or the people of Samos, from burning Pythagoras at the stake? Their land was covered with sand in one single hour. Or the Jews, from having [killed] their wise king? Their kingdom was taken away from them at precisely that epoch. God has made recompense for the wisdom of these three men. The Athenians died of amine; the Samians were submerged by the sea; the Jews, deposed and driven out of their own kingdom, are scattered among all the nations. But Socrates is not dead, thanks to Plato; nor is Pythagoras dead, thanks to the statue of Juno; nor is the wise king dead, thanks to the new laws which he institute.

Secondly, in the passage about the Essenes in the Slavonic Text, we find at least two specific details which agree with the documents found at Qumran. (read the rest in the pdf)

Thirdly
, at the moment of ruin, Josephus relates a number of oracles which had predicted it. In the Greek text, they are difficult to understand (War 6.311-312) but the Slavonic shows us where we can find help in scriptural passages. (read the rest in the pdf)
Nordet ends with this:
How is the presence in Byzantium of a copy of the Greek draft to be explained? This must be attributed either to chance or to an error. We have seen that Photius, the initiator of the Slavonic mission of Cyril and Methodius, seems to have known an echo of this text, with regard to the children in Bethlehem. In any case, the copy later translated into Slavonic certainly came from Byzantium.
Any comments on Nodet's proposal that the Slavonic Josephus is authentic?

-------------------------------------
Etienne Nodet
ECOLE BIBLIQUE ET ARCHEOLOGIQUE FRANCAISE DE JERUSALEM, Bible and Archeology, Faculty Member
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
W.B. Yeats
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