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Article: Flavius Josephus, the Zealots and Yavne: Towards a Rereading of the War of the Jews.
- Article from:
- Journal of Church and State
- Article date:
- January 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Monette Bohrmann. Trans. Janet Lloyd. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang, 1994. 392 pp. $40.95.
Bohrmann believes that Josephus's opposition to the war with Rome should be seen as similar to the views of Johanan teen Zakkai and the school at Jabneh, as well as the later traditions in the Talmud. Essentially, Jews saw wars as being either "optional" (wars of conquest) or "compulsory" (wars necessary to prevent the extermination of Jewish belief). Whereas the Zealots viewed war with Rome as "compulsory"--in the same sense the Maccabean Revolt had been two centuries prior--Josephus, King Agrippa II, and Johanan teen Zakkai were moderates who did not believe Jewish ...