Editor: Steve Mason

This is the first comprehensive literary-historical online commentary on the works of Flavius Josephus in English. The commentary, edited by Steve Mason (University of Groningen), also includes the full Greek texts, edited by Benedikt Niese in the 19th century. At present, the online commentary is about 65% complete, comprising the Life, Against Apion, books 2 and 4 of the Judean War, and books 1-11 and 15 of the Judean Antiquities. Further volumes will continue to be added.

Flavius Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, is without a doubt the most important witness to ancient Judaism from the close of the biblical period to the aftermath of the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. His four surviving works – the Judean War, Judean Antiquities, Life, and Against Apion in thirty Greek volumes – provide the narrative structure for interpreting other, more fragmentary written sources and physical remains from this period. His descriptions of the Temple, the Judean countryside, Jewish-Roman relations and conflicts, and groups and institutions of ancient Judea have become indispensable for the student of early Judaism, of Classics, and of Christian origins alike.

This wide-ranging and detailed work will prove invaluable to every serious reader of Josephus, providing a new translation and commentary, highlighting literary and historical connections.

Review Quotes:

…this series follows a format that is uncomplicated and therefore extremely user-friendly… The first two publications of the Brill Josephus Project have adequately satisfied the publisher's promise of being the first comprehensive literary-historical commentary on the works of Flavius Josephus in English… they have established a formidable, yet highly achievable standard for subsequent volumes in the series …an indispensable source of competing critical perspectives …correctly been termed an "indispensable source for all scholarly study of Judea from about 200 BCE to 75 CE"(Maxon ix)." – Dennis Stoutenburg, in: Journal of Biblical Literature / Review of Biblical Literature

"…diese Reihe sollten Benutzerinnen und Benutzer aus Judaistik, neu- und alttestamentlicher Wissenschaft und Alter Geschichte nicht nur in Bibliotheken nachschlagen, sondern m. E. für einen privaten Kauf ernstlich erwágen … Eine Arbeit an und mit Josephustexten wird auf Jahrzehnte ohne diesen Kommentar nicht mehr denkbar sein." – Marco Frenschkowski, in: Theologische Literaturzeitung, 2003

"The commentary is generally wide-ranging and very readable." – F.G. Downing, in: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2002

Schedule, Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary

Updated January 2021