''Against Apion'' ( el, Φλαΐου Ἰωσήπου περὶ ἀρχαιότητος Ἰουδαίων λόγος α and ;
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''Contra Apionem'' or ''In Apionem'') is a polemical work written by
Flavius Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
as a defense of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
as a classical religion and philosophy against criticism by
Apion
Apion Pleistoneices ( el, Ἀπίων Πλειστονίκου ''Apíōn Pleistoníkēs''; 30–20 BC – c. AD 45–48), also called Apion Mochthos, was a Hellenized Egyptian grammarian, sophist, and commentator on Homer. He was born at the Siw ...
, stressing its antiquity against what he perceived as more recent traditions of the Greeks. One of his main sources was
Menander of Ephesus Menander of Ephesus ( grc-gre, Μένανδρος; fl. c. early 2nd century BC) was the historian whose lost work on the history of Tyre was used by Josephus, who quotes Menander's list of kings of Tyre in his apologia for the Jews, ''Against Ap ...
. ''Against Apion'' cites Josephus' earlier work Antiquities of the Jews, so can be dated after C.E. 94. It was possibly written in the early second century.
Text
''Against Apion'' 1:8 also defines which books Josephus viewed as being in the
Apion
Apion Pleistoneices ( el, Ἀπίων Πλειστονίκου ''Apíōn Pleistoníkēs''; 30–20 BC – c. AD 45–48), also called Apion Mochthos, was a Hellenized Egyptian grammarian, sophist, and commentator on Homer. He was born at the Siw ...
(who Josephus states is not Greek), arguing that Apion in fact rehashes material of Manetho's, though there was apparently some confusion between Manetho's references to the
Hyksos
Hyksos (; Egyptian '' ḥqꜣ(w)- ḫꜣswt'', Egyptological pronunciation: ''hekau khasut'', "ruler(s) of foreign lands") is a term which, in modern Egyptology, designates the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt (fl. c. 1650–1550 BC).
T ...
and the
Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still ...
.
Josephus on Apion's blood libel (''Against Apion'' 2:8):
Editions
*Josephus, ''The Life. Against Apion'' ( Loeb Classical Library), Harvard University Press, 1926.
*Josephus, ''Flavius Josephus: Against Apion'', trans. and comment. by John M. G. Barclay, Brill, 2013.
References
Further reading
*Tessa Rajak, ''The Jewish Dialogue With Greece and Rome: Studies in Cultural and Social Interaction'', Brill, 2002, chapter 11.
*Juan Carlos Ossandón Widow, ''The Origins of the Canon of the Hebrew Bible: An Analysis of Josephus and Fourth Ezra'', Brill, 2018, Part I.