''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 ...
''Contra Apionem'' or ''In Apionem'') is a polemical work written by
Flavius Josephus 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 the ...
as a classical religion and philosophy against criticism by
Apion, stressing its antiquity against what he perceived as more recent traditions of the Greeks. One of his main sources was
Menander of Ephesus. ''Against Apion'' cites Josephus' earlier work
Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the ...
, 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
Jewish Scriptures:
In the second book, Josephus defends the historicity of the
Jewish Bible against accusations made by
Apion (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). ...
and the
Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and ...
.
Josephus on Apion's
blood libel (''Against Apion'' 2:8):
Editions
*Josephus, ''The Life. Against Apion'' (
Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann_(publisher), Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works ...
), 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.
External links
Gutenberg Project's text of ''Against Apion''Perseus Project's text of ''Against Apion''Loeb Classical Library Josephus Volume 1 ''Life'' and ''Against Apion''
Works by Josephus
Jewish apologetics
{{Judaism-book-stub