This volume provides the first full commentary to Book 15 of Josephus' Judean Antiquities, with a new English translation. In Antiquities 15 Josephus offers an account of the Judean kingdom ruled by Herod the Great (37–4 BCE). The commentary interprets his narrative in detail and identifies historical considerations that arise in the course of such analysis. Interpretation of the text requires attention to manuscript variants, vocabulary, use of sources, parallel accounts, relevant archaeology, and Josephus' Jewish, Roman, and Greek historiographical contexts. The overall approach is narratological, concerned ultimately with the way in which Josephus tells his story.
Jan Willem van Henten, Ph.D. (1986) in Theology, University of Leiden, is Professor of New Testament at the University of Amsterdam. He has published extensively on ancient martyrdom, apocalypticism and Josephus including Martyrdom and Noble Death (Routledge, 2002, with F. Avemarie).
The book is intended primarily for scholars of Bible and ancient Judaism but should be useful also to students.