Josephus’ Twenty-Two Book Canon and the Qumran Scrolls

Abstract

This chapter engages with the ongoing scholarly debate about Scripture and canon in late Second Temple Judaism in the wake of the old consensus’ demise. Scholars now adopt various positions on late Second Temple Scripture, some close to the old consensus but others departing substantially from it. Mason, in particular, underestimates the significance of the different ways in which the various elements of Scripture’s portrayal in Ag. Ap. 1.37–43 relate to what is found in other sources. Josephus argues that Jewish historiography is superior to its Greek equivalent and that the Jewish Scriptures are more ancient, more circumscribed numerically, and more accurate than their unreliable, innumerable, and relatively recent Greek counterparts. But whether it ultimately proves persuasive or not, Ag. Ap. 1.37–43 should not be allowed single-handedly to outweigh the critical mass of evidence for Scripture rather than canon among Jews, including early Christians, in late Second Temple times. Keywords:Canon; Greek writers; Josephus; Qumran scrolls; Second Temple Judaism; Second Temple times