As the primary source of additional information about events in the Old and New Testaments, Jewish An-tiquities & The Jewish War by Josephus take on a brilliant new dimension with full-color photographs of many of the places & artifacts cited in these works.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Educational:
Having read the complete Bible in the past, reading the works of Josephus helped put some of the events in the old testament into better perspective and opened the door to some new thinking and understanding.
Not particularly an easy read, but then reading the Bible has always been challenging and Josephus' version as put together by the author Paul Maier is challenging as well and very educational. G. D. Villalba
Your Choice:
I have long owned a translation by Thackeray of the complete works of Josephus in nine volumes from the Loeb Classical Library. Later, I purchased this abridgement and translation by Paul L. Maier of Flavius Josephus' "Jewish Antiquities" and "The Jewish War" which will be useful to many. Please note, this book is available in a 1990 edition and a 1995 edition. Recently, I obtained a copy of "The New Complete Works of Josephus," with Maier as commentator and editor published in 1999. So, in large measure... more info
Great Scholarship:
Anyone who has tried to struggle through an old translation of Josephus will appreciate this work. When reading the 18th century translation one gets the sense that this is a great piece of ancient history, but it's just SO tedious. Dr. Maier's abridged translation not only covers all the important passages, but does so in an easy to read English. The merit of Dr. Maier's translation is found in the footnotes about the controversial passage containing the reference to Jesus as the Messiah. Although... more info
3rd Grade Reading Level and Biased:
After reading 100 pages in about ten minutes, I wondered if Josephus really wrote as if he were a child. ie: Jack was a man. He lived in a house. He had a wife. He did something. Then, Jack died. Now replace Jack with Adam, Noah, Moses, Isaac, etc. The translator/editor takes far too much liberty with his abridgement and translation. I bought the unabridge version afterward. The writing in the full version is still easy to read and follow, but it gives a much more detailed and fuller story telling. I... more info
