Dreams and Dream Reports in the Writings of Josephus

Download or read book Dreams and Dream Reports in the Writings of Josephus written by Gnuse and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-07-17 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume analyzes the understanding of dreams and the corresponding literary forms used by Josephus in his writings. Josephus reports dreams as either auditory message dreams, symbolic visual dreams, or dream image appearances. In this regard he uses the format for auditory and visual dreams found in ancient Near Eastern and biblical texts, while his dream image appearance reports show familiarity with traditional Greek modes of reporting dreams. Close attention is given to the following topics: 1) the development of dream reports in the ancient Near East, the Bible, and the Hellenistic world; 2) Josephus' views on dreams and prophecy; 3) a form-critical assessment of Josephus' dream reports; and 4) an evaluation of Josephan dream reports which exhibit a more complex traditio-historical development.