Prayer in Josephus’ Writings

Abstract Josephus’ works contain several prayers, most of which come from the lips of his forefathers in Jewish Scripture. The majority of the prayers occur as Josephus recasts stories from Israel’s Scriptures, especially in Antiquities. Generally, a reference to prayer already appears in the text. Like other Jewish authors from this era who take up this task of re-presenting Scripture, for example, Pseudo-Philo and Genesis Apocryphon, Josephus feels quite at liberty to make changes to the words of the prayers as they appear in the tradition, insert entirely new material in them, or abbreviate and summarize them. This chapter explores how prayers often serve as important vehicles for Josephus’ overall agenda of presenting an image of Judaism that rises above the suspicion, hostility, and prejudice that he sometimes encountered in his Roman environment.