Mason PJPE 1988

The author of this article takes the writings of Josephus and uses them to date the so-called "Pharisaic Revolution." The Pharisaic Revolution, or the time in Jewish history when the Pharisees gained the authority to establish religious laws for the people, marked the end of the Aaronite priests' sole possesion of the authority to decree law. Mason's main point seems to focus on the fact that previous scholars, mainly E. Rivkin, have dated the Pharisaic Revolution too early in Jewish history. He uses the writings of Josephus, which he claims have a great deal of respect for the priests, to claim that during the time of Josephus the priests were still considered guardians and protectors of the law. The author also makes a point to say that Josephus was not the only writer in his general time period to claim that the priests were still in control of the law. He claims that the author of 4 Maccabees, writing at the end of the first century CE makes the same claim. Overall, this is an informative, brief, and interesting article that discusses Judaism during the period of most interest to this course.

Priesthood in Josephus and the Pharisaic Revolution on JSTOR.

Josh