L’ambigua profezia di Flavio Giuseppe (Bell. 6. 312)

Whilst talking of a dramatic moment of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, Josephus recalls a series of prodigies and quotes verbatim an ambiguous oracle, which, being misinterpreted, induces the Jews to strengthen their opposition against the Romans: they do not realize that the oracle was referring to the accession to the throne of Vespasian. This paper examines the oracle by deconstructing its text, to highlight its features, which appear more specifically Greek than Hebrew, thus suggesting that it was a fine invention of Josephus built according to the modes of expression of the Delphic oracle as presented by Herodotus.

Un caso emblematico di contaminazione tra tipoogie oracolari greche e giudaiche