Jewish Martyrs in the Pagan and Christian Worlds (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780521117418)

Spanning the Hellenistic period to the high Middle Ages, this history of Jewish martyrdom challenges the general consensus that martyrdom was an original Hellenisitic Jewish idea. Instead, Jews like Philo and Josephus internalized the idealized Roman concept of voluntary death and presented it as an old Jewish practice. While martyrs and martyrologies intended to show how Judaisim differed from Christianity, they, in fact, reveal a common mindset. Although the medieval martyrological option was played down during the Holocaust, medieval martyrologies are still featured in contemporary Ashkenazic prayers.

Author: Shmuel Shepkaru
ISBN-10: 0521117410
ISBN-13: 9780521117418
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 07/30/2009
Pages: 428
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.38lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.95d