Josephus’s Retelling of the Patriarchs’ Polygyny in a Greco-Roman Context

Abstract

This study explores how Josephus presents the plural marriages of the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob in Antiquities of the Jews. It examines three aspects of Abraham and Jacob’s family relationships: polygyny, sexual relationships with slave women, and the status of children born to slaves. The article demonstrates that Josephus has modified the depiction of these relationships as found in Genesis, and argues that he is apologetically shaping these stories in order to better appeal to the cultural values of his Greco-Roman audience.