https://bcs.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Michuta-ECJ-_final.pdf
Gary Michuta’s attempt to overturn the longstanding canonical interpretation of Against Apion 1.38-42 rests on a series of methodological missteps, selective readings, and internal contradictions that ultimately render his thesis untenable. His central claim is that Josephus is not describing a canon but merely offering an “enumeration” of books for rhetorical purposes. Yet Josephus explicitly distinguishes between writings that possess full authority and writings that do not. Michuta acknowledges that Josephus says later books “have not been deemed worthy of equal credit,” but he attempts to neutralize this by arguing that Josephus is not speaking of sacredness or inspiration. This is contradicted by Josephus’s own contrast between books that carry full trust and those that do not. Even without Eusebius’s addition of the word meaning “divine,” Josephus’s distinction between authoritative and non‑authoritative writings is unmistakable. Michuta’s insistence that Josephus “never used the word ‘canon’” is a semantic diversion rather than a substantive argument. Ancient Jewish and Christian writers did not need the term “canon” to express the concept of a fixed, authoritative body of Scripture. Rabbinic literature speaks instead of texts that “defile the hands,” which Michuta himself notes. This functional equivalence undermines his claim that Josephus cannot be describing a canon simply because he does not use the later technical term.
Michuta’s argument further depends on the claim that Josephus’s passage cannot be a canon because he does not name the books. This is historically naive. Ancient authors routinely referred to scriptural collections by number and category rather than by title. The Torah was universally understood as the five books of Moses without needing to list Genesis through Deuteronomy. The Twelve Prophets were known collectively without enumerating Hosea through Malachi. Josephus’s Greco‑Roman audience would have been familiar with Jewish Scriptures through synagogues, diaspora communities, and earlier Jewish writers such as Philo and the author of the Letter of Aristeas. Michuta’s assertion that Josephus’s lack of explicit titles disqualifies the passage from being a canon ignores the conventions of ancient literary culture and imposes modern expectations onto a first‑century text.
Another major weakness in Michuta’s argument is his treatment of Josephus’s divisions. He claims that Josephus’s categories cannot correspond to the later tripartite canon and cites Steve Mason’s view that Josephus is “on a different plane” and merely describing genres. Yet Josephus’s categories align closely with the traditional Jewish divisions: five books of Moses, prophetic histories from Moses to Artaxerxes, and four books of hymns and wisdom. Michuta attempts to dismiss this alignment by arguing that Josephus is not distinguishing genres for canonical purposes but “adducing evidence for the existence of his people prior to Artaxerxes." This interpretation contradicts Josephus’s stated rhetorical aim in Against Apion, which is to demonstrate that the Jews possess ancient, reliable, divinely sanctioned historical records superior to those of other nations. Josephus’s argument requires identifying the authoritative Scriptures. Michuta’s alternative explanation cannot account for Josephus’s temporal cutoff for inspiration, which mirrors the later rabbinic position that prophecy ceased after the Persian period. This cutoff is incompatible with Michuta’s claim that Josephus is not discussing sacred literature at all.
Michuta also attempts to undermine the canonical interpretation by accusing scholars of “working backward” from later rabbinic canons. He cites McDonald’s critique of Sid Leiman and argues that scholars impose later canonical structures onto Josephus (cf. “Leiman clearly works backward in anachronistic fashion”). This charge misrepresents the nature of historical continuity. The alignment between Josephus’s twenty‑two books and later Jewish enumerations is not evidence of retrojection but of a stable Second Temple tradition that Josephus himself reflects. Michuta treats continuity as suspicious when it is precisely what one would expect from a religious tradition that maintained consistent scriptural boundaries across centuries. His argument requires assuming discontinuity where the evidence points to coherence.
A further problem arises in Gary Michuta’s handling of Eusebius. He devotes significant attention to the possibility that Eusebius added the term often translated “divine” to Josephus’s text, implying that the canonical interpretation depends on this interpolation. Yet Michuta himself admits that Josephus still distinguishes between writings of full authority and writings of lesser authority even without the word meaning “divine.” Critical editions note the absence of this term in major manuscripts, but this does not alter Josephus’s underlying argument. Michuta’s focus on the interpolation is therefore a distraction rather than a decisive point. Michuta's claim that Josephus’s passage is “devoid of language regarding the sacredness of the twenty‑two books” is contradicted by Josephus’s own framing of these books as uniquely trustworthy, ancient, and written by prophets. Josephus’s emphasis on prophetic authorship is itself a claim of sacred status. His contrast between books written under prophetic inspiration and books written after prophecy ceased is a canonical distinction. Michuta’s argument requires ignoring Josephus’s explicit statements about prophetic authorship and authority.
In sum, Michuta’s reassessment fails because it depends on minimizing Josephus’s clear distinctions, imposing modern expectations onto ancient literary conventions, misrepresenting the nature of historical continuity, and offering alternative explanations that contradict Josephus’s stated rhetorical aims. The traditional interpretation remains stronger because it takes Josephus’s words seriously and recognizes that Josephus is describing a fixed, closed body of authoritative Scriptures, even if he does not use the later term “canon.”
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