Vulgar words in Josephus (Page 1)
This book at a glance
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~ ~ ~ Sentence 2,284 ~ ~ ~
It was said that the deity worshiped at Jerusalem was the head of an ass, to which human sacrifices were offered, and that the Jews took an oath to do no service for any Gentile.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 2,510 ~ ~ ~
He deals also, in a digression, with calumnies derived from Posidonius and Melon about the worship of an ass in the sanctuary at Jerusalem.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 2,517 ~ ~ ~
Now, the Greek word for a stone was Onos, which likewise meant an ass, and it was probably on the strength of this blunder that prejudice for centuries accused Jews and Christians of worshiping an ass' head.
~ ~ ~ Sentence 2,518 ~ ~ ~
Josephus brings proof of the emptiness of the charge, and retorts that Apion had himself the heart of an ass; and then, describing the ritual of the Temple, insists that there was no secret mystery about it.