Juvencus et Israël: la représentation des Juifs dans le premier poème latin chrétien

Examines the portrayal of the Jews in Juvencus' Latin rendition of the Gospels, "Evangelorium libri". Juvencus, a Spanish priest, based his history of Christ, begun in 330 and written in Vergilian verse, mainly on the Gospel of St. Matthew. The introduction (pp. 15-34) situates Juvencus and his work in the context of Christian antisemitism and anti-Jewish polemics. Pt. 1 (pp. 37-128), "Le silence", analyzes how Juvencus downplayed or silenced Jewish elements in the history and life of Jesus. He omitted many Jewish place names and patronymics, eliminated Jewish semantics and references to Jewish culture, and latinized the Jewish substrate of the Gospels. Pt. 2 (pp. 129-236), "La charge", deals with Juvencus' amplification of the anti-Jewish elements in the story of Christ. The Jews are characterized as deicides, bloodthirsty, and obstinate in their refusal to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. All Jews are charged with these crimes and flaws. Concludes that Juvencus' antisemitism lacked orginality and only reproduced the fundamental anti-Judaism of the Christian doctrine.