Josephus

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Josephus

Josephus (c. 37 – c. 100), who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Flavius JosephusJosephus refers to himself in his Greek works as Jōsēpos Matthiou pais (Josephus the son of Matthais). Although Josephus also spoke Aramaic and most probably also Hebrew, no extant sources record his name in these languages. However, re-translating from the Greek yields יוסף בן מתתיהו (Yosef ben Matityahu), or יוסף בר מתתיהו (Yosef bar Matityahu)., was a 1st century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70. His works give an important insight into first-century Judaism.

Life

Josephus, who introduced himself in Greek as "Joseph, son of Matthias, an ethnic Hebrew, a priest from Jerusalem" Jewish War I.3, fought the Romans in the First Jewish-Roman War of 66-73 as a Jewish military leader in Galilee. However, in circumstances that are somewhat unclear (see also Josephus problem), Josephus surrendered to the Roman forces invading Galilee in July 67. He became a prisoner and provided the Romans with intelligence on the ongoing revolt. The Roman forces were led by Flavius Vespasian and his son Titus, both subsequently Roman emperors. In 69 Josephus was released (cf. War'' IV.622-629) and according to Josephus' own account, he appears to have played some role as a negotiator with the defenders in the Siege of Jerusalem in 70.

In 71 he arrived in Rome in the entourage of Titus, becoming a Roman citizen and Flavian client (hence he is often referred to as Flavius Josephus - see below). In addition to Roman citizenship he was granted accommodation in Vespasian's former home, land in conquered Judea, and a decent, if not extravagant, pension. It was while in Rome, and under Flavian patronage, that Josephus wrote all of his known works.

Although he only ever calls himself "Josephus", he appears to have taken the Roman nomen Flavius and praenomen Titus from his patrons Attested by the third century Church theologian Origen (Comm. Matt. 10.17).. This was standard for new citizens.

Around 70, Josephus divorced his first wife and married a Jewish woman from Alexandria by whom he had two children: a son Flavius Hyrcanus and a second child, about whom nothing is known. Around 75, he again divorced and, by a third marriage, produced two more sons, Flavius Justus and Simonides Agrippa.

Josephus's life is beset with ambiguity. For his critics, he never satisfactorily explained his actions during the Jewish war — why he failed to commit suicide in Galilee in 67 with some of his compatriots, and why, after his capture, he cooperated with the Roman invaders. Hence, many have viewed Josephus as a traitor and informer and questioned his credibility as a historian — dismissing his works as Roman propaganda or as a personal apologetic, aimed at rehabilitating his reputation in history.

Nevertheless, he was unquestionably an important apologist in the Roman world for the Jewish people and culture, particularly at a time of conflict and tension. He always remained, in his own eyes, a loyal and law-observant Jew. He went out of his way both to commend Judaism to educated gentiles, and to insist on its compatibility with cultured Graeco-Roman thought. He constantly contended for the antiquity of Jewish culture, presenting its people as civilised, devout and philosophical.

Eusebius reports that a statue of Josephus was erected in Rome.Hist. eccl. 3.9.2

Significance to scholarship

The works of Josephus provide crucial information about the First Jewish-Roman War. They are also important literary source for understanding the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls and post-Second Temple Judaism. Josephan scholarship in the 19th and early 20th century became focused on Josephus' relationship to the sect of the Pharisees. He was consistently portrayed as a member of the sect and viewed as a villanous traitor to his own nation - a view which became known in Josephan studies as the classical conception. In the mid 20th century, this view was challenged by a new generation of scholars who formulated the modern conception of Josephus, still considering him a Pharisee but restoring his reputation in part as patriot and a historian of some standing. Recent scholarship since 1990 has sought to move scholarly perceptions forward by demonstrating that Josephus was not a Pharisee but an orthodox Aristocrat-Priest who became part of the Temple establishment as a matter of deference and not willing association (Cf. Steve Mason, Todd Beall, and Ernst Gerlach).

Josephus offers information about individuals, groups, customs and geographical places. His writings provide a significant, extra-biblical account of the post-exilic period of the Maccabees, the Hasmonean dynasty and the rise of Herod the Great. He makes references to the Sadducees, Jewish High Priests of the time, Pharisees and Essenes, the Herodian Temple, Quirinius' census and the Zealots, and to such figures as Pontius Pilate, Herod the Great, Agrippa I and II, John the Baptist, James the brother of Jesus, and a highly disputed reference to Jesus. He is an important source for studies of immediate post-Temple Judaism (and, thus, the context of early Christianity).

Works

The Jewish War

His first work in Rome was an account of the Jewish war addressed to certain "upper barbarians" – usually thought to be the Jewish community in Mesopotamia – in his "paternal tongue" (War I.3), arguably the Western Aramaic language. He then wrote a seven-volume account in Greek known to us as the Jewish War (Latin Bellum Iudaicum). It starts with the period of the Maccabees and concludes with accounts of the fall of Jerusalem, the Roman victory celebrations in Rome, the mopping-up operations, Roman military operations elsewhere in the Empire and the uprising in Cyrene. Together with the account in his Life of some of the same events it also provides the reader with an overview of Josephus' own part in the events since his return to Jerusalem from a brief visit to Rome in the early 60s (Life 13-17).

Rome cannot have been an easy place for a Jew in the wake of the suppression of the Jewish revolt. Josephus would have witnessed the marches of Titus' triumphant legions leading their Jewish captives, and carrying trophies of despoiled treasure from the Temple in Jerusalem. He would have experienced the popular presentation of the Jews as a bellicose and misanthropic people.

It was against this background that Josephus wrote his War, and although often dismissed as pro-Roman propaganda (perhaps hardly surprising given where his patronage was coming from) he claims to be writing to counter anti-Judean accounts. He disputes the claim that the Jews serve a defeated god and are naturally hostile to Roman civilization. Rather, he blames the Jewish War on what he calls "unrepresentative and over-zealous fanatics" among the Jews, who led the masses away from their natural aristocratic leaders (like him), with disastrous results. He also blames some of the governors of Judea, but these he presents as atypical Romans: corrupt and incompetent administrators. Thus, according to Josephus, the traditional Jew was, should be, and can be, a loyal and peace-loving citizen. Jews can, and historically have, accepted Rome's hegemony precisely because of their faith that God himself gives empires their power.

Jewish Antiquities

The next literary work by Josephus is his twenty-one volume Antiquities of the Jews, completed in the last year of the emperor Flavius Domitian (between 1.9.93 and 14.3.94, cf. AJ X.267). He claims that interested persons have pressed him to give a fuller account of the Jewish culture and constitution. Here, in expounding Jewish history, law and custom, he is entering into many philosophical debates current in Rome at that time. Again he offers an apologia for the antiquity and universal significance of the Jewish people.

Beginning with the story of Creation he outlines Jewish history. Abraham taught science to the Egyptians, who in turn taught the Greeks. Moses set up a senatorial priestly aristocracy, which like that of Rome resisted monarchy. The great figures of the biblical stories are presented as ideal philosopher leaders. There is again an autobiographical appendix defending Josephus's own conduct at the end of the war when he cooperated with the Roman forces.

Against Apion

Josephus' Against Apion is a final two-volume defence of Judaism as classical religion and philosophy, stressing its antiquity against what Josephus claimed was the relatively more recent traditions of the Greeks. Some anti-Judean allegations ascribed by Josephus to the Greek writer Apion, and myths accredited to Manetho are also exposed.

References

The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged New Updated Edition Translated by William Whiston, A.M., Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1987. ISBN 0913573868 (Hardcover). ISBN 0565631676 (Paperback).
Per Bilde. Flavius Josephus between Jerusalem and Rome: his Life, his Works and their Importance. Sheffield, 1998.
Shaye J.D. Cohen. "Josephus in Galilee and Rome. His Vita and development as a historian." Columbia Studies in the Classical tradition 8 (1979 Leiden).
Louis Feldman. "Flavius Josephus revisited. The man, his writings, and his significance." Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt 21.2 (1984).

Notes

List of works

(c. 75) War of the Jews, or Jewish War, or Jewish Wars, or History of the Jewish War (commonly abbreviated JW, BJ or War)
(c. 75) Josephus's Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades
(c. 94) Antiquities of the Jews, or Jewish Antiquities, or Antiquities of the Jews/Jewish Archeology (frequently abbreviated AJ, AotJ or Ant. or Antiq.)
(c. 97) Flavius Josephus Against Apion, or Against Apion, or Contra Apionem, or Against the Greeks, on the antiquity of the Jewish people (usually abbreviated CA)
(c. 99) The Life of Flavius Josephus, or Autobiography of Flavius Josephus (abbreviated Life or Vita)

Literature about Josephus

The Josephus Trilogy, a novel by Lion Feuchtwanger
- Der jüdische Krieg (Josephus), 1932
- Die Söhne (The Jews of Rome), 1935
- Der Tag wird kommen (The day will come, Josephus and the Emperor), 1942
Flavius Josephus Eyewitness to Rome's first-century conquest of Judea, Mireille Hadas-lebel , Macmillan 1993, Simon and Schuster 2001

External links

Resources > Second Temple and Talmudic Era > Flavius Josephus The Jewish History Resource Center - Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Works of Flavius Josephus Translated by William Whiston
Flavius Josephus, Judaea and Rome: A Question of Context
Scholarship on Josephus at York University
Flavius Josephus at livius.org
Josephus Flavius at Jewish Virtual Library
Josephus at Early Jewish Writings

37 births | Jewish historians | 100 deaths | Roman era historians | Ancient Jewish Roman history

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