Flavius Josephus

Josephus (shortly after 100 AD), who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Flavius Josephus, 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.

Josephus(Hebrew:יוסף בן מתתיהו), who introduced himself in Greek as "Iosepos (Ιώσηπος), son of Matthias, an ethnic Hebrew, a priest from Jerusalem", fought the Romans in the First Jewish-Roman War of 66-73 as a Jewish military leader in Galilee. After the Jewish garrison of Yodfat was taken under siege, the Romans invaded, killed thousands, and the remaining survivors who had managed to elude the forces committed suicide. However, in circumstances that are somewhat unclear, Josephus and one of his soldiers 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 homeland 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. This was standard for new citizens.

Josephus' first wife perished together with his parents in Jerusalem during the siege and Vespasian arranged for him to marry a Jewish girl that was previously captured by the Romans. This girl left Josephus, and around 70 he married a Jewish woman from Alexandria by whom he had three children (boys). Only one- Flavius Hyrcanus? survived childhood. Later, Josephus divorced his third wife and around 75 married his fourth wife - a Jewish girl from Crete and from a distinguished family. This last marriage produced two sons, Flavius Justus and Simonides Agrippa.

Josephus' 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, some 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. Most Rabbinical commentators, however, have found him to be an upright Jew.[citation needed] For example his orthodoxy and piety are concluded to be "beyond doubt" by the Jewish Encyclopedia.

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.

The works of Josephus provide crucial information about the First Jewish-Roman War. They are also important literary source material 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, but nevertheless viewed as a villainous traitor to his own nation - a view which became known as the classical concept of Josephus. In the mid 20th century, this view was challenged by a new generation of scholars who formulated the modern concept 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 Agrippa II, John the Baptist, James the brother of Jesus, and a disputed reference to Jesus. He is an important source for studies of immediate post-Temple Judaism (and, thus, the context of early Christianity).

For many years, the works of Josephus were printed only in an imperfect Latin translation. It was only in 1544 that a version of the Greek text was made available, edited by the Dutch humanist Arnoldus Arlenius. This edition formed the basis of the 1732 English translation by William Whiston which was enormously popular in the English speaking world. Later editions of the Greek text include that of Benedikt Niese, who made a detailed examination of all the available manuscripts, mainly from France and Spain. This was the version used by H. St J. Thackeray for the Loeb Classical Library edition widely used today.

List of Works

Antiquities of the Jews

War of the Jews

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus