
Josephus, also known as Flavius Josephus (c. 37–c. 100) was a 1st century Jew historian of priest and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 and later settled in Rome. He was originally known as Yosef Ben-Matityahu (Hebrew language: יוסף בן מתתיהו) which means ''Joseph, son of Matthias''. ==Life== Josephus fought in the Great Jewish Revolt of 66-73 CE/AD, acting as a 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, and 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 Flavius (both subsequently Roman emperors). In 69 Josephus was released, and in 71 he returned to Rome with Titus, becoming a Flavian client, and taking from them the Roman praenomen Flavius. He was granted space in Vespasian’s former home, Roman citizenship, land in conquered Judea, and a decent, if not extravagant, pension. It was while in Rome, and under their patronage, that Josephus wrote. 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 co-operated with the Roman invaders. Hence, many have viewed Josephus as a traitor and informer and questioned his crediblity as an 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 Jew 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 pagans, 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. ==Significance to scholarship== The works of Josephus provide crucial information about the Great Jewish Revolt. They are also important literary source for understanding the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls and post-Second Temple Judaism. He is also regarded by scholars of formative Christianity as their most important background source outside of the New Testament itself. Josephus offers information about individuals, groups, customs and geographical places. He makes references to the Sadducees, Jewish High Priests of the time, Pharisees and Essenes, the Herodian Temple, Quirinius’s census, and to such figures as Pontius Pilate, Herod the Great, Agrippa I and Agrippa II, John the Baptist, James the Just (the brother of Jesus) and a brief and highly disputed Josephus on Jesus himself. Along with Philo of Alexandria, he is an important source for studies of immediate post-Temple Judaism and early Christianity. See also the "''Josephus on Jesus''" ==Works== ===The Jewish War=== His first work in Rome was account of the Great Jewish Revolt addressed to the Jewish community in Mesopotamia in the Aramaic language language. He then wrote a seven-volume account in Greek language known to us as the ''Jewish War (Bellum Iudaicum)''. This covered the period from the Maccabees to the fall of Jerusalem — and includes references to Josephus’s own part in the later events. 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’s triumphant legions leading their Jewish captives, and 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 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 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=== Josephus is next encountered in his twenty-one volume ''Jewish Antiquities'', completed in the last year of Flavius Domitian (93). 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 (theology) 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 Bible 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 antiquity religion and philosophy, stressing its antiquity against what Josephus claimed was the relatively more recent traditions of the Greeks. Some anti-Judean allegations by the Greek writer Apion, and myths accredited to Manetho are also exposed. ==List of works== * (c. 75 CE/AD) ''War of the Jews'', or ''Jewish War'', or ''Jewish Wars'', or ''History of the Jewish War'' * (c. 75 CE/AD) ''Josephus's Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades'' * (c. 94 CE/AD) ''Antiquities of the Jews'', or ''Jewish Antiquities'', or ''Jewish Archeology'', frequently abbreviated ''AotJ'' or ''Ant.'' or ''Antiq.'' * (c. 97 CE/AD) ''Flavius Josephus Against Apion'', or ''Against Apion'', or ''Contra Apionem'', or ''Against the Greeks, on the antiquity of the Jewish people'' * (c. 99 CE/AD) ''The Life of Flavius Josephus'', or ''The Life of Flavius Josephus'' ==External links== * [http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/j#a1050 Project Gutenberg - Josephus catalog] * [http://www.adath-shalom.ca/josep-ds.htm Flavius Josephus, Judaea and Rome: A Question of Context] *[http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/josephus.html Josephus] Roman era historians Ancient Jewish Roman history 37 births 100 deaths
I really don't think the bit about Sodomy adds anything to an understanding of Josephus - it belongs (if anywhere) in an article about sexual attitudes.--User:Doc glasgow 21:21, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC) I'd like to see more on the questionable aspects - the contradictions, his person, etc. Theres a lot more to do here and in related articles. -User:Stevertigo|User_talk:Stevertigo|[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Stevertigo&action=edit§ion=new add] 20:05, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) ---- Can Doc Glasgow explain why there is even a need for compromise? I didn't know there was a conflict. I thought my changes were fairly simple and obvious but I will explain them. It is anachronistic to call the Hebrew Bible "Old Testament" (which is a part of the Christian Bible) here for two reasons. First, the Old Testament did not even exist back then -- the Christian Bible was not canonized unbtil much later. Second, Josephus himself certainly did not consider any of the books of the Bible he was referring to as "Old Testament." Finally, it should be obvious and uncontentious that Josephus is much more important to Jewish history than to Christian history. Most scholars do not think he says much at all about Jesus and Christians, period. I am not denying that scholars of Christianity may read Josephus and certainly didn't make any edit that leaves this out, but it is certainly secondary to the importance to Jewish history. User:Slrubenstein | User talk:Slrubenstein 23:42, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC) I really don't want to get into an argument here (much less an edit war)- but I can respond to some of this. Firstly, granted 'Old Testament' is an anachronism, but then so too is 'Hebrew Bible' (which is a modern scholarly construct). Josephus in fact largely uses the LXX and not the Masoritic text. If we are pedantic about this, the article becomes unintelligible to the non-expert. The 'great figures' he speaks of are those we currently find in both the Jewish Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament (which are related but not identical) - that is why I suggested that both designations should be used. Certainly, Josephus is a Jew - and barely gives Jesus and his movement a mention. He, himself, would have had no interest in Christian history. However, the decisive factor in the survival of his work was the Christian church's appropriation of his writings - which were cited and copied by early Christian scholars. Further, precisely because he writes at the time, in from the places, that Christianity was formed (first-century Palestine), scholars of Christianity today (whether Christian or not) make particular use of him. He is, in fact, the most important source for scholarship of early Christianity (which is what I had to make clear in the article). Of course he is of interest to understanding first-century Judaism, but reconstructing such Judaism is often, although not always, done precisely in order to understand Christian origins. Further, he is not generally regarded as a reliable source for events much earlier than his own life time - and thus is rarely cited in discussions of the 'Hebrew Bible'. He has, factually, been used more by Christian than Jewish scholars throughout history. --User:Doc glasgow 00:24, 1 May 2005 (UTC) I think your most recent changes are fine, although I do take exception to your claim that "but reconstructing such Judaism is often, although not always, done precisely in order to understand Christian origins" &mdash' this is of course true for Christian scholars, and not true for Jewish scholars; it is a Christo-centric claim. I have no objection to saying Josephus is important to the study of early Christianity, but I do object to "more" or "less" comparisons. By the way, Josephus is not so clearly linked to the Septuagint. He is the first source to use the tripartite division of Hebrew scripture; he did not include all of the books of the Hebrew Bible, but neither did he seem to include all of the books of the Septuagint. User:Slrubenstein | User talk:Slrubenstein 17:47, 1 May 2005 (UTC) == reordering == He Stevertigo. You may well be right to re-order the Josephus article to put the significance before the works (I think it does help), but, 1) the first two paragraphs now under the 'jewish war' do need to come first to contexualise the ambiguity of his 'defection' 2) you have inadvertantly implied something that is not quite historically acurate. "...fight to the death alongside the doomed citizens of Jerusalem". The question of why Josephus did not fight in Jerusalem is not ambigious - as he was defeated and captured in Galilee the year before. He could not have fought in Jerusalem even had he wished. The question is why he did not commit suicide in Galilee - and why having been captured he co-operated with the Romans - and wrote in such flatterign terms of his captors. I'll have annother shot at editing this (using your order) - see what you think and let me know --User:Doc glasgow 16:03, 5 May 2005 (UTC) == AD/CE and avoiding edit wars == User:Humus sapiens has changed some of the AD/BC terminology to BCE/CE with the edit comment "please use BCE/CE at least in Jewish-related articles". I was tempted to revert these changes on the grounds: 1) There is no consensus that AD should be changed to CE, indeed it appears that it is a minority view. I don't even see a consensus for Jewish related articles 2) There was no attempt to discuss the matter here 3) Although this is a 'Jewish-related article', it is not a special interest Jewish article - and is likely to be of interest to historians, classicists and students of early Christianity 4) Some non-specialist users may not be familiar with CE 5) The original article was in BC/AD notation 6) As it now stands the notation is inconsistent However, in a spirit of generosity – and to avoid dispute, I am going to change all notation to a double notation of BCE/BC and CE/AD – I place the ‘Common era’ notation first in sensitivity to the ‘Jewish’ interest nature of the article. I hope this can be accepted in the spirit in which it is offered. --User:Doc glasgow User talk:Doc glasgow 19:07, 27 May 2005 (UTC)
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Josephus
Josephus
Josephus_Daniels
Josephus_Eggelletion
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Josephus_on_Jesus
Josephus_permutation
Josephus_problem
Josephus
Josephus, also known as Flavius Josephus (c. 37–c. 100) was a 1st century Jew historian of priest and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 and later settled in Rome. He was originally known as Yosef Ben-Matityahu (Hebrew language: יוסף בן מתתיהו) which means ''Joseph, son of Matthias''. ==Life== Josephus fought in the Great Jewish Revolt of 66-73 CE/AD, acting as a 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, and 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 Flavius (both subsequently Roman emperors). In 69 Josephus was released, and in 71 he returned to Rome with Titus, becoming a Flavian client, and taking from them the Roman praenomen Flavius. He was granted space in Vespasian’s former home, Roman citizenship, land in conquered Judea, and a decent, if not extravagant, pension. It was while in Rome, and under their patronage, that Josephus wrote. 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 co-operated with the Roman invaders. Hence, many have viewed Josephus as a traitor and informer and questioned his crediblity as an 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 Jew 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 pagans, 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. ==Significance to scholarship== The works of Josephus provide crucial information about the Great Jewish Revolt. They are also important literary source for understanding the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls and post-Second Temple Judaism. He is also regarded by scholars of formative Christianity as their most important background source outside of the New Testament itself. Josephus offers information about individuals, groups, customs and geographical places. He makes references to the Sadducees, Jewish High Priests of the time, Pharisees and Essenes, the Herodian Temple, Quirinius’s census, and to such figures as Pontius Pilate, Herod the Great, Agrippa I and Agrippa II, John the Baptist, James the Just (the brother of Jesus) and a brief and highly disputed Josephus on Jesus himself. Along with Philo of Alexandria, he is an important source for studies of immediate post-Temple Judaism and early Christianity. See also the "''Josephus on Jesus''" ==Works== ===The Jewish War=== His first work in Rome was account of the Great Jewish Revolt addressed to the Jewish community in Mesopotamia in the Aramaic language language. He then wrote a seven-volume account in Greek language known to us as the ''Jewish War (Bellum Iudaicum)''. This covered the period from the Maccabees to the fall of Jerusalem — and includes references to Josephus’s own part in the later events. 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’s triumphant legions leading their Jewish captives, and 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 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 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=== Josephus is next encountered in his twenty-one volume ''Jewish Antiquities'', completed in the last year of Flavius Domitian (93). 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 (theology) 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 Bible 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 antiquity religion and philosophy, stressing its antiquity against what Josephus claimed was the relatively more recent traditions of the Greeks. Some anti-Judean allegations by the Greek writer Apion, and myths accredited to Manetho are also exposed. ==List of works== * (c. 75 CE/AD) ''War of the Jews'', or ''Jewish War'', or ''Jewish Wars'', or ''History of the Jewish War'' * (c. 75 CE/AD) ''Josephus's Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades'' * (c. 94 CE/AD) ''Antiquities of the Jews'', or ''Jewish Antiquities'', or ''Jewish Archeology'', frequently abbreviated ''AotJ'' or ''Ant.'' or ''Antiq.'' * (c. 97 CE/AD) ''Flavius Josephus Against Apion'', or ''Against Apion'', or ''Contra Apionem'', or ''Against the Greeks, on the antiquity of the Jewish people'' * (c. 99 CE/AD) ''The Life of Flavius Josephus'', or ''The Life of Flavius Josephus'' ==External links== * [http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/j#a1050 Project Gutenberg - Josephus catalog] * [http://www.adath-shalom.ca/josep-ds.htm Flavius Josephus, Judaea and Rome: A Question of Context] *[http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/josephus.html Josephus] Roman era historians Ancient Jewish Roman history 37 births 100 deaths
Josephus
I really don't think the bit about Sodomy adds anything to an understanding of Josephus - it belongs (if anywhere) in an article about sexual attitudes.--User:Doc glasgow 21:21, 13 Apr 2005 (UTC) I'd like to see more on the questionable aspects - the contradictions, his person, etc. Theres a lot more to do here and in related articles. -User:Stevertigo|User_talk:Stevertigo|[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Stevertigo&action=edit§ion=new add] 20:05, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) ---- Can Doc Glasgow explain why there is even a need for compromise? I didn't know there was a conflict. I thought my changes were fairly simple and obvious but I will explain them. It is anachronistic to call the Hebrew Bible "Old Testament" (which is a part of the Christian Bible) here for two reasons. First, the Old Testament did not even exist back then -- the Christian Bible was not canonized unbtil much later. Second, Josephus himself certainly did not consider any of the books of the Bible he was referring to as "Old Testament." Finally, it should be obvious and uncontentious that Josephus is much more important to Jewish history than to Christian history. Most scholars do not think he says much at all about Jesus and Christians, period. I am not denying that scholars of Christianity may read Josephus and certainly didn't make any edit that leaves this out, but it is certainly secondary to the importance to Jewish history. User:Slrubenstein | User talk:Slrubenstein 23:42, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC) I really don't want to get into an argument here (much less an edit war)- but I can respond to some of this. Firstly, granted 'Old Testament' is an anachronism, but then so too is 'Hebrew Bible' (which is a modern scholarly construct). Josephus in fact largely uses the LXX and not the Masoritic text. If we are pedantic about this, the article becomes unintelligible to the non-expert. The 'great figures' he speaks of are those we currently find in both the Jewish Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament (which are related but not identical) - that is why I suggested that both designations should be used. Certainly, Josephus is a Jew - and barely gives Jesus and his movement a mention. He, himself, would have had no interest in Christian history. However, the decisive factor in the survival of his work was the Christian church's appropriation of his writings - which were cited and copied by early Christian scholars. Further, precisely because he writes at the time, in from the places, that Christianity was formed (first-century Palestine), scholars of Christianity today (whether Christian or not) make particular use of him. He is, in fact, the most important source for scholarship of early Christianity (which is what I had to make clear in the article). Of course he is of interest to understanding first-century Judaism, but reconstructing such Judaism is often, although not always, done precisely in order to understand Christian origins. Further, he is not generally regarded as a reliable source for events much earlier than his own life time - and thus is rarely cited in discussions of the 'Hebrew Bible'. He has, factually, been used more by Christian than Jewish scholars throughout history. --User:Doc glasgow 00:24, 1 May 2005 (UTC) I think your most recent changes are fine, although I do take exception to your claim that "but reconstructing such Judaism is often, although not always, done precisely in order to understand Christian origins" &mdash' this is of course true for Christian scholars, and not true for Jewish scholars; it is a Christo-centric claim. I have no objection to saying Josephus is important to the study of early Christianity, but I do object to "more" or "less" comparisons. By the way, Josephus is not so clearly linked to the Septuagint. He is the first source to use the tripartite division of Hebrew scripture; he did not include all of the books of the Hebrew Bible, but neither did he seem to include all of the books of the Septuagint. User:Slrubenstein | User talk:Slrubenstein 17:47, 1 May 2005 (UTC) == reordering == He Stevertigo. You may well be right to re-order the Josephus article to put the significance before the works (I think it does help), but, 1) the first two paragraphs now under the 'jewish war' do need to come first to contexualise the ambiguity of his 'defection' 2) you have inadvertantly implied something that is not quite historically acurate. "...fight to the death alongside the doomed citizens of Jerusalem". The question of why Josephus did not fight in Jerusalem is not ambigious - as he was defeated and captured in Galilee the year before. He could not have fought in Jerusalem even had he wished. The question is why he did not commit suicide in Galilee - and why having been captured he co-operated with the Romans - and wrote in such flatterign terms of his captors. I'll have annother shot at editing this (using your order) - see what you think and let me know --User:Doc glasgow 16:03, 5 May 2005 (UTC) == AD/CE and avoiding edit wars == User:Humus sapiens has changed some of the AD/BC terminology to BCE/CE with the edit comment "please use BCE/CE at least in Jewish-related articles". I was tempted to revert these changes on the grounds: 1) There is no consensus that AD should be changed to CE, indeed it appears that it is a minority view. I don't even see a consensus for Jewish related articles 2) There was no attempt to discuss the matter here 3) Although this is a 'Jewish-related article', it is not a special interest Jewish article - and is likely to be of interest to historians, classicists and students of early Christianity 4) Some non-specialist users may not be familiar with CE 5) The original article was in BC/AD notation 6) As it now stands the notation is inconsistent However, in a spirit of generosity – and to avoid dispute, I am going to change all notation to a double notation of BCE/BC and CE/AD – I place the ‘Common era’ notation first in sensitivity to the ‘Jewish’ interest nature of the article. I hope this can be accepted in the spirit in which it is offered. --User:Doc glasgow User talk:Doc glasgow 19:07, 27 May 2005 (UTC)
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
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Josephus
Josephus
Josephus_Daniels
Josephus_Eggelletion
Josephus_Flavius
Josephus_Flavius_Cook
Josephus_Nicolaus_Laurenti
Josephus_on_Jesus
Josephus_on_Jesus
Josephus_permutation
Josephus_problem
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