Josephus

For other uses, see Josephus (disambiguation).

Flavius Josephus
Imaginary portrait by Thomas Addis Emmet, 1880
Born
Yosef ben Matityahu[2]

c. AD 37[3]
Jerusalem, Roman Judea
Diedc. AD 100[3] (aged 62–63)
Children
5 sons, including:[4]
  • Flavius Hyrcanus
  • Flavius Justus
  • Flavius Simonides Agrippa
Academic background
Influences
Academic work
EraHellenistic Judaism
Main interests
Notable works
Influenced

Flavius Josephus[a] (/dʒoʊˈsiːfəs/;[9] Greek: Ἰώσηπος, Iṓsēpos; c. AD 37 – c. 100) or Yosef ben Mattityahu (Hebrew: יוסף בן מתתיהו) was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing The Jewish War, he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.

He initially fought against the Roman Empire during the First Jewish–Roman War as general of the Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in AD 67 to the Roman army led by military commander Vespasian after the six-week siege of Yodfat. Josephus claimed the Jewish messianic prophecies that initiated the First Jewish–Roman War made reference to Vespasian becoming Roman emperor. In response, Vespasian decided to keep him as a slave and presumably interpreter. After Vespasian became emperor in AD 69, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the Emperor's family name of Flavius.[10]

Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship. He became an advisor and close associate of Vespasian's son Titus, serving as his translator during Titus's protracted siege of Jerusalem in AD 70, resulted in the near-total razing of the city and the destruction of the Second Temple.

Josephus recorded the Great Jewish Revolt (AD 66–70), including the siege of Masada. His most important works were The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94).[11] The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation. Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Greek and Roman audience. These works provide insight into first-century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity.[11] Josephus's works are the chief source next to the Bible for the history and antiquity of ancient Israel, and provide an independent extra-biblical account of such figures as Pontius Pilate, Herod the Great, John the Baptist, James, brother of Jesus, and Jesus of Nazareth.[12]

  1. ^ Josephus 1737, 18.8.1.
  2. ^ "Flavius Josephus".
  3. ^ a b Mason 2000.
  4. ^ Schürer 1973, p. 46.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Hollander-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Collins-2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Ben-Ari, Nitsa (2003). "The double conversion of Ben-Hur: a case of manipulative translation" (PDF). Target. 14 (2): 263–301. doi:10.1075/target.14.2.05ben. Retrieved 28 November 2011. The converts themselves were banned from society as outcasts and so was their historiographic work or, in the more popular historical novels, their literary counterparts. Josephus Flavius, formerly Yosef Ben Matityahu (34–95), had been shunned, then banned as a traitor.
  8. ^ Goodman 2019, p. 186.
  9. ^ "Josephus". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins Publishers.
  10. ^ Mimouni 2012, p. 133.
  11. ^ a b Harris 1985.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Whiston Maier was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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