Flavius Josephus: Chronicler, survivor and the voice of the Second Temple

“The romans did not conquer by force, but because the violence and wickedness made us unworthy of the divine protection.”
(Derived from its historical theology at War V–VI).

1. Identity and background

• Hebrew name: Yosef ben Matityahu (Joseph, son of Mattathias).
• Roman name: Flavius Iosephus (Flavius Josephus), taken from the imperial family Flavia after receiving roman citizenship.
• Birth: ca. 37/38 d.C., in Jerusalem, when Judea was already a province under Rome (time of Caligula/Claudio).
• Death: circa 100 d.C., probably in Rome.
• Profile:
  • Jewish priest (kohén) of aristocratic family of Jerusalem.
  • Intellectual trained in jewish Law and education in hellenistic.
  • Protagonist and a direct witness of the Great jewish Revolt against Rome (66-73).
  • Then, protected by the emperors Vespasian and Titus, and chronicler “official” of those facts.

Josephus is, along with Philo of Alexandria, the great literary voice of judaism, hellenistic century I: a jewish man deeply versed in the Torah, and the Temple, which was written in Greek for a roman.

2. Detailed biography

2.1. Family origin and formation

• Comes from a priestly family of relief, and by maternal line claims to descend from the asmoneos (maccabees), which links it to the old dynasty royal-priestly.
• You receive a solid education in the Written law and oral, as well as in Greek culture. He stresses that their memory capacity and judgment.

According to his autobiography (Vita), in the youth “test” the various streams of judaism (pharisees, sadducees, essenes), and spend time with an ascetic of the desert, before adhering to the phariseesmore by social and political influence that full affinity doctrinal.

2.2. A trip to Rome and the political experience prior to the Revolt

• In the year 64.d.C., he travels to Rome to intercede with Nero for a few priests incarcerated jews; it comes into contact with the roman world and becomes impressed by the imperial power.
• Upon their return, the tension in Judea increases: the abuses of roman procurators, conflicts between the elites of the jews, a radicalization of revolutionary groups (zealots, sicarii).

2.3. Role in the Great jewish Revolt (66-73)

When it comes to revolt of 66Josephus is appointed by the leadership of Jerusalem as the military commander of Galilee.

• Fortifies cities as Jotapata (Yodfat), Tiberias, and other places.
• Clashes with factions more radical; his leadership is challenged by rivals as the Right of Tiberias.

The episode of Jotapata, and the “prophecy”

• In the year 67, Vespasian leads the roman campagna in Galilee. After the siege, Jotapata falls. Josephus seeks shelter with about 40 men in a cave.
• Surrounded by the romans, the group decides to die rather than surrender, organizing a “collective suicide” by drawing lots. Josephus handles the calculations so that only he and one other man; it is delivered to the romans.
• Before Vespasian, Josephus says that God has revealed to him that Vespasian will be emperor. When the prophecy is fulfilled (69 d.C., “year of the four emperors”), Vespasian takes it as protected, granted freedom and citizenship, and Josephus takes the name of Flavio.

This episode will mark your image for ever: for many jews, it is treason; for him, it is a sign of providence and prophetic mission.

2.4. With Titus in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem (70)

Josephus accompanies Titothe son of Vespasian, in the campaign's final against Jerusalem:

• Serves as interpreter and mediatortrying (according to him) to convince the city to surrender in order to avoid the destruction.
• It is a direct witness of the siege of Jerusalem, the famine, the internal struggles between jewish factions and finally, the destruction of the Second Temple in 70.

His description of these events in The War of the jews it is our more detailed story and drama of the catastrophe 70.

2.5. Life in Rome as a historian

After the war:

• Accompanied Titus to Rome in 71 d.C.
• Receives roman citizenship, a pension and accommodation; lives under the patronage of the dynasty Flavia (Vespasian, Titus, Domitian).
• They house several times; it is mentioned at least four wives and several children, one of them Flavius Hyrcanus.
• In Rome he writes all of his known works, in Greek, addressed to a public cult of greco-roman, but also, indirectly, the jews of the diaspora.

“The hatred between brothers was more fatal than the swords of our enemies.”
(Based on his analysis of the civil war within Jerusalem, War V).

3. Major works of Flavius Josephus

The importance of Josephus is that his work is the great chronicle in the first person of the judaism of the Second Temple, the rebellion, and the fall of Jerusalem. The four authentic works main ones are:

1. The jewish War (Bellum Iudaicum) – ca. 75-79 d.C.
2. Antiquities of the jews (Antiquitates Iudaicae) – year 93/94.
3. Against Apión (Contra Apionem / Against Apion) – ca. 97.
4. Life of Josephus (Vita) – ca. 94-99, snap-in/self-defense.

3.1. The War of the jews

• Consists of 7 books.
• Central theme: the history of Judea from the maccabees until the Great Revolt (66-73), with a focus on the events that lead to the destruction of the Temple.
• Structure:
  • Books 1-2: historical background (asmoneos, Herod, the roman procurators, political and social climate).
  • Books 3-7: story of the war, from Galilee and Josephus as a commander, to Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple and Masada.

Intention political, and theological:

• Submit to the romans as an instrument of divine punishment for the sins extremism and jews.
• Describing himself as a moderate who sought to avoid the disaster, and as a privileged witness.
• Defend the jewish people as a nation, ancient and noble, but to report to the “bandits” and zealots as a responsible immediate catastrophe.

3.2. Antiquities of the jews

• Immense work in 20 booksthe finished towards the 93/94.
• Ambition: to present the history of the world from the creation to the year 66 d.C.... but from a jewish perspectiveusing the Bible as the central source and adding tradition, timing, and context.
• The first 11 books rewrite the Hebrew Bible in key narrative in Greek; the remaining addressing the post-biblical: Persian, hellenistic culture, maccabees, asmoneos, Herod, barristers, solicitors, etc

Key features:

• Explain judaism to an audience not jewish, showing:
  • Your age (more ancient than the Greek culture).
  • Your rationality and morality.
  • Your link between Law, history and providence.
• Is a key source for:
  • History maccabees and asmoneos.
  • Details about Herod the Great and his successors.
  • Mentions extrabíblicas of Jesus, John the Baptist, James “the brother of Jesus and Pontius Pilatealthough some passages are discussed for possible tweens christian.

3.3. Against Apión

• Work in 2 books.
• Response to criticisms of the jews, especially those of the grammarian of alexandria Apión.
• Objective:
  • Defend the antiquity of the jewish people against those who denied it.
  • To rebut accusations of misanthropy, superstition, or “irrationality” of the mosaic Law.
  • Present judaism as moral philosophy, ancient, comparable or superior to the Greek schools.

It is, in practice, a treaty of apologetics jewish environment greco-roman.

3.4. Life (Vita)

• Autobiography written at the end of his career, probably as a appendix Antique.
• Purpose:
  • Responding to allegations of Just Tiberias, which he accuses of incompetence and betrayal during the war.
  • To justify his own conduct, his loyalty to the jewish people and his role as a priest and intellectual.

It is a valuable source to rebuild your vision of itself and see how it is defended against its critics.

4. Thinking, “teaching” and religious vision-policy

Josephus is not a “rabbi” or a philosopher systematic, but their works are used to infer a concept consistent:

4.1. Theology of history

• God is sovereign of the story and acts by providence.
• Disasters (such as the destruction of the Temple) are interpreted as divine punishment for sins, and the internal violencenot as a victory of the roman gods.
• The jewish people remains as the people of God, and the restoration depends on your repentance and faithfulness.

4.2. Law and morality

• Presents the Torah as a constitution theocratic, wise and balanced, which regulates religious life, civil and political.
• Emphasizes monotheism, the moral purity, charity and discipline as central elements.
• Argues that many moral principles jews are parallel to or greater than the virtues admired by the greeks.

4.3. Political vision

• Hostile to the extremists (zealots, sicarii): accused of dragging people to a war that was lost, to profane the Temple, and kill to moderate.
• Defend a position pragmatic: armed resistance against Rome was unwise, given the relative forces; civil obedience to the roman power can co-exist with religious fidelity.
• Conceived to Rome almost as divine instrument to punish but also to order the world.

4.4. Self-image: prophet, historian, mediator

• In their texts, it is suggested as someone with gift of interpreting the divine willespecially in the prophecy on Vespasian.
• Is presented as historian truthful and defender of his people to the roman world.
• At the same time, it is aware of the reproach of treason and strives to be displayed as a mediator that saved lives trying to convince the besieged to surrender.

5. Josephus and the streams of judaism of the Second Temple

5.1. Pharisees

• Is identified as pharisee from the age of 19, although his accession seems to be more social and political than strictly doctrinal.
• Describes the pharisees as:
  • Group with strong popular support.
  • Defenders of the Law and oral traditions, with belief in resurrection and providence.
• Your descriptions are a key source for our vision of the pharisees in the time of Herod, and revolt.

5.2. Sadducees

• Presented as a priestly aristocracy conservative, more cool with the village, centered on the Temple and a rejection of many oral traditions.
• Your description is one of the few sources outside the New Testament about the sadducees.

5.3. Essenes

• One of the portraits-complete essenes: community life, asceticism, celibacy (in the majority), ritual baths, oaths, etc
• Your story is crucial to relate to, with caution, to the essenes with the groups behind the Dead Sea scrolls.

5.4. Zealots and other groups

• Speaking of zealots, hitmen and other radical factions as immediately responsible for the destruction of the Temple, even more than the romans.
• His vision is full of moral judgment, which must be read critically.

6. What a traitor or a patriot? The controversy surrounding his figure

Since Ancient times, Josephus is a character deeply controversial:

6.1. Classical charges

• For many jews later, is the one that left to their peers in Jotapata, is passed to the romans and lived on the patronage of the winner.
• Its strong condemnation of the zealots can be interpreted as a requirement of their roman patrons to justify repression.
• Historians have qualified “collaborator” or “traitor”.

6.2. Rereadings of modern

Contemporary research is more nuanced:

• What looks like a priest aristocrat, a pharisee moderate, trapped in a war that was considered lost.
• Your step to the side, roman can be read as strategy of personal survival, but also as an attempt to save the part of the town, avoiding the total destruction.
• As a historian, he is recognized biased manner (self-defense, justification of Rome), but also great documentary value: without it, our image of the day it would be almost blind.

In summary: neither hero nor pure caricature of a traitor; it is a intellectual elite negotiated between jewish loyalty and power of imperial roman.

7. Legacy and impact

7.1. Central source for the history of the Second Temple

Without Josephus, we would know very little:

• Chain high priests and the internal politics of the Temple.
• Biographical details of Herod the Great, Agrippa I and II, and the dynasty herodiana.
• The development and the psychology of the Great Revolt and the drama of the siege of Jerusalem.
• The description of synagogues and cities galileans, that archaeology has begun to confirm.

7.2. Importance of judaism

• Represents the transition of the judaism of the Temple to the judaism of the diaspora: a priest who, without a Temple, writes history and apologetics for a roman world.
• Their texts help you to see how some jews reinterpret the disaster as a punishment, but without abandoning the idea of divine election.
• Although it does not form part of the canon rabbinical indirectly influences in the memory jewish revolt and of Rome.

7.3. Importance for christianity

• Since the fourth century, the christians read Josephus with enormous interest because:
  • It offers a story that is external to the Bible about key characters (Herod, Pilate, the high priests).
  • Includes passages on John the Baptist, James the brother of Jesus and a famous text on Jesus of Nazareth (Testimonium Flavianum)probably retouched by copyists christians.
• His writings are used to interpret the destruction of the Temple as punishment for rejection of Jesusreading christian widespread, although it is not exactly the theological approach of Josephus.

7.4. Literary influence and transmission

• In late Antiquity were translated into Latin and circulated in abbreviated versions (as the Pseudo-Hegesipo).
• With the printing press, his works become classics in Europe; it is published in many languages.
• It has been fundamental to the archaeology biblical modern: several findings in Jerusalem and the Galilee have confirmed aspects of their descriptions (ballistic roman structures of sieges, the caves of refuge, etc).

8. How to read Flavius Josephus today

If you want to work with Josephus to fund, it is worth being clear on several points:

1. He is a witness, but not neutral
   • Writes to roman cults, under the patronage imperial, and defend his own reputation.
   • Attenuates responsibilities roman and charge against zealots and rival leaders.
2. He is a priest and pharisee aristocrat
   • His perspective is that of the elites of Jerusalemnot the peasant, or the revolutionary.
   • It tends to legitimize the hierarchical order of the Temple and the elites moderate.
3. Writer hellenistic
   • Uses literary devices Greek: speeches placed in the mouths of characters, dramatic scenes, in parallel with Thucydides, and other historians.
   • It implies that some discourses are reconstructions literary, not minutes estenográficas.
4. However, it is irreplaceable
   • There is No other source that is comparable in extent and detail of the Judea of the century I.
   • Archeology has confirmed that, despite biases, many of their topographic data and historical are reliable.

9. Synthesis

If you condensamos:

• Flavius Josephus is jewish priest elite, a pharisee moderate, military failed, a prisoner of Rome, protected from the Flavios and chronicler of the destruction of the Second Temple.
• His four major works (War, Antiques, Against Apión, Life) are the great encyclopedia narrative of the judaism of the Second Temple and of the relationship with Rome.
• Theologically sees the history as a field where God punishes sins but does not break his covenant with Israel; politically, promotes moderation, and considered extremism as a suicide.
• It is seen by a part of the tradition as traitorbut the current historical understood rather as survivor pragmatic that tries to explain and defend his village to the imperial power.
• His legacy is decisive for:
  • Rebuild the jewish history between the maccabees and the fall of the Temple.
  • To understand the context of Jesus, early christianity, and the jewish groups (pharisees, sadducees, essenes, zealots).
  • To link text and archaeology in Jerusalem, Galilee and Masada.