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Josephus

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'''Josephus''', who is known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as '''Flavius Josephus''', was a first -century Jewish historian and [[apologist ]] of priestly and royal ancestry. He survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. His works give an important insight into Judaism of the first-century , along with a glimpse of early Christianity.
==Life==
Little is known of Josephus’ early life. He was born about the year 37 and died about the year 100. He introduced himself in Greek as "Joseph, son of Matthias, an ethnic Hebrew, a [[priest]] from Jerusalem. " As a Jewish military leader in Galilee, he fought the Romans in the First Jewish-Roman War of 66 to 73. The Romans invaded and killed thousands of the Jewish garrison following the siege of Yodfat. Under circumstances that are somewhat unclear , Josephus surrendered to the Roman forces who had invaded Galilee in July 67. He became a prisoner of the Romans and provided them with intelligence on the ongoing revolt. The Roman forces were led by Flavius Vespasian and his son Titus, both of whom later became Roman emperors. In the year 69 , Josephus was released (cf. War IV.622-629) and, according to Josephus' own account, he appears to have played a role as a negotiator with the defenders in the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
In following year he arrived in Rome, in the entourage of Titus, where he became a Roman citizen and a 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 calls himself "Josephus,", he appears to have taken the Roman nomen (surname) Flavius and praenomen (first name) Titus from his patrons, a practice that was standard for new citizens.
Around the year 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 divorced again 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, 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.
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 observing 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 civilized, devout, and philosophical.
==Significance to scholarship==
The works of Josephus provide important information about the First Jewish-Roman War. The works are also an important literary source for understanding the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls and post-Second Temple Judaism. Josephan scholarship in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries became focused on Josephus' relationship to the sect of the [[Pharisee|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 in Josephan studies as "the classical conception. " In the mid -twentieth 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 Aristocrataristocrat-Priest priest who became part of the Temple establishment as a matter of deference and not a 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, the Jewish High Priests 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]], [[Apostle James the Just|James]] the brother of [[Jesus]], and a highly disputed reference to Jesus in chapter 3 of book 18 of the ''Jewish Antiquities''. He is an important source for studies of immediate post-Temple Judaism and, thus, the context of early Christianity.
The disputed reference reads:<br>
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08522a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Flavius Josephus]
[[Category: Judaism]][[Category:People]][[Category:Historians]]
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