Who was Flavius Josephus?

And who was Josephus, the eye-witness of the siege of Jerusalem? He belonged to a high priestly family of great antiquity. On his mother’s side he had royal blood in his veins. He was Governor of Galilee under the Romans, and when rebellion broke out he took the side of his nation against the Romans, and became a distinguished military leader on their side, a man of remarkable character and ability.

A little more than a generation had passed by since the Jews, in their fanatical hatred of our Lord, had rent the air with the cry, “His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matt. 27:25), when the blow fell, Vespasian, the Roman General, laid siege to Jerusalem at the head of a well-trained army of 100,000 seasoned troops. During the siege Josephus was taken prisoner. He managed to ingratiate himself in Vespasian’s favour by telling him he would soon be proclaimed Emperor. Probably Josephus had ascertained this was the mind of the army, for the soldiers shortly after elected Vespasian to be their Emperor, whereupon he returned to Rome, leaving his son, Titus, to carry on the siege.

Josephus tells us the siege was one of the bloodiest in history. At that time the Feast of the Passover was held, drawing multitudes to Jerusalem, accounting for the large number of Jews being present at that time. Over 1,000,000 were slain, and only 98,000 taken prisoner. Very many were crucified round the walls of Jerusalem, till the forests in the neighbourhood for miles around failed to supply the wood whereby to furnish crosses for the multitudes awaiting their terrible fate. What a striking answer to the cry when our Lord was crucified, that His blood should be on them and on their children, a literal and awful nemesis overtaking the nation.

Josephus.

Josephus, the well-known historian, was involved in the war with the Romans. He was a Jew, and a descendant of a priestly family. His father's name was Matthias, and he was called Joseph, but is better known as Josephus, After studying the law, and becoming acquainted with the various sects, he joined the Pharisees.

At first his desire was to induce his countrymen to submit to the Romans; but failing in this, and the war party growing in strength, he joined in the war. He was appointed to command the Jews in Galilee. After various escapes from the jealousy of others who were also in authority, Josephus effected an entrance into the city of Jotapata, and took the command. This city was considered of great importance, and therefore Vespasian came in person to order the siege. It was in a lofty position, and to be approached only on one side. On the other side it was surrounded with thick forests, thought to be impregnable. But the Romans with their axes soon cleared a way through the forest so as to approach the walls, and with their battering rams and scaling ladders the place was eventually taken, though the Jews fought with bravery.

Let us now give a few particulars as to Josephus himself. He sprang from a distinguished sacerdotal family. Not only so, he belonged to the first of the twenty-four courses into which this family was divided. He further belonged to the chief family of the first course. Moreover on his mother’s side he was of royal blood, for the family of Asamoneus, from which she was descended united for generations the dual position of the high priesthood with that of kingship.

He was born in the first year of the reign of the Roman Emperor Caius. When only fourteen years of age the high priests and principal men of Jerusalem would seek his opinion about the accurate understanding of knotty points of the law, so great was his understanding at that tender age. When sixteen he made exhaustive enquiries as to the tenets of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. At the age of nineteen he decided to throw in his lot with the Pharisees. When in his twenty-sixth year he took a journey to Rome. For trivial reasons certain priests of his acquaintance were put in bonds and sent to Rome to appear before Caesar. For these Josephus sought deliverance. Hence his journey to Rome.

The ship in which he sailed with six hundred on board foundered at sea. Eighty of them, Josephus among them, swimming all night, were rescued by a ship from Cyrene. Landing in Italy he was fortunate in becoming acquainted with Aliturius, a play actor, who stood high in Nero’s favour, though a Jew. Through his good offices he was introduced to the Empress Poppea. Through her influence he gained the deliverance of the priests, in whose cause he had undertaken the journey to Rome. Receiving many presents from Poppea he returned to Palestine.

Testimony of Josephus.

Josephus, of Jewish historic fame, an unbeliever in Christ, born in Palestine about the time of Paul's conversion, and thoroughly conversant with Hebrew literature, probably more so than any man then living, thus writes: — "We have only two-and-twenty books which are justly believed to be of Divine authority, of which five are the books of Moses. From the death of Moses to the reign of Artaxerxes, the son of Xerxes, King of Persia, the prophets who were the successors of Moses have written in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the regulation of human life."

It has largely escaped the notice of Christians at the present time that such a history exists as that of Flavius Josephus. And further, the few who do know of its existence are largely unaware how very providential it is, that such a history, written by a Jew, living in Palestine at the time when the incidents of our Lord’s life were largely known, is available. Later on Josephus was an eye-witness of the horrors that marked the siege of Jerusalem under Vespasian, the Roman general, and the destruction of the Temple by Titus, and has written an account of these terrible happenings in great detail.

The reason why Josephus’ History is so remarkable is that when men call in question the incidents of the Gospels, the Christian has an answer in that here is a secular history, that in many ways corroborates what the Gospels say. For it is a strange thing that unregenerate men will readily receive the testimony of secular writers as to facts of history, and yet call in question the statements of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul. Does this show a bias in the wrong direction?

Of course the Christian needs no confirmation of the story of the birth, wonderful life, atoning death and triumphant resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, as narrated in the Scriptures. He does not need Josephus, or any secular historian, to confirm him in his belief in the inspired Word of God, but such historians are weapons in the Christian’s hands when meeting doubts cast on the Word of God, and become effective in closing the mouth of the doubter. It is these considerations that lead us to believe that God’s overruling hand is seen in the writings of Josephus, uninspired as they are in the sense that the Scriptures are inspired.

Josephus asked for an interview with Vespasian, and he then put on the air and manner of a prophet, and declared to Vespasian that he and his son Titus would, each in due time, be made emperors of Rome. "Send me not to Nero," said Josephus, "bind me and keep me in chains, as thine own prisoner; for soon thou wilt be the sovereign lord of earth and sea, and of the whole human race." He appealed to some of the citizens if he had not foretold that the downfall of Jotapata would be in forty-seven days, and they declared that he had done so. Josephus was still kept in chains, but was well taken care of and received various presents.

Thus this man, after many narrow escapes, was now with the Romans. He grew in favour, and remained with them during the siege of Jerusalem; and afterwards lived to write his famous History of the Jews. Vespasian and Titus both became emperors, and this brought Josephus into favour with them, because his predictions came true.

This is great praise, especially coming from such a source. The Emperor Titus likewise bore testimony to the accuracy of his Wars of the Jews, and ordered a copy to be placed in the Public Library of Rome, signing it with his own hand, as an authentic memorial of the times.

Josephus wrote The Wars of the Jews at Rome in the Syro-Chaldaic language for the use of his fellow-countrymen. Afterwards he translated it into Greek for the benefit of Western Jews, Greeks and Romans. Years after about A.D. 93, he wrote The Antiquities of the Jews.

His early life displays a man of great force of character. His career shows him to have been possessed of great personal courage, a true patriot, a resourceful general, and a wise statesman. As a true friend of his nation he energetically warned his fellow countrymen against going to extremes in their opposition to the great Roman power, which he knew was too strong for them successfully to oppose. In this way he was in danger of being considered pro-Roman, and therefore anti-Jewish, and became suspect in consequence. He had to moderate his activities accordingly, and take a middle course.

THE MACCABEES. It may be well to describe in few words the history of the Jews during the four hundred years that elapsed between the writing of the Book of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament writings, and the birth of our Lord as given in the gospels according to Matthew and Luke. The story is told by Josephus. This period is chiefly remarkable for the rising up and exploits of Mattathias, a great-grandson of the celebrated Asamoneus, and his five sons, commonly called the Maccabees. The uprising of this wonderful family was occasioned by the daring sacrilege of Antiochus Epiphanes, who gained possession of Jerusalem by guile, and then proceeded to rob the Temple of its golden candlesticks, golden altar of incense, table of showbread, and altar of burnt offering. He forbad the Jews to offer their daily sacrifices. Added to this, he built an idol altar upon God’s altar, and offered swine—the abomination of the Jews—upon it. He commanded that Jewish sons should no longer be circumcised, and ordered that temples should be built in every city and village, and swine offered on their altars in idol worship. All this was prophesied as to take place by Daniel the prophet centuries before (Chap. 8:9-14).

What happened to Josephus in all this turmoil? He was captured and taken prisoner during Vespasian’s campaign in Galilee, and was afterwards with Titus during the siege of Jerusalem. Vespasian was minded to send him to the Emperor Nero, but Josephus drawing Vespasian to one side told him the day was not far distant when he would be proclaimed Emperor, which turned out to be true in a little while. Nero committed suicide. His successor, Galba, was assassinated in the Roman market place seven months after he was proclaimed the wearer of the imperial purple. Otho succeeded him, but shortly after was defeated in battle, and committed suicide, after reigning for three months and two days. Then the victorious legions in Palestine proclaimed Vespasian as their Emperor.

When Josephus went to Rome, Vespasian received him with every mark of respect, honoured him with the privileges of a Roman citizen, bestowed upon him an annual pension, and appointed him an apartment in his own house, which he had occupied before he became Emperor. When his son Titus became Emperor, he showed Josephus continued kindness, presenting him with lands in Judea. When Domitian succeeded Titus as Emperor he too showed kindness to Josephus. And thus we say goodbye to this extraordinary man. We are indeed indebted to him for his writings, and believe they were permitted of God for a special purpose of which we have sought to take advantage.

Josephus was a very voluminous writer, and went into masses of details in his history. The copy lying before us numbers 854 pages, and was published in 1843. The writings of Josephus were largely bought by Christians a couple of generations ago, simply because they dealt with Palestine, the land of the Bible. We fear his works are today out of print, and only second-hand copies here and there available.

The writings of Josephus that come within the compass of this pamphlet are two: (1) THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE JEWS This covers the history of the Jews from the creation of the world, till the twelfth year of the reign of the Emperor Nero, comprising 523 pages. (2) THE WARS OF THE JEWS This covers a period between the capture of Jerusalem in B.C. 170 by Antiochus Epiphanes, and its siege under the Roman General, Vespasian, and the destruction of the Temple under his son, Titus, A.D. 70, comprising 232 pages.

As to Josephus the reliability of his history is well attested. The historian, Scaliger, described as “perhaps the most learned person, and the most competent judge,” wrote: “Josephus is the most diligent and the greatest lover of truth of all writers; nor are we afraid to affirm of him, that it is more safe to believe him, not only as to the affairs of the Jews, but as to those that are foreign to them, than all the Greek and Latin writers; and this, because his fidelity and his compass of learning are everywhere conspicuous.” (De Emendatione Temporum p. 17)