Josephus on Jesus

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Flavius Josephus was a first-century Jewish historian who provided external information on some people and events found in the New Testament.[1] Josephus was a general in Galilee, which is where Jesus ministered and people who knew him still lived; he dwelled near Jesus's hometown of Nazareth for a time, and kept contact with groups such as the Sanhedrin and Ananus II who were involved in the trials of Jesus and his brother James.[2] The extant manuscripts of Josephus' book Antiquities of the Jews, written c. AD 93–94, contain two references to Jesus of Nazareth and one reference to John the Baptist.[3]

The first and most extensive reference to Jesus in the Antiquities, found in Book 18, states that Jesus was the Messiah and a wise teacher who was crucified by Pontius Pilate. It is commonly called the Testimonium Flavianum.[4] The passage exists in all extant manuscripts of Antiquities.[5][6] Though nearly all modern scholars hold that the passage, in its present form, cannot be authentic; most nevertheless hold that it contains an authentic nucleus referencing the life of Jesus and his execution by Pilate, which was then subjected to Christian interpolation and alteration.[7][8] However, the exact nature and extent of the original statement remains unclear.[9][10] Many modern scholars believe that an Arabic version that was discovered by Shlomo Pines reflects the state of Josephus' original text.[11]

Modern scholarship has largely acknowledged the authenticity of the second reference to Jesus in the Antiquities, found in Book 20, Chapter 9, which mentions "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James".[12][13][14][15]

Almost all modern scholars consider the reference in Book 18, Chapter 5 of the Antiquities to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist also to be authentic and not a Christian interpolation.[16] A number of differences exist between the statements by Josephus regarding the death of John the Baptist and the New Testament accounts.[17] Scholars generally view these variations as indications that the Josephus passages are not interpolations, since a Christian interpolator would likely have made them correspond to the New Testament accounts, not differ from them.[18] Scholars have provided explanations for their inclusion in Josephus' later works.[19]

  1. ^ Josephus, Flavius; Whiston, William; Maier, Paul L. (1999). The New Complete Works of Josephus. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-0-8254-2948-4.
  2. ^ Schmidt 2025, pp. 9, 145–147, 149–151, 188.
  3. ^ Feldman & Hata 1987, pp. 54–57; Flavius Josephus & Maier 1995, p. 12.
  4. ^ Feldman & Hata 1987, pp. 54–57; Maier 2007, pp. 336–337; Schreckenberg & Schubert 1992a, pp. 38–41.
  5. ^ Whealey, Alice (2015). "The Testimonium Flavianum". A Companion to Josephus. Wiley Blackwell. p. 345. ISBN 978-1-118-32516-2. By far the most famous part of Josephus's works is the so-called Testimonium Flavianum, a brief passage about Jesus of Nazareth that appears in all extant manuscripts of the eighteenth book of Jewish Antiquities (18.63–64).
  6. ^ Schmidt 2025, pp. 1.
  7. ^ Maier 2007, pp. 336–337; Schreckenberg & Schubert 1992a, pp. 38–41; Dunn 2003, p. 141; Kostenberger, Kellum & Quarles 2009, pp. 104–108; Evans 2001, p. 316; Wansbrough 2004, p. 185; Van Voorst 2003, pp. 509–511.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ehrman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cohen, Shaye J. D. (2011). "Josephus". In Levine, Amy-Jill; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.). The Jewish Annotated New Testament. p. 576. ISBN 978-0-19-529770-6. Most modern scholars believe that Josephus could not have written this text as we have it... Scholars disagree about exactly how to reconstruct the original of the passage.
  10. ^ Wilhelm Schneemelcher, Robert McLachlan Wilson, New Testament Apocrypha: Gospels and Related Writings, p. 490 (James Clarke & Co. Ltd, 2003). ISBN 0-664-22721-X
  11. ^ Kostenberger, Kellum & Quarles 2009, p. 106.
  12. ^ Louis Feldman (ISBN 90-04-08554-8 pp. 55–57) states that the authenticity of the Josephus passage on James has been "almost universally acknowledged".
  13. ^ Van Voorst 2000, p. 83; Feldman & Hata 1987, pp. 54–57; Flavius Josephus & Maier 1995, pp. 284–285; Bauckham 1999, pp. 199–203; Painter 2005, pp. 134–141.
  14. ^ Sample quotes from previous references: Van Voorst (ISBN 0-8028-4368-9 p. 83) states that the overwhelming majority of scholars consider both the reference to "the brother of Jesus called Christ" and the entire passage that includes it as authentic". Bauckham (ISBN 90-04-11550-1 pp. 199–203) states: "the vast majority have considered it to be authentic". Meir (ISBN 978-0-8254-3260-6 pp. 108–109) agrees with Feldman that few have questioned the authenticity of the James passage. Setzer (ISBN 0-8006-2680-X pp. 108–109) also states that few have questioned its authenticity.
  15. ^ Johnson, Luke Timothy (2005). The letter of James: a new translation with introduction and commentary. New Haven; London: Yale University Press. p. 98.
  16. ^ Evans 2006, pp. 55–58; Bromiley 1982, pp. 694–695; White 2010, p. 48.
  17. ^ Evans 2006, pp. 55–58; Painter 2005, pp. 143–145.
  18. ^ Evans 2006, pp. 55–58; Eddy & Boyd 2007, p. 130; Painter 2005, pp. 143–145.
  19. ^ Feldman 1984, p. 826.
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