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An on-going work presented here are the Extracts from Josephus with Commentary. These are intended to serve both as an introduction and a scholarly resource to themes of Flavius Josephus. For each theme, I have tried to collect ALL of the passages related to that theme, thus serving as a convenient way to see everything Josephus has to say on a subject. Comments have been added to help introduce the context as well as to point out patterns and connections; but it is my goal not to stand between the reader and Josephus, letting the historian speak for himself. Many of the translations in this collection have been reworked by myself based on Whiston and the original Greek (Loeb edition). See my Note on the translations and how to interpret reference numbers of the form "Ant. 15.7.6 237-239". If you would like to contribute an article to this site, please contact me . - G. J. Goldberg
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The WarJosephus on
The Causes of the War Against
Rome
Part 1: Revolt in Jerusalem:
Part 2: The Campaign of Cestius
Gallus
Part 3: The New Government:
Part 4: Josephus
in Galilee:
Part
6:
The Factions
Battle for Power
Articles Josephus as a Source for a Military History of the Jewish Revolt by Jim Bloom "Josephus’ Jewish War is replete with detailed descriptions of the Roman army on campaign. Yet military historians have consulted it to interpret Roman warfare in every place except Palestine. A comparison between the neglected Judaean operations of 66-73 CE with the much-studied Claudian and Neronian skirmishes in Britain, shows that the Jewish uprising engaged over double the number of legionaries for a much more sustained period of conflict. So why is there no military history of the Jewish revolt based on Josephus?" (An abridgment of an address to the military classics seminar, Fort Myer, Virginia, September 19th, 2000) Crane Brinton's Model of Revolution and the Jewish Revolt by Ken West Crane Brinton's The Anatomy of Revolution (1938) identified a common pattern in the English revolution of the 1640s, the American Revolution, the French revolution and the Russian revolution. Ken West shows how the Jewish revolt of 66-70 AD compares to that model. Lion Feuchtwanger
by Jim Bloom The neglected German-Jewish author Lion Feuchtwanger is one of the most stalwart defenders of Josephus’ blighted reputation. Feuchtwanger’s fiction trilogy, approximately based on Josephus’ discernible life history, is considered by many Josephan scholars to be in the forefront of the modern tendency towards moderation of the latter’s conventional traitor image. This article discusses Feuchtwanger's work and describes the re-discovery of Feuchtwanger's stage play about Josephus. |
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The New Testament
Featured Josephus' Account of Jesus: The
Testimonium Flavianum
Extracts with Commentary A comprehensive collection of passages showing the relationship between the works of Josephus and the New Testament. Highly recommended! Articles
John the Baptist
The Star of Bethlehem described in the Gospel of Matthew has a number of similarities with a star that appeared over Jerusalem in 66 CE that was described by Josephus in The Jewish War (6.5.3 289). In an investigation of this resemblance, this article focuses on the idea that the war star influenced Matthew's account.
Honi the Circle-Drawer
See also An extract from Chapter 3 of Robert Eisler's classic work The Messiah Jesus , in which Eisler reviews the history of the controversy over Josephus' description of Jesus (the "Testimonium Flavianum"), giving a number of interesting details that are not well known today. Eisler follows this review with his own speculation as to the original form of the description, of which a brief synopsis is given. |
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Women
Women in Josephus' Works-Overview Mariamme
Esther - Her Point of View
Articles "Trouble-quiet Sowers of Unrest": Representations of Women, from Josephus to Cary by Maria M. Oberg nbsp; Elizabeth Cary, the 17th century English playwright, drew from Josephus to compose her work The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry. The manner in which these two authors portray the actions of speech of women is the subject of this engrossing study by Maria M. Oberg (email: oberg77@yahoo.com).
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Rulers
The history of the rulers of Judaea as revealed in ancient
silver and bronze coins. |
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Holidays
Passover
Pentecost
/ Shavuos
Sukkot
Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Purim
Hanukkah
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Modern Aspects
The Campaign against Al Qaeda and the Jewish War: Some Parallels by Jim Bloom
Remarks on Josephus in the Light of Current Events: 2001 by G. J. Goldberg
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Copyright 1998-2001 G. J. Goldberg. All rights reserved. Back to the Flavius Josephus Home Page |