Josephus on Jesus

In AD 93, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus published his work Antiquities of the Jews . The extant copies of this work, which all derive from Christian sources, even the recently-recovered Arabic version, contain two passages about Jesus . The one directly concerning Jesus has come to be known as the Testimonium Flavianum , and its authenticity has been the subject of debate since the 17th century. The other passage concerns James the brother of Jesus.

A page from a 1466 copy of Antiquities of the Jews The extant manuscripts of the writings of the 1st-century Romano - Jewish historian Flavius Josephus include references to Jesus and the origins of Christianity . Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews , written around 93–94 AD, includes two references to the biblical Jesus Christ in Books 18 and 20 and a reference to John the Baptist in Book 18 . Scholarly opinion on the total or partial authenticity of the reference in Book 18, Chapter 3, 3 of the Antiquities , a passage that states that Jesus the Messiah was a wise teacher who was crucified by Pilate , usually called the Testimonium Flavianum , varies. The general scholarly view is that while the Testimonium Flavianum is most likely not authentic in its entirety, it is broadly agreed upon that it originally consisted of an authentic nucleus, which was then subject to Christian expansion/alteration. Although the exact nature and extent of the Christian redaction remains unclear, there is broad consensus as to what the original text of the Testimonium by Josephus would have looked like. Modern scholarship has largely acknowledged the authenticity of the reference in Book 20, Chapter 9, 1 of the Antiquities to "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James" and considers it as having the highest level of authenticity among the references of Josephus to Christianity. Price speculates that Josephus may have considered James a fraternal brother rather than a sibling. Almost all modern scholars consider the reference in Book 18, Chapter 5, 2 of the Antiquities to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist also to be authentic. The references found in Antiquities have no parallel texts in the other work by Josephus such as the Jewish War , written 20 years earlier, but some scholars have provided explanations for their absence. A number of variations exist between the statements by Josephus regarding the deaths of James and John the Baptist and the New Testament accounts. Scholars generally view these variations as indications that the Josephus passages are not interpolations, for a Christian interpolator would have made them correspond to the New Testament accounts, not differ from them.

A page from a 1466 copy of Antiquities of the Jews The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews , written by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus around 93–94 AD, contain two references to Jesus of Nazareth and one reference to John the Baptist . 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 Pilate . It is commonly called the Testimonium Flavianum . Almost all modern scholars reject the authenticity of this passage in its present form, while the majority of scholars nevertheless hold that it contains an authentic nucleus referencing the execution of Jesus by Pilate, which was then subject to Christian interpolation and/or alteration. The exact nature and extent of the Christian redaction remains unclear, however. 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." This reference is considered to be more authentic than the Testimonium . 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 . A number of differences exist between the statements by Josephus regarding the death of John the Baptist and the New Testament accounts. 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. Scholars have provided explanations for their inclusion in Josephus' later works. In Levine, Amy-Jill; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.). 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.

Mentions of Jesus in the writings of the 1st-century historian A page from a 1466 copy of Antiquities of the Jews The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews , written by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus around AD 93–94, contain two references to Jesus of Nazareth and one reference to John the Baptist . 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 . Some modern scholars claim to reject the authenticity of this passage in its present form, while most scholars nevertheless hold that it contains an authentic nucleus referencing the life and execution of Jesus by Pilate, which was then subject to supposed Christian interpolation or alteration. However, the exact nature and extent of the Christian addition remains unclear. 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." This reference is considered to be more authentic than the Testimonium . 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 . A number of differences exist between the statements by Josephus regarding the death of John the Baptist and the New Testament accounts. 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. Scholars have provided explanations for their inclusion in Josephus' later works. The Bart Ehrman Blog . If this is something Josephus wrote, as most scholars continue to think, then it indicates that Jesus was a wise man and a teacher who performed startling deeds and as a consequence found a following among both Jews and Greeks; it states that he was accused by Jewish leaders before Pilate, who condemned him to be crucified; and it points out that his followers remained devoted to him even afterward (Ant. 18.3.3) Cohen, Shaye J. In Levine, Amy-Jill; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.). 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. The letter of James: a new translation with introduction and commentary .

A 1466 edition of Antiquities of the Jews Flavius Josephus was a first-century Jewish historian who provided external information on some people and events found in the New Testament. 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. 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 . 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 . 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. However, the exact nature and extent of the original statement remains unclear. Many modern scholars believe that an Arabic version that was discovered by Shlomo Pines reflects the state of Josephus' original text. The passage exists in all extant manuscripts of Antiquities . 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". 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 . A number of differences exist between the statements by Josephus regarding the death of John the Baptist and the New Testament accounts. 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. Scholars have provided explanations for their inclusion in Josephus' later works. The New Complete Works of Josephus . In Levine, Amy-Jill; Brettler, Marc Zvi (eds.). 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. A Companion to Josephus . 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). The letter of James: a new translation with introduction and commentary .