Skip to main content

Questions tagged [josephus]

Josephus is a first-century historian. He wrote four books about Judiasm and Israel's history. He is considered an important source for the Maccabean Revolt and Hasmonean Dynasty of Judea. He also speaks of several early Christians and Jesus.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
6 votes
3 answers
952 views

Was Stephen put to death by legal execution or a lynch mob?

Previous discussion on the site This is a follow up to the question: In the time of Jesus, were the Jewish authorities allowed to execute? - the selected & most upvoted answer concludes: The only ...
Hold To The Rod's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
31 views

Discrepancy in numbers between Bellum Judaicum and Antiquitate [closed]

I'm trying to resolve the differences between Josephus' Bellum Judaicum [2.224-27 (2.12.1)] and his Antiquitates [20.105-12 (20.5.3)] with respect to the number of Jews massacred in the temple under ...
ed huff's user avatar
  • 435
0 votes
2 answers
244 views

Is the book of Josephus a reliable source for biblical truth [closed]

I’m currently reading the book of Josephus starting out in the biblical narrative of creation to the death of Isaac and was wondering if this is more reliable than the Bible or is he just giving me a ...
Hollis Bush's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
10k views

Did Peter cut off the slave's ear to disqualify him as a priest (John 18:10)?

In John 18:10 (as well as the other gospels), Peter cuts off the ear of the slave of the high priest (NRSV): Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off ...
b a's user avatar
  • 3,814
2 votes
1 answer
6k views

Was Any of the New Testament Actually Written in Aramaic? [duplicate]

I met a guy that introduced me to the Aramaic English New Testament. I always thought that the New Testament was translated from the original Greek. This version claims: The Aramaic text used in ...
GenericJam's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
164 views

Are there any medieval commentators to mention the Lukan census (of Quirinius, Lk 2:2) in conjunction with the evidence from Josephus?

Josephus, of course, places this census after Herod Archelaus' exile and the creation of Iudaea Province. So far, I've been able to find early discussion of Luke 2:2 in conjunction with Quirinius' ...
SFelker's user avatar
  • 41
28 votes
7 answers
26k views

Where did the idea that the law was administered through angels come from?

The idea that the law was given through angels seems common enough in the first century literature: Galatians 3:19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring ...
Soldarnal's user avatar
  • 37.3k
23 votes
10 answers
19k views

Why is there a difference of 100 (or 50) years in the age of the patriarchs at their first sons' dates of birth between the LXX, SP and MT?

The Septuagint (along with the Samaritan Pentateuch) and Flavius Josephus in his Jewish Antiquities allow for about 6 to 7 hundred more years from our days back to the Flood (which accordingly would ...
hannes's user avatar
  • 1,331
7 votes
2 answers
2k views

Did Josephus misinterpret Ezekiel 12:13?

According to Josephus: Ezekiel also foretold in Babylon what calamities were coming upon the people, which when he heard, he sent accounts of them unto Jerusalem. But Zedekiah did not believe their ...
Jon Ericson's user avatar
  • 31.1k
18 votes
5 answers
8k views

Did Luke use Josephus as a source?

Richard Carrier summarizes an argument made by Steve Mason in his book Josephus and the New Testament that Luke knew of Josephus' Jewish War (79 CE) and Jewish Antiquities (94 CE). At it's core, the ...
Jon Ericson's user avatar
  • 31.1k