“Testimonium Flavianum” of Josephus

Josephus

Jewish Antiquities 18.63–64

93–94

Now Jesus, a wise man, was living around this time—if indeed one should properly call him a man. For he was a performer of incredible works, a teacher of those men who receive the truth with pleasure. He drew to himself both many Jews and many among the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the prominent men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him from the beginning did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold both these things and ten thousand other marvels concerning him. And the tribe of the Christians, so named after him, still exists to this day.

Translated by William Whiston, adapted byAaron Samuels.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.

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The authenticity of the so-called “Testimonium Flavianum” of Josephus has been rigorously debated among scholars. If authentic, the text provides comparative evidence of Jesus’ ministry, martyrdom, and resurrection. The four primary scholarly positions are as follows: the account is authentic; the text is generally authentic barring a few easily separated late Christian interpolations; Josephus wrote briefly about Jesus of Nazareth, but his original account was significantly altered to substitute a more positive Christian perspective; and Josephus never wrote about Jesus of Nazareth, and therefore the entire “testimonium” is a Christian interpolation.

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Creator Bio

Josephus

37–100

Flavius Josephus was born into a prominent Jewish priestly family and served as a general stationed in the Galilee during the First Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE). He was captured by the Romans and eventually integrated into the Flavian imperial aristocracy, who commissioned him to compose chronicles of the Jewish–Roman war and the history of the Jews. Josephus’ works, all written in Greek, include The Jewish War, Jewish Antiquities, Against Apion, and his autobiography, Life of Josephus. These writings provide important insights into the Judaisms of the Second Temple period and include one of the few surviving accounts of the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

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