Creator Bio
Josephus
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
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Alexander and the Jews
During the time when John became high priest, Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes’ army, polluted the Temple and imposed tribute on the Jews, declaring that out of the public stock…
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Alexander’s Death and His Successors
When Alexander, king of Macedon, had put an end to the dominion of the Persians and had settled affairs in Judaea in the manner described above, he died [in Babylon]. His empire fell among many…
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Jews as Seleucid Soldiers
The Jews also received honors from the kings of Asia when they served them in war; for example, Seleucus Nicator made them citizens of the cities that he built in Asia and in lower Syria, and in the…
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Tobiad Family Conflict: War between Hyrcanus and His Brothers
Upon Joseph’s death, the people grew rebellious on account of his sons. For whereas the brothers made war against Hyrcanus, who was the youngest of Joseph’s sons, the multitude was divided, but the…
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Rededication of the Temple
And now that the generals of Antiochus’ armies were defeated so many times, Judah assembled the people together and told them that after these many victories that God had given them, they should go up…
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The Death of Jonathan and the Rise of Simon
Now when Trypho learned what had befallen Demetrius [that he had lost his entire army and been captured by the Parthians], he no longer supported Antiochus but began…
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John Hyrcanus
So Ptolemy [Hyrcanus’ brother-in-law] retired to one of the fortresses above Jericho, called Dagon. But Hyrcanus, having taken the high priesthood that had been…
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Aristobulus I
After their father Hyrcanus died, the eldest son, Aristobulus, saw fit to transform the government into a kingdom, which he judged to be the…
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Alexander Janneus
Aristobulus’ widow released his brothers from prison and made Alexander king, as he seemed to have the best claim both in seniority and for his apparent moderation. But when he came into power he had…
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Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II
Meanwhile Alexandra fell ill, and her younger son Aristobulus seized the opportunity. With all his many friends—all won over to his cause by his dashing nature—he took control of all the fortresses…
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Civil War over Hasmonean Succession
The unexpected success won by Aristobulus alarmed his enemies, most notably Antipater, for whom he had a long-standing detestation. Antipater was an Idumaean by birth, and ancestry, wealth, and other…
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Pompey Enters Jerusalem
Furious at this, Pompey kept Aristobulus in custody and advanced up to the city to review the possible means of assault. He could now see the strength of the walls which made them virtually…
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Antipater’s Campaigns and Advance to Power
After Pompey’s death Antipater changed sides and began to curry favour with Caesar. When Mithridates of Pergamum, leading an army against Egypt, was held up at Ascalon by notice that the frontier…
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Conflicts between the Young Herod and Hyrcanus
Antipater saw Caesar out of Syria and then returned to Judaea. His first act was to rebuild the wall of the capital which had been destroyed by Pompey. He then toured the country, suppressing any…
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The Death of Antipater and Herod’s Revenge
When war was declared on Cassius and Brutus by the young Caesar [i.e., Octavian] and Antony, Cassius and Murcus raised an army in Syria, and, seeing great…
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Parthian Invasion, Phasael’s Death, and Herod’s Flight to Rome
Two years later, Barzaphanes, the Parthian satrap, together with the king’s son, Pacorus, occupied Syria. Lysanias had now inherited the principality of Chalcis on the…
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Herod’s Arrival in Rome and Appointment as King of Judaea
His ship came into serious distress off Pamphylia, and most of the cargo had to be jettisoned, after which it could just limp to safety in Rhodes, an island deeply traumatized by the war with Cassius…
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Herod Moves against Antigonus and Avenges His Brother
Herod had by now sailed from Italy to Ptolemaïs, and, having put together a considerable force of mercenaries and native Jews, was advancing…
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Herod Takes Jerusalem
When the storm died down, he advanced on Jerusalem and marched his army right up to the walls on what was coincidentally the third anniversary of his proclamation as king in…
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The End of the Hasmonean Priesthood
Herod was then made king by the Romans, but he no longer appointed high priests from the family of Asamoneus [i.e., the Hasmoneans]. Rather, he chose certain men not from eminent families who could…
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Octavian Confirms Herod’s Claim to Kingship
“Caesar,” he said, “I was made king by Antony, and I acknowledge that I have throughout served Antony’s interests. I will not conceal from you either that, if I had not been occupied with the Arabs…
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Augustus Expands Herod’s Kingdom
At the end of the first Actiad Caesar added again to Herod’s kingdom, giving him the district known as Trachonitis and the adjacent areas of Batanaea and Auranitis. What had happened was this…
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Renovation of the Temple
In the eighteenth year of the reign of King Herod, after the acts recorded above, he undertook a very great task, namely the renovation of the Temple of God at his own expense. He both expanded it and…
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Olympic Games
Because of this, Herod departed even more from the ancestral customs and gradually corrupted the ancient way of life, which should have been inviolable, through the introduction of foreign practices…
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Herod’s Response to Famine
Now on this very year, which was the thirteenth of Herod’s reign, the most severe calamities overtook the country, whether because of God’s harboring wrath or because such misery recurs naturally in…
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Herod’s Relationship with Augustus
While Herod was engaged in these matters, Sebaste already having been built as a city, he decided to send his sons Alexander and Aristobulus to Rome to meet with Caesar. When they arrived, they lodged…
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The Decline and Death of Herod
From that time on Herod’s disease spread to affect every part of his body with a range of symptoms. He had a fever (relatively mild), intolerable itching all over his body, constant…
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Archelaus’ Rise to Power
Archelaus’ obligation to travel to Rome exposed him to a fresh outbreak of disorder. He had kept seven days’ mourning for his father and provided the usual…
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Antipas Contests Archelaus’ Rule
Meanwhile Antipas returned to the fray and disputed the succession to the throne, asserting that the original will, which named him as king, had greater…
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Philip and Antipas Reign as Tetrarchs
After Archelaus’ ethnarchy had been turned into a Roman province, the other two brothers, Philip and Herod Antipas, continued to administer their own tetrarchies. When Salome died she bequeathed her…
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Antipas as Tetrarch
Now Herod the tetrarch, who was in great favor with Tiberius, built a city and called it Tiberias. He built it in the best part of Galilee, at the lake of Gennesareth, which is near a village called…
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Herod Agrippa I
Now when Agrippa arrived at Puteoli, he wrote a letter to Tiberius Caesar, who was then living in Capreae, informing him that he had come so far in…
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Alexandra
Herod [ . . . ] heard of the arrest of his brother from others, and on the advice of the daughter of Hyrcanus, to whose daughter he had been betrothed, he became…
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Mariamme the Hasmonean
So [Herod] marked off the place with three bulwarks and erected defense towers, employing a great many hands for the work and cutting…
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Doris and Her Son Antipater
When he came to the throne he had divorced the wife he took when still a commoner (she was a native of…
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Salome
When these letters were brought, the women stopped their efforts to flee to the Romans, which they had conceived under the assumption that Herod was dead…
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Pheroras’ Wife
Pheroras was greatly enslaved to his wife, her mother, and her sister, notwithstanding the hatred he bore them for the indignities they had…
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Pilate Imports Standards to Jerusalem
Pilate was sent by Tiberius to Judaea as procurator, and in a covert operation at night he smuggled into Jerusalem under wraps those portrait plaques of the emperor which are called standards. When…
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Roman Exposure, Tragedy, and Burning of the Law
After the death of Herod the king of Chalcis, Claudius appointed to the kingship his nephew Agrippa (the son of Herod’s brother Agrippa). As procurator of the rest of the province Tiberius Alexander…
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The Sicarii
The countryside may thus have been swept clear, but a new breed of terrorists was growing like a cancer in Jerusalem, the so-called Sicarii who murdered people right in the middle of the city in broad…
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An Egyptian False Prophet
As well as these [the Sicarii] another group of criminals came into being, less bloodstained in action but with a more blasphemous agenda, who ruined the calm of the city just as much as the assassins…
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Incitement to Revolt
So this boil [of the Egyptian false prophet] too was lanced, but, as happens in a sick body, another tumour broke out elsewhere. The charlatans and the terrorists joined forces to incite large numbers…
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Racial Conflict in Caesarea
Another disturbance broke out at Caesarea, with racial conflict between the Jewish element of the population and the Syrian inhabitants. The Jews claimed the city as theirs on the grounds that its…
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Roman Corruption
Felix’s successor as procurator, Festus, set out to deal with the main plague affecting the country: he captured large numbers of the terrorizing bandits, and put a good many to death. But his…
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The First Flames of War
Meanwhile the Greeks of Caesarea had won their case at Rome, and came back with the document recording Nero’s decision to award them…
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Outbreak of the Revolt
Agrippa Banished from Jerusalem
So for the time being Agrippa managed to hold off the threat of war [he gave advice to the people to rebuild the Temple colonnade and pay the tribute], but…
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Revolt in the Galilee
When the Jews who had pursued Cestius returned to Jerusalem, they either forced or persuaded any remaining pro-Romans to join their movement, and held a mass meeting at the temple to appoint further…
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Nero Appoints Vespasian to Suppress Revolt
News of the reverses in Judaea naturally came as a fearful shock to Nero, though he concealed it well. His public reaction was one of dismissive irritation, claiming as he did that what had happened…
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Josephus Goes over to the Romans
“Our best course then, my friends, is to take the sensible view and not compound our human predicament with impiety towards the God who created us. If our lives are…
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Battle at Gamala
The defeat at Tarichaeae brought the surrender of those Galileans who had still remained in revolt from Rome after the fall of Jotapata and the Romans took control of all…
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Factional Infighting in Jerusalem
So Titus made his way as described across the desert from north Egypt to Syria and arrived at Caesarea, where he intended to marshal his forces in…
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Titus Marches toward Jerusalem
Titus was now on the march from Caesarea, having concentrated part of his forces there under his own command and ordered the rest to meet him at Jerusalem. He…
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A Thwarted Plot to Surrender to the Romans
[Matthias] had given Simon his possession of the city, and yet Simon had him not only killed but tortured as well. Matthias was the son of Boethus, a member of a high-priestly family, and absolutely…
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Josephus Rescued from the City
Meanwhile Josephus, still insistently going round outside the city to reiterate his appeals, was struck on the head by a stone and dropped senseless on the spot. The Jews made a dash for his body, and…
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Famine and Desertion
For all this emotional appeal by Josephus, the insurgents would not budge, and thought it far from safe to change their course. The people, though, took it as a spur to desertion. Some sold their…
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Titus Besieges Jerusalem
Titus now held a conference with his officers. The more bullish recommended bringing up the entire army and launching a full-scale assault on the wall: so…
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The Fate of Those Who Escape
Of those now deserting some had no choice but to move quickly and jump down from the wall: others sallied out with stones in their hands as if to do battle, and then fled to the Romans. But desertion…
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Roman Capture of the Antonia and Burning of the Colonnade
Meanwhile the rest of the Roman army demolished Antonia and its foundations in seven days and engineered a wide road giving access to the temple. The legions could now approach the first…
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A Mother’s Cannibal Infanticide
Meanwhile in the city the victims of famine were dropping in their thousands, and there was suffering beyond description. In every house the mere flicker of a sight of food…
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The Temple Falls
Titus, now realizing that his attempt to spare a foreign temple was only causing injury and death to his own men, gave orders for the gates to be fired. [ . . . ]…
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The Temple’s Fate Realized
While there must be deep mourning for the loss of this marvellous building—a monument more remarkable than any of which we have had sight or report for the quality of…
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The Sack of Jerusalem
Now masters of the walls, the Romans planted their standards on the towers and clapped and sang in joyful celebration of their victory. They had found the final stages of the war much…
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Triumphal Procession in Rome
While it was still night all the military had marched out under their officers by companies and cohorts, and taken up their position, which was not on this occasion round the gates of the Upper Palace…
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The Fortress at Masada
So the Roman general arrived with his forces to take on Eleazar and the Sicarii occupying Masada with him. Silva quickly established control of the whole surrounding area, set…
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Collective Suicide at Masada
With the investing wall which I have mentioned now completed round the entire site, and the strictest precautions taken to prevent any escape, the Roman commander…
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Revolts of 66 CE in Alexandria
In Alexandria there had always been antagonism between the natives and the Jewish colony ever since Alexander, grateful for the Jews’ enthusiastic support against the Egyptians, had rewarded their…
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Jewish Unrest and Its Suppression in Alexandria and Cyrene
With Masada thus captured, the Roman general left a garrison in the fortress and went back with his army to Caesarea. By now there were no enemies left in the land, and the whole…
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Tensions in Parthian Babylonia and the Rise and Fall of Asineus and Anileus
A terrible, most severe disaster now took place among the Jews in Mesopotamia, especially those who were living in Babylonia, as great a slaughter of them as had ever…
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Queen Helena of Adiabene
Around this time [during the reign of Herod], Helena, queen of Adiabene, and her son Izates converted to the Jewish religion on account of the following: Monobazus, the…
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Divergent Conceptions of Fate
Jewish doctrine in fact takes three forms. The adherents of these sects are called Pharisees, Sadducees, and, thirdly, Essenes. [ . . . ] Of the two schools mentioned first, the Pharisees constitute…
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Pharisees on Fate and the Afterlife
Now, as for the Pharisees, they live simply and forgo luxurious foods, and they follow conduct directed by doctrine and do what their doctrine prescribes as good for them, and they believe they should…
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Herod Is Smitten with Mariamme
There was a citizen of Jerusalem, Simeon, the son of a certain Alexandrian, Boethus, one of the well-known priests, and he had a daughter who was considered the most beautiful woman at that time. So…
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Lifestyle and Beliefs
The Jewish War 2.119–151
The Essenes, who are native Jews, are particularly known for their high-minded discipline, and they are a closer-knit community than the others. They reject the pleasures of…
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“Testimonium Flavianum” of Josephus
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…
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Hyrcanus II as Ethnarch
“I, Julius Caesar, imperator the second time and high priest, have made this decree, with the approbation of the Senate. Whereas Hyrcanus the son of Alexander, the Jew, has demonstrated his fidelity…
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Augustus Appoints Archelaus Ethnarch
After Caesar had heard these pleadings, he dismissed the assembly. But a few days later, he appointed Archelaus, not as king but as ethnarch of half the territory that had been subject to Herod…
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Pompey Rewards Hyrcanus II with the High Priesthood
Pompey did not touch the money or any other of the holy treasures, but just one day after its capture he instructed the sacristans to cleanse the temple and resume the usual rites. He also reinstated…
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The Zealots Install a New High Priest
In the end the people were reduced to such a state of abject fear, and the terrorists proceeded to such manic extremes, that they were actually able to take into their own hands the election of high…
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Moses Establishes the Gerousia
For it is not fit that causes should be openly determined out of regard to gain or to the status of the suitors, but rather, the judges should esteem what is right before all other things. For…
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Letter from Antiochus III to Ptolemy Mentioning the Gerousia
Since the Jews, upon our first entrance into their country, demonstrated their friendship toward us, and when we came to their city [Jerusalem], received us in a splendid manner, and came to meet us…
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Letter from Jonathan on Behalf of the Gerousia to the Lacedaemonians (Spartans)
The [Roman] Gerousia then confirmed what had been formerly decreed concerning their friendship with the Jews and gave them letters to convey to all the kings of Asia and Europe, and to the governors…
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Herod’s Conflict with the Sanhedrin and His Revenge
When Hyrcanus heard this, he complied with them. The mothers of those who had been slain by Herod further raised his indignation, for those women continued appealing to the king and the people every…
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Jonathan Confirms Friendship with Rome
Jonathan, having therefore achieved a glorious victory and killed two thousand of the enemy, returned to Jerusalem. So when he saw that all his affairs were succeeding, in his view, through the…
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Jewish Community of Cyrene
And this same Strabo bears witness in another passage that at the time when Sulla crossed over into Greece in order to wage war against Mithridates, he sent Lucullus to put an end to a sedition that…
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Royal Inscriptions from Ḥimyar
Malkīkarib Yuha’min and his sons Abīkarib As‘ad and Dhara’’amar Ayman, ki[ngs of Sa]ba’, dhū-[Raydān], Ḥadramawt, and Yamanat built, laid the foundations, plastered, and roofed their Kl…
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The Decree of Caesar Augustus to the Jews of Cyrene
Caesar Augustus, high priest and tribune of the people, ordains as follows: Since the nation of the Jews has been found agreeable to the Roman people, not only at this time but also in the past, and…
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The Laws of Moses
Now before their first state of mourning had ended, another misfortune struck them as well; for some of those who had raised the previous rebellion, when they were traveling on the public road, about…
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Twenty-Two Books
And this is naturally done, or rather by necessity, given that not everyone is permitted to become a writer of his own accord; nor is there any disagreement as to what has been written. But only the…
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Scribes Appointed by David
David, desiring to appoint his son king over all the people, called together their rulers in Jerusalem, along with the priests and Levites. Having first counted the Levites, he found them to be thirty…
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Scribes as Tax-Exempt Temple Administrators
I would also have the work about the Temple finished, and the porticoes, and if there be anything else that ought to be built. And as for the materials of wood, let them be brought down from Judaea…
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Herod’s Renovation of the Temple
Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities includes a detailed account of Herod’s renovation of the Temple in the late first century BCE. See also “Renovation of the Temple” and the jerusalem temple.
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The Samaritan Temple at Mount Gerizim
Now it happened that the Jews in Alexandria and the Samaritans who worshiped at the temple on Mount Gerizim, which was built in the days of Alexander, were in conflict. They were disputing about their…
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Pompey’s Conquest and Appointment of Hyrcanus II
But when the siege engine was brought forward, the greatest of the towers was shaken by it and brought down, and it broke through part of the fortifications, so that the enemy began pouring in. First…
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Conflict within the Priesthood
Around this time, King Agrippa granted the high priesthood to Ismael, the son of Fabi. And then hostility and internal division were ignited between the chief priests, on one side, and the priests and…
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Priests Attempt to Prevent Revolt
Alarmed at this demonstration, the political leaders and the chief priests tore their clothes and made grovelling appeals throughout the crowd, imploring them to desist, and not to add to what they…
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Priestly Politics and the Cause of War
At the same time things were happening in the temple. Eleazar, the son of the high priest Ananias, a young radical who was Captain of the Temple at the time, persuaded the ministers in charge of…
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Leading Priests Desert Jerusalem
Many of the upper class, though, were shaken by his [Josephus’] speech. Some of them were too frightened of the revolutionary police to make a move, despite recognizing that they themselves were…
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Portents of War and Destruction
And then, before the revolt and the upheaval leading to war, when the people were gathering for the feast of Unleavened Bread on the eighth of the month Xanthicus [in spring, 66 CE], so brilliant a…
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The Priestly Vestments
Those of priestly descent who could not officiate because of some physical defect were still allowed within the parapet along with their unblemished colleagues, and received the benefits to which they…
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The Nobility of Priestly Lineage
Now my lineage is not an obscure one, having descended from the priests since the beginning, and just as nobility of birth has a different foundation for each people, among us, membership in the…
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The Synagogue as Repository of Books and Funds
But if anyone is discovered stealing their sacred books, or their sacred money, whether it be from the synagogue or banquet hall, he shall be deemed a sacrilegious person, and his property shall be…
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Water Facilities at the Synagogue
“[ . . . ] We have further decreed that those who are willing among the Jews, both men and women, may observe their sabbaths and perform their sacred rites in keeping with Jewish law; and they may…
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A Synagogue Is Polluted
The next day was a Sabbath, and the Jews assembling at the synagogue found one of the local opposition sacrificing birds on an upturned pot beside the entrance. The Jews were enraged at what they saw…
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The Importance of Practical Education
All practices, employments, and studies, for us, refer back to piety toward God; for [Moses] did not leave any of these phenomena unexamined or indeterminate. All education and the training of habits…
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Fair Weights and Measures
Moreover, if anyone commits fraud in terms of standard measures or weights, or conducts a sale that is unjust or has taken place with deceit, or if he pilfers something belonging to another, or if he…
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Jewish Seafarers
Hear my story then, that you may have no further leisure for your mocking wit, and I will tell you first of all how our crew was made up. Our skipper was willing to die on account of his bankrupt…
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Philo’s Explanation of Passover
After the New Moon comes the fourth feast, called the Crossing-feast, which the Hebrews in their native tongue call Pascha. In this festival many myriads of victims from noon till eventide are offered…
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Passover Observance
Now, the appointed time had drawn near for the festival during which the Jews have as their ancestral law to serve unleavened bread, whose feast is called Passover and is a memorial of their…
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Pilgrim Numbers on Passover
As long as Cestius Gallus was busy in Syria with the administration of his province, no one dared to approach him with a formal complaint against Florus. But when he visited Jerusalem at the start of…
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Pilgrims Swell Jerusalem’s Population
The total number of prisoners taken in the whole course of the war amounted to 97,000: and the number of those who died in the siege from beginning to end was 1,100,000. The majority of these were of…
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Political Unrest on Shavuot
It was the subsequent arrival of Sabinus which gave the Jews a cause for revolution. [ . . . ] So when it was time for Pentecost (which is the name Jews give to the festival occurring seven weeks…
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Philo’s Explanation of Shavuot
The festival of the Sheaf, which has all these grounds of precedence, indicated in the law, is also in fact anticipatory of another greater feast. For it is from it that the fiftieth day is reckoned…
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Mass Exodus for the Festival
From Antipatris Cestius advanced to Lydda, and found the city empty, as the whole population had gone up to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles. [ . . . ] Seeing the war now coming close to the…
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Philo’s Explanation of Rosh Hashanah
Next comes the opening of the sacred month, when it is customary to sound the trumpet in the temple at the same time that the sacrifices are brought there, and its name of “trumpet feast” is derived…
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Syrians in Palestine Practice Circumcision
[T]he Colchians and Egyptians and Ethiopians are the only nations that have from the first practiced circumcision. The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine acknowledge of themselves that they…
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Funeral Ceremony
Our divine law has also provided for the decent burial of the dead, without extravagant burial rites or the building of illustrious monuments. Rather, it enjoined that the funeral arrangements be…
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Jewish Abstention from Pork
Question 5
Whether the Jews abstain from pork because of reverence or aversion for the pig
Speakers: Callistratus, Polycrates, Lamprias
1. When he had finished, and some of those present would have…
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Pharisees’ Belief in Immortality
They also believe that souls have an immortal power within them, and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according to how they have pursued either virtue or vice in this life…
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The Essenes on Immortality of the Soul
They are indifferent to danger, overcome pain by the power of their will, and think that a death which comes with honour is better than eternal life. [ . . . ] The reason for this is their firm belief…
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Abraham’s Return to His Ancestors
What is the meaning of: But you shall go to your fathers in peace, being nourished in a fair old age (Genesis 15:15)?
He here clearly indicates the incorruptibility of the soul: when it transfers…
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Dinah and Shechem
Now Theodotus says in his work Concerning the Jews that Sikima took its name from Sikimius son of Emmor, for this man also founded the city. And in his work Concerning the Jews, he describes its…
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Tharbis, Moses’ First Wife
Tharbis was the daughter of the Ethiopian king. When she observed Moses bringing his army near the ramparts and waging battle valiantly, she admired the resourcefulness of his undertakings. Suspecting…
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Deborah
And when the people had fasted seven days and sat in sackcloth, the Lord sent to them on the seventh day Deborah, who said to them, “Can the sheep to be slaughtered give answer to its…