Josephus ben Mattithiahu was born in Jerusalem in 37 CE, during the Roman occupation of the Land of Israel, and died in Rome at the end of the first century CE. As a young man, he was sent to that city to negotiate the release of some priests held hostage by Emperor Nero. When he returned, he found a nation in rebellion against its occupiers.

Despite his feeling that the struggle was in vain, he agreed to command the Jewish rebel forces in Galilee. During the fall of the city of Jodfat (Jotapata) to Vespasian’s army, Josephus and his men took refuge in a cave, agreeing to commit suicide rather than surrender. Josephus, however, was one of the two who did not commit suicide.

When Vespasian took him prisoner, he remembered an oracle stating that the general would be the next emperor of Rome and told him so. When the «prophecy» came true, Josephus spared his life and richly rewarded him. Emperor Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, so Josephus changed his name to Flavius ​​Josephus in gratitude to his protector. For the remainder of the war, Josephus assisted the commander Titus, Vespasian’s son, in his fight against the Jewish rebels, trying to negotiate a peace with them, but was unsuccessful.

Josephus witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, for which he was considered a traitor to the cause.He emigrated to Rome with Titus’s retinue and dedicated himself to writing the history of the war he had witnessed, first in Aramaic and later in Greek. He later wrote a long treatise on the history of the Jews. Both works, «The Jewish Wars» and «Antiquities of the Jews,» along with his autobiography, are among the most important sources we have for understanding the last two centuries of the Second Temple period (530 BCE to 70 CE).

Louis H. Feldman, a professor at Yeshiva University and an expert on the work of Flavius ​​Josephus, considers him one of the first systematic commentators on the Bible and one of the leading historians of the early Common Era (1st century). He describes him as pro-Roman and opposed to extreme Jewish nationalism, but also as a zealous defender of Jewish religion and culture.

Professor Magen Broshi of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem has worked to corroborate the accuracy of the sources Josephus used in writing his works and concludes that, in terms of archaeological evidence, the writings are quite accurate. His population figures also appear to be quite reliable. It seems he obtained his information from the reports of Roman army commanders, since he wrote everything while already living in Rome. But in other areas, Josephus was somewhat vague and even exaggerated.

Josephus interpreted the Jewish revolt as a confrontation between the corruption of the Roman governors sent by Emperor Nero and Jewish religious nationalism, already divided into factions, such as the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. Was Flavius ​​Josephus a traitor to the Jewish people? For many years, he was considered that way, although his contributions as a historian have recently been revalued, giving him a new place in Jewish history. What would have happened if he had been listened to during the revolt? No one knows.

By Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Articles by Louis H. Feldman, Magen Broshi, G. Goldberg, and others.