Josephus and the New Testament

257 Pages·1992·6.26 MB·English

by  Steve Mason

JOSEPHUS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT

JOSEPHUS
and the New Testament
STEVE MASON
HENDRICKSON
P U B L I S H E RS
PEABODY, MASSACHUSETTS 01961-3473
Copyright © 1992 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
P.O. Box 3473
Peabody, Massachusetts, 01961-3473
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 0-943575-99-0
Second printing — November 1993
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mason, Steve, 1957-
Josephus and the New Testament / Steve Mason
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0-943575-99-0 (pbk.)
1. Josephus, Flavius. 2. Jewish historians—Biography
3. Bible. N.T—Biography 4. Bible. N.T—Criticism, in­
terpretation, etc. I. Title
DS115.9.J6M38 1992
933'.05,092—dc20 92-33067
CIP
All translations of New Testament texts are the author's.
Citations from Josephus are from the Loeb Classical Library
(LCL) unless otherwise indicated.
The Pilate Inscription on p. 104 is from the collection
of Southwest Missouri State University Used with permission.
The coins on the cover and on pp. 57 and 197 (First Jewish
Revolt and Judea Capta) are used with permission, copyright
© the British Museum.
For Glenna, Cara, and Ian,
the joys of my life

Table of Contents
Introduction: The Purpose of This Book 1
Chapter 1: The Use and Abuse of Josephus 7
Chapter 2: The Career of Josephus 35
Chapter 3: The Writings of Josephus 53
Chapter 4: Who's Who in the New Testament World? ^ 85
Chapter 5: Early Christian Figures Mentioned by
Josephus 151
Chapter 6: Josephus and Luke-Acts 185
Conclusion: The Significance of Josephus for New
Testament Study 230
Index of Subjects 237
Index of Ancient Sources 240

Introduction: The
Purpose of This Book
When I first became interested in Josephus a dozen years
ago, I was discussing my new passion with a lawyer friend who
also had a strong, though not professional, interest in the New
Testament world. He said, "I must sit down some time and
read Josephus right through, from cover to cover." We have
since lost touch and I don't know whether his ambition was
ever fulfilled, but I doubt it. "Reading Josephus through" is a
daunting task and probably not the most efficient way to come
to terms with the ancient author. When visiting a new city, we
first buy a map of the place in order to orient ourselves, so that
we get some idea of the "big picture." This book is intended as
a kind of map to the world of Josephus—his life, thought, and
writings—for readers of the New Testament. I offer it to all
those who have bought or borrowed the works of Josephus,
out of a keen interest in the New Testament world, only to feel
frustrated at the obscurity of his writings.
Every student of the Bible realizes that Josephus is ex­
tremely significant for New Testament study. He was born in
AD 37, just a few years after Jesus' death and not much later
than Paul's conversion to Christianity. He grew up in Jerusa­
lem and was intimately acquainted with the religion of Israel,
its temple and its feasts, at one of which Jesus was arrested. He
knew a lot about the important background figures in the Gos­
pels—King Herod and his sons, Roman governors like Pontius
Pilate, the Pharisees and Sadducees—and he was a priest him­
self. Having worked for a time in Jesus' home region of Galilee,
he wrote in detail about its fertile landscape and social condi­
tions. Josephus was reaching maturity at about the time that