The book of Genesis describes the dramatic story of Joseph, son of Jacob. Sold into slavery by his own brothers, he eventually rose to power in Egypt.
But there is another Joseph who – although never mentioned in the scriptures – has had a tremendous impact on our understanding of the Bible. This Joseph was born in the city of Jerusalem in 37 A.D., just a few years after Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. His full name was Joseph Ben Matthias; his father was a priest & his mother came from a wealthy, aristocratic family. As a young man, Joseph was sent to Rome on a diplomatic mission. There he was able to witness the grandeur and military power of the Roman empire.
The Jews rose up in revolt against the hated Romans in 66 AD. Although Joseph did not share the same revolutionary zeal as his countrymen, he was nevertheless appointed military commander for the defense of Galilee. Joseph knew the irresistible might of the Roman legions. He had no illusions about the coming fight; his nation faced almost certain annihilation.
Under the leadership of General Vespasian, Roman forces arrived in strength in 67 AD. Jewish resistance in Galilee was inexorably crushed. Joseph managed to stave off Roman assaults on the stronghold of Jotapata for 47 days, but eventually the city fell. Joseph took refuge in a cave along with 40 other fighters. The group decided they would rather take their own lives than surrender. But (as the story goes) Joseph proposed another plan. He convinced the group that suicide would bring God’s disfavor; they should instead kill one another in an order determined by lots. By luck or machination, Joseph drew the final lot. He then surrendered to the Romans.
Taken before the Roman commander, Joseph boldly predicted that Vespasian would soon become emperor. His prophesy soon became reality. Following the death of Nero, Vespasian donned the purple in late 69 AD & freed the man who had predicted his rise to power.
Joseph shifted his allegiance to the Romans. Although sympathetic to the plight of his fellow Jews, he saw that their foolish rebellion would end in catastrophe. Only by seeking peace with Rome could they spare themselves misery & death.
Joseph became a loyal servant of Vespasian and took the Roman name Flavius Josephus (Flavius was Vespasian’s family name). When Vespasian ascended the imperial throne, his son Titus assumed command of the Roman forces now besieging Jerusalem itself. Titus attempted to use Josephus as a mediator, but the Jews wanted nothing to do with a man they regarded as the worst of all traitors.
The siege of Jerusalem was a long & bloody affair, lasting nearly five months. Josephus tells us that the Romans captured & crucified 500 Jews per day until eventually they ran out of wood. Finally, in September of 70 AD, Jerusalem was taken, and the temple was destroyed. Although no precise figures are available, historians believe that hundreds of thousands of Jews perished during the rebellion – perhaps as many as one million.
Following the war, Josephus settled in Rome and was given a pension by Vespasian. He took up his quill and wrote a detailed history of the Jewish revolt appropriately entitled The Jewish War. His other major work, The Antiquities of the Jews, recounts the entire history of Israel going all the way back to creation. Despite his embrace of Rome, Josephus never despised his Jewish heritage; he always portrayed Judaism in the best possible light.
The writings of Flavius Josephus are an invaluable resource for understanding the world in which Jesus lived. He is by far the best source of information we have about this crucial period in history.
We’ve recently been studying the formation of the Jewish canon. There is one passage in Flavius Josephus which is hugely relevant to this subject. In a smaller work Against Apion, he argues that Judaism is the true religion over against the often-contradictory philosophies of the Greeks. Josephus points to the superior consistency & reliability of the Hebrew scriptures.
“For we have…but only 22 books which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and of them five belong to Moses…but as to the time from the death of Moses until the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets who were after Moses wrote down what was done in their times in 13 books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God & precepts for the conduct of human life.”
In prior blogs, we’ve noted that the 24-book Hebrew canon had three major sections: the law, the prophets (Nevi’im) and the writings (Ketuvim). Here Josephus describes the Hebrew canon by grouping the books according to their historical contribution. The five books of Moses he sets apart, followed by 13 later works.
Josephus never explicitly names the books. However, based on his other writings & additional sources, we can discern his thinking. He begins with the traditional 8 prophetic books: the four “former” prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings) & the four “latter” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel & “the Twelve”). To these Josephus adds the books of Daniel, Ezra/Nehemiah, Chronicles, Job & Esther. He almost certainly grouped these books together because they contain large sections of historical narrative. Remember, Josephus is a historian and his primarily concern was vouching for the reliability of Israel’s history.
The remaining four books (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & Song of Songs) Josephus described as containing “hymns to God & precepts for the conduct of human life.”
Like some other Jews, Josephus likely appended the book of Ruth to Judges, since the story of Ruth transpired during that time period. He also probably attached Lamentations to Jeremiah because Jeremiah (with his scribe Baruch) authored those books. In this way Josephus counts 22 sacred books rather than the more typical 24. But the key point is that it’s the same material, just arranged differently.
It’s also important to recognize the Biblical time frame Josephus provides. He writes, “from the death of Moses until the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets who were after Moses wrote down what was done in their times.” He then adds, “It is true that our history has been written since Artaxerxes…but has not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers, because there has not been an exact succession of prophets since that time.”
Here we find a clear reference to the closing of the Jewish canon. Josephus clearly believed that only accredited prophets had the authority to compose sacred scripture. And the line of prophets who possessed such authority had ended during the reign of the Persian King Artaxerxes.
A bit of history is helpful here. King Xerxes I reigned over the Persian Empire from 485 to 465 BC. Scholars believe that Xerxes I corresponds to King Ahasuerus who played a central role in the book of Esther. Xerxes was followed by his son Artaxerxes I, who ruled from 464 until 424 BC. The scriptures inform us that Ezra arrived in Jerusalem during the 7th year of Artaxerxes (458 BC) and that Nehemiah returned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in the 20th year of Artaxerxes (445 BC). We also know that the book of Malachi dates to around 420 BC.
Based on this information, we can see that Josephus’ time frame for the cessation of prophecy corresponds neatly with the (chronologically) last books of the Jewish canon: Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah & Malachi.
Josephus acknowledges that additional Jewish writings were produced after the time of Artaxerxes. But he is quite explicit in stating that these later writings did not possess the authority of sacred scriptures. We shall discuss these additional writings in future blogs.
What conclusion can we draw from Josephus’ discussion of the Jewish canon? Based on his account, we learn that the Jews in the first century rather uniformly acknowledged a sacred body of writings composed by genuine prophets inspired by the God of Israel. And we can be confident that the scriptures recognized by Josephus (our most important first century witness) corresponds to the Protestant Old Testament.
