Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/627

JOSEPHUS. interpolated into it, perhaps by Eusebius, who, there is reason to fear, was quite capable of the fraud, perhaps by some earlier Christian, not ne- cessarily with a dishonest purpose, but in the way of marginal annotation. (Villoison, Anecd,. Grace. ii. pp. 69—71 ; Routh, Rel. Sac. iv. p. 389; Hei- nichen, Esecurs. ad Euseb. i. 11.) The writings of Josephus have always been con- sidered, and with justice, as indispensable for the theological student. For the determination of various readings, both in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and in the Septuagint version, they are by no means without their vahie, though the}' have been herein certainly over-rated by Whiston. But their chief use consists in such points as their testimony to the striking fulfilment of our Saviour's prophecies, their confirmation of the canon, facts, and statements of Scripture, and the obvious col- lateral aid which they supply for its elucidation. (See Fabr. Bihl. Grace, vol. v. p. 20, &c. ; Gray's Connection of Sacred and Classical Literature^ vol. i. p. 310, &c.) The character of a faithful historian is claimed by Josephus for himself, and has been pretty ge- nerally acknowledged, though, from what has been already said of his anxiety to conciliate his heathen readers, it cannot be admitted without some draw- backs, (c. Ap. i. § 9, Prooem. ad Ant., Frooem. ad Bell. Jud. ; Fabr. Bihl. Grace, vol. v. p. 1 6, &c.) On this subject see Brinch, Exam. Hist. Jos., to the instances adduced by whom we may add our author's omission of the promises to Eve, and Abraham, and Jacob, of the delivering Seed, and his adoption, with some variations, of the story about Aristeas and the seventy-two translators of the Old Testament. {Ant. i. 1, 13, 19, xii. 2 ; Gen, iii. 15, xxii. 18, xxviii. 14.) His chronology, diifering as it does in many points from that of the Septuagint, as well as from that of the Hebrew text, is too wide a subject to be discussed here. The reader is referred for sa- tisfaction on the point to Vossius, Cliron. Sac. ; Brinch, Exam. Chron. Jos. ; Hale's New Analysis of Chronology ; Stackhouse's Hist, oftlve Bible, ch. 3 ; L'Estrange, Disc, ii., prefixed to his transl. of Josephus ; Spanheim, Chron. Jos. The language of Josephus is remarkably pure, though we meet occasionally with unclassical, or at least unusual, expressions and constructions, in some of which instances, however, the readings are doubtful. On his style in general, and on the dif- ferent character it bears in different portions of his works, the reader will find some sensible remarks in the treatise of Daubuz above referred to (b. ii. §§ 3, &c.). It is characterised by considerable clearness in what may be called the apy^ H-^PV-, such as narrative and discussion ; the speeches which he introduces have much spirit and vigour ; and there is a graphic liveliness, an iudpyeia, in his descriptions, which carries our feelings along with it, and fully justifies the title of the Greek Livy, applied to him by St. Jerome. (Phot. Bibl. p. 33 ; Hieron. ad Eustoch. de Gust. Virg. Ep. xviii. ; Chrys. in Ep. ad Rom. Horn, xxv.) The works of Josephus are as follows : — 1. The History of the Jewish War (irepl tov 'lovSatJcou iroKefiov ^ 'louSa'iKTJs Icrropias irtpl aAotfo-ews), in seven books. Josephus tells us that he wrote it first in his own language, and then translated it into Greek, for the information of European readers {Prooem. ad BcU. Jud. § H. JOSEPHUS. 613 The Hebrew copy is no longer extant. The Greek was published about a. d. 75, under the patronage and with the especial recommendation of Titus. Agrippa II. also, in no fewer than sixty-two letters to Josephus, bore testimony to the care and fidelity displayed in it. It was admitted into the Palatine library, and its author was honoured with a statue at Rome. It commences with the capture of Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes in B.C. 170, runs rapidly over the events before Josephus's own time, and gives a detaik^d account of the fatal war with Rome. (Jos. Vit. 65 ; Euseb. Hist. Eecl. iii. 9 j Hieron. Catal. Script. Eccl. 13; Ittigius, Prolego- mena; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. v. p. 4 ; Voss. de Hist. Graec. p. 239, ed. Westermann.) 2. The Jewish Antiquities ('louSai'/cj/ apx^'oAo- yia), in twenty books, completed about a. d. 93, and addressed to Epaphroditus. The title as well as the number of books may have been sug- gested by the 'Pw/iatfc?) apx^-iokoyia of Dionysius of Halicarnassus. The work extends from the creation of the world to a. d. QG, the 12th year of Nero, in which the Jews were goaded to rebellion by Ges- sius Florus. It embraces therefore, but more in detail, much of the matter of the first and part of the second book of the Jewish war. Both these his- tories are said to have been translated into Hebrew, of which version, however, there are no traces, though some have erroneously identified it with the work of the Pseudo-Josephus Gorionides. [See above, Josephus, No. 10.] 3. His own life, in one book. This is an appendage to the Archaeologia, and is addressed to the same Epaphroditus. It cannot, however, have been written earlier than A. D. 97, since Agrippa II. is mentioned in it as no longer living (§ 65). 4. A treatise on the antiquity of the Jews, or Kara 'Atriuvos, in two books, also addressed to Epaphro- ditus. It is in answer to such as impugned the antiquity of the Jewish nation, on the ground of the silence of Greek writers respecting it. The title, " against Apion," is rather a misnomer, and is applicable only to a portion of the second book {§§ 1 — 13). The treatise exhibits considerable learning, and we have already seen how St. Jerome speaks of it. The Greek text is deficient from § 5 to § 9 of book ii. [ Apollonius of Alabanda, No. 3.] 5. Els MaKKa§alovs, tJ irepl avTOKparopos Ao- yifffiov, in one book. Its genuineness has been called in question by many (see Cave, Hist. Lit, Script. Eccl. p. 22), but it is referred to as a work of Josephus by Eusebius, St. Jerome, Philostorgius, and others. ( See Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vol. v. p. 7 ; Ittigius, Prolegom.) Certainly, however, it does not read like one of his. It is an extremely de- clamatory account of the martyrdom of Eleazar (an aged priest), and of seven youths and their mother, in the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes ; and this is prefaced by a discussion on the supre- macy which reason possesses de jure over pleasure and pain. Its title has reference to the zeal for God's law displayed by the suflFerers in the spirit of the Maccabees. There is a paraphrase of it by Erasmus ; and in some Greek copies of the Bible it was inserted as the fourth book of the Maccabees (Fabr. I. c.). 6. The treatise irepX rod travros was certainly not written by Josephus. For an account of it see Photius, Bibl. xlviii. ; Fabr. Bibl. Graec. vol. v. p, 8 ; Ittigius. Froleg. ad fin. hr 3