Flavius Josephus — Jewish Historian (37 – 100 AD), Father: Mathias (a Priest); Mother: of the Hasmonian Dynasty; He claimed to be a fourth-generation descendant of High Priest “Jonathan” but didn’t follow his priestly line back to a traditional Levite such as Zadok or Aaron. He wrote books on the history of the Jews, such as Antiquities of the Jews, The Jewish War, and his autobiography, The Life of Josephus.
Josephus is respected by theological scholars as a source of information from the early days of the church although Jews consider him a traitor. However, “By the 20th century, Jewish attitudes toward Josephus had softened, as he gave the Jews a respectable place in classical history.” [Note 1]
In his video Why Josephus Matters, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPXA1NzAIpw, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place says, “Josephus is our single most important source for the history of Judea in the First Century AD (the time of Jesus), but his own bias and agenda require his works to be read with care.”
So let’s look at who he was, what he wrote and what he believed.
First of all he was a Pharisee and a Hasmonean… WORKING
Some aspects of his beliefs:
— Hellenistic Judaism (included Graeco-Roman ideas) [Note 2]
— believed Jews could practice polygamy: “Let the Hebrews marry at the age fit for it, virgins that are free, and born of good parents. …If any one has two wives,…” [followed by a discussion of fair treatment for the wives and their children.] [Note 3]
— a self-proclaimed Pharisee [see more about the Pharisees HERE]
— “But he was controlled by political motives: his great purpose was to bring his people, the despised Jewish race, into honour with the Greeks and Romans; and this purpose underlay every sentence, and filled his history with distortions and exaggerations.” [Note 4]
— defined the biblical canon as 22 books but did not list them anywhere. This contradicts the 39 books of Bible canon. [Even combining 1st and 2nds, the canon can’t add up to only 22 books. Why didn’t he list them?] [Note 5]
According to his outobiography: “The Life of Flavius Josephus” he told us the following:
— At age 16 he determined to study 3 sects and choose 1: Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. He studied the Essene sect under “Banus who lived in the desert, and used no other clothing than grew upon trees; and had no other food than what grew of its own accord…” [Note 6]
— At age 19 he “returned back to the city; … and began to conduct my self according to the rules of the sect of the Pharisees: which is kin to the sect of the Stoicks, as the Greek call them.” [see Acts 17:18] [Note 7]
He wrote this about the Essenes in his “Of the War — Book II”: — These are the divine doctrines of the Essens about the soul, which lay an unavoidable bait for such as have once had a taste of their philosophy. There are also those who undertake to foretel things to come, by reading the holy books, and using several sorts of purifications, and being perpetually conversant in the discourses of the prophets; and it is but seldom that they miss in their predictions. [Note 7]
Notes:
1. Wikipedia. Josephus. 27 February 2026.
2. Wikipedia (ibid) — Josephus was a “Jew who believed in the compatibility of Judaism and Graeco-Roman thought, commonly referred to as Hellenistic Judaism.” Harris, Stephen L. (1985). Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. ISBN 978-0-87484-696-6.]
3. Flavius Josephus. Of the Antiquity of the Jews. Book 4 Chapter 8.23
4. Wikipedia (ibid) — Ritter, Carl (1866). The Comparative Geographie of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula. T. & T. Clark.
5. Flavius Josephus. Of the Antiquity of the Jews. 1.8: Against Apion: “For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us,… [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty-two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine.”
6. Flavius Josephus. The Life of Flavius Josephus. 1.2
7. Flavius Josephus. Of the War — Book II 8.11-12