The Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus: A Biographical Investigation

therefore is seriously entertaining the thought of keeping the grain that is being stored in
Galilee for the Romans, where there can be absolutely no doubt that such a repository of grain
in Galilee must have been of highly singular importance for the Romans who were waging war.
Josephus, however, does not presume even the slightest astonishment in the reader for his
idea [that is] totally impossible from the standpoint of the War and the added segments. In
light of section 72 there is no possibility at all other than that in the relevant moment Josephus
was not at all thinking that he was at war with the Romans, and section 78 is now indeed
properly clarified by this: Josephus feels obliged to stand up for the protection of
the Romans as well. So it is also only logical if the first action of Josephus himself in Galilee
was to protect the Sepphorites who were being persecuted by the Galileans because of their
friendship with Rome (section 30).
From the remnants of the old administrative report we thus gain a clear self-contained
picture of Josephus’ first appearance in Galilee. He was sent as envoy in order to persuade the
robbers to lay down their arms; just like those who had commissioned him – he sees the enemy
in these [robbers], whereas there is so little thought of a war with Rome that Josephus, by
contrast, shows himself to be filled with concern for the Romans and their followers. From this
observation it follows that sections 28 and 29 have also undergone later expansions. They
belong, in their basis, to the old administrative report as has already been stressed frequently,
which is why they see only the envoy in Josephus; on the other hand, in two passages Josephus
is influenced by the assumption that he is in a [state of] war with Rome. But both passages
stand out from the surrounding [text] so completely that I may well offer the Greek text
forthwith. It likely read as follows: ... οἱ πρῶτοι θεασάμενοι τοὺς μὲν λῃστὰς ἅμα τοῖς
νεωτερισταῖς εὐπορουμένους ὅπλων, δείσαντες δ’ αὐτοὶ μὴ ἄνοπλοι καθεστηκότες ὑποχείριοι
γένωνται τοῖς ἐχθροῖς // πέμπουσιν ἐμὲ καὶ δύο ἄλλους τῶν ἱερέων καλοὺς κα’γαθοὺς ἄνδρας,
Ἰώζαρον καὶ Ἰούδαν, πείσοντας τοὺς πονηροὺς καταθέσθαι τὰ ὅπλα. // Λαβὼν οὖν ἐγὼ τὰς
ὑποθήκας ταύτας ἀφικόμην εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν ...
Only now does it become clear how the word ὑποθήκας is related to Josephus’ mandate
described above, although it is separated from it by a disruptive sentence in the expanded text
format [that has been] transmitted [to us]. It is only in the first sentence [following the
expansion] that the structure now becomes understandable: “Since the principal men of
Jerusalem had observed, and since they were afraid on the basis of what they had observed,
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