The Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus: A Biographical Investigation

ather the conflict between the Roman soldiers and the Jews continued unabated. And it was
precisely the robbers, above all, who carried on the battle from the Jewish side. So how should
Josephus have come already at that time to the thought that he was standing in an era that
would, in a completely different manner than earlier, grow into a Jewish-Roman War?
How could he suspect, in light of the minor skirmishes, that these would become the prelude
to the great tragedy of the Jewish people, about which he did not yet know anything?
To be sure, in light of the completely different governmental and intergovernmental
relations, the outbreak of the war represents for our present time a decisive turning point,
[which would] not be mistaken even by its contemporaries [now]; but this did not hold true in
those times when unrest had existed for decades and was forcefully suppressed without
shaking the status of the Jewish state as a whole. Admittedly, we may rightly recognize a
symbol of the coming times in all this unrest, but still only because we are acquainted with the
outcome. But no person knows what the historical significance of his own time [is to be]. We
sense this best of all in the face of the present time, which holds so many totally diverse issues.
In truth, herein lies the explanation for Josephus’ peculiar conduct with respect to the Roman
issue, which he could not recognize as such in its significance. He is still filled solely with the
issues that affected Galilee [but] made no difference to later times; but this is only conceivable
before the fall of Jerusalem. And since Josephus could not compose the administrative report
during his captivity, therefore the writing originated before the beginning of the
siege of Jotapata. We are repeatedly being led to this point in time.
As a result, the literary critical relationship between the administrative report and the
War only now acquires its correct elucidation [Beleuchtung] as well. As we have seen, the War
was based upon the administrative report in such a way that it adopted its stock of facts, but
gave it another historical colouring [124] by falsifying the facts in honour of Agrippa and
Titus. Now after his capture Josephus entered into the service of these persons directly, after
he has flattered them in every imaginable way. As a result, however, it is impossible that he
wrote anything at all after his capture in Jotapata, which he would then have had to adjust for
the War later on for the sake of Agrippa and Titus. From this it follows, however, that the view
of the administrative report did not correspond to the opinions that Josephus believed he had
to assume with Agrippa and Titus; therefore the report is older than the moment
from which Josephus, to all intents and p urposes, attuned his existence to
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