The Jewish Historian Flavius Josephus: A Biographical Investigation

area for some time? And why are the Tiberians missing, who were also against John according
to the War? We see here too that we are dealing with a vesitge [Überlebsel] of the view that has
its place in the Life but is completely wrong in the War.
6. According to the Life Josephus was helped in his flight by his bodyguard James and by
a Tiberian, Herod. In so doing, this one Tiberian stands out conspicuously from the mass of
people from Tiberias who are hostilely disposed towards Josephus. But if the Tiberians as a
whole were well disposed towards Josephus, then the emphasis on this one man could no
longer have any sense. For this reason Josephus turns the Tiberian into a second bodyguard in
War 619. The original is therefore given in the Life; the modification is in the War.
In view of such observations, the fundamental fact is obvious to anyone who
understands something about source criticism, that the version of the Life is the original one,
and that the report of the War was formed in such a way that Josephus intended to make it
known that his attitude towards Tiberias and Tarichea had shifted, and therefore he
remodelled the presentation of the Life indeed logically, but as a result of precisely this he
created an inherently impossible narrative. Hence, once again, our finding from chapter 2.3 as
well as from chapter 3.1 is fully confirmed; the old administrative report, which was
composed before the War and later worked into the Life, is a fact that is
unequivocally established.
But beyond this confirmation of our general findings we shall be led to further special
insights here as well. We have seen that John alone is at fault in the War, whereas the
Tiberians, who according [87] to the Life had defected, on the contrary remain true to
Josephus here. Thus Josephus logically had to delete the attack of the town of Tiberias by
Josephus’ followers. His loyal followers can have gathered together only against John of
Gischala, Josephus’ sole opponent. But according to the War he was alone in Tiberias with only
a few companions, hard pressed by the Tiberians and by Josephus’ soldiers. Therefore, if the
“thousands of Galileans” should have still intended to fight against him, then nothing
remained but to remove him from Tiberias and locate him in a spot where he could have forces
around himself against which the Galileans’ attack was possible.
For this reason Josephus has John flee from Tiberias to his hometown Gischala, and the
Galileans in the War logically now turn their hatred, which that they could have had in the Life
against Tiberias, against John and Gischala, the inhabitants of which had taken John in. Thus
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