User:Ret.Prof/Josephus on Jesus
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JOSEPHUS ON JESUS
Josephus | |
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Born | Yosef ben Matityahu 37 AD |
Died | c. 100 |
Known for | Writings about the historical Jesus |
Spouse(s) | Captured Jewish woman Alexandrian Jewish woman Greek Jewish woman from Crete |
Children | Flavius Hyrcanus Flavius Simonides Agrippa Flavius Justus |
Parent(s) | Matthias Jewish noblewoman |
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Titus Flavius Josephus, who was born in Jerusalem about five years after the death of Jesus (37 CE), was an important Hebrew historiographer from that time period. [1] Josephus spoke Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. He resided in Jerusalem at the time of James the Just (the brother of Jesus) and was later sent to head the Jewish military forces in Galilee, where Jesus had lived for most of his life. This would make Josephus an important witness to the formation of Christianity. He eventually found favor in Rome where he composed a detailed history of the Hebrew people.
The writings of Josephus are considered important because they give us a detailed understanding of the culture or Sitz im Leben in which Jesus and his followers lived. Josephus also devoted important sections not only to Jesus himself, but to John the Baptist and James the Just who was the first leader of the Christian community in Jerusalem after the death of Jesus. Over the years the writings of Josephus have been the subject of intense scholarly analysis.