Post by rakovsky on Apr 30, 2019 20:08:54 GMT -8
Josephus' LIFE is his autobiography. You can find it online in Loeb's translation here: archive.org/details/josephuswithengl01joseuoft/page/n5
(Question 1: Solved) Does Josephus' story of one "Herod" rescuing him with his guard James sound realistic? Is it more likely an allegorical allusion to Jesus' brother James, King Herod, and Josephus than a literal recounting of his experience?
(B) The apostle James' death when James made a speech from an elevated place and was knocked down and killed.
(C) King Herod, who had built the city of Tiberias, ruled the nation in agreement with the Romans, and (I suppose) gave political patronage and protection to Josephus, who had acted as a Galilean governor. Herod's rule may have in effect protected St. James too, because it was only in absence of the Romans' temporary rulership over Jerusalem, according to Josephus' account of Jesus' brother James' death, that the priests killed St. James.
Here is Josephus' account of his own rescue in Tiberias:
In Loeb's translation, Herod carries only Josephus:
The bases for my thinking that the story is allegorical are (1) that it sounds unrealistic for Josephus and James to literally escape on the back of Herod, and (2) it sounds like the story shares numerous similarities with the stories of St. James and Herod.
On the other hand, Loeb's translation is better and it would be more realistic if the "Herod" were a strong man and Josephus were not a big. Plus, Herod could have been carrying Josephus as a sign to the crowd that he was vouching for Josephus and protecting him.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any scholars commenting on this passage in Josephus' Life.
(Question 2: Solved) Was the Epaphroditus to whom Josephus dedicated his work a Christian or Christian sympathizer?
Paul writes about his messenger Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25-30;4:18-22:
So here, Paul sent Epaphroditus, whom he called his companion in labour who had been sick nigh unto death for the work of Christ, as a messenger back to the Philippians. He also told the Philippians that the saints of Caesar's household (ie. Nero's court and establishment) saluted them. This opens up in my mind the possibility that Epaphroditus himself was involved with Nero's court.
Josephus concludes his autobiography by dedicating it to Epaphroditus:
He also opens his apologetic essay "Against Apion" by addressing Epaphroditus (Loeb's translation):
And in his Preface to the Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus writes that Epaphroditus' encouragement was a principle reason for his writing the Antiquities, as he excites abled people (like Josephus) to join their endeavors to his:
Epaphroditus' involvement in "great affairs", as well as the fact that Josephus doesn't give more specifics, suggests that he was a well-known person, maybe involved in political events (like with the imperial court). Josephus' passage suggests that the Antiquities are in some way connected with Epaphroditus' own endeavors. It could be that the book agrees with his love for history, or it could be that he has a special interest in Jewish history.
Whiston in his footnotes believes that this Epaphroditus wasn't the one whom Paul spoke of, but I don't find Whiston's reasoning clear or convincing, and some other writers believe that the two Epaphrodituses are the same person.
Thackeray writes in his Introduction to the Antiquities:
Here is a statue of M. Mettius Epaphroditus:
Jona Lendering and Bill Thayer write on their academic blog:
Robert Eisenman, in his online Jerusalem Post article "Paul's 'Comrade-in-Arms' Epaphroditus and the First Gospels" (08/26/2013) argues that the Epaphroditus in Paul's epistle is the same one whom Suetonius wrote was a secretary for both Nero and Domitian.
(Question 1: Solved) Does Josephus' story of one "Herod" rescuing him with his guard James sound realistic? Is it more likely an allegorical allusion to Jesus' brother James, King Herod, and Josephus than a literal recounting of his experience?
I think that it sounds realistic, since I realize that I had been misreading it as if Josephus and James both jumped onto Herod's back.
Because of the similarities between the events and figures,
(A) Josephus' making a speech from an elevated place in the city of Tiberias, rebel soldiers coming to kill him there, and him jumping down from it with a guard named "James" onto the back of "Herod" of Tiberias reminds me of the story of:(B) The apostle James' death when James made a speech from an elevated place and was knocked down and killed.
(C) King Herod, who had built the city of Tiberias, ruled the nation in agreement with the Romans, and (I suppose) gave political patronage and protection to Josephus, who had acted as a Galilean governor. Herod's rule may have in effect protected St. James too, because it was only in absence of the Romans' temporary rulership over Jerusalem, according to Josephus' account of Jesus' brother James' death, that the priests killed St. James.
Here is Josephus' account of his own rescue in Tiberias:
17. ...But when I was in the open place of the city, having dismissed the guards I had about me, excepting one, and ten armed men that were with him, I attempted to make a speech to the multitude of the people of Tiberias: and, standing on a certain elevated place, I entreated them not to be so hasty in their revolt; for that such a change in their behavior would be to their reproach, and that they would then justly be suspected by those that should be their governors hereafter, as if they were not likely to be faithful to them neither.
18. But before I had spoken all I designed, I heard one of my own domestics bidding me come down, for that it was not a proper time to take care of retaining the good-will of the people of Tiberias, but to provide for my own safety, and escape my enemies there; for John had chosen the most trusty of those armed men that were about him out of those thousand that he had with him, and had given them orders when he sent them, to kill me, having learned that I was alone, excepting some of my domestics. So those that were sent came as they were ordered, and they had executed what they came about, had I not leaped down from the elevation I stood on, and with one of my guards, whose name was James, been carried [out of the crowd] upon the back of one Herod of Tiberias, and guided by him down to the lake, where I seized a ship, and got into it, and escaped my enemies unexpectedly, and came to Tarichese.
18. But before I had spoken all I designed, I heard one of my own domestics bidding me come down, for that it was not a proper time to take care of retaining the good-will of the people of Tiberias, but to provide for my own safety, and escape my enemies there; for John had chosen the most trusty of those armed men that were about him out of those thousand that he had with him, and had given them orders when he sent them, to kill me, having learned that I was alone, excepting some of my domestics. So those that were sent came as they were ordered, and they had executed what they came about, had I not leaped down from the elevation I stood on, and with one of my guards, whose name was James, been carried [out of the crowd] upon the back of one Herod of Tiberias, and guided by him down to the lake, where I seized a ship, and got into it, and escaped my enemies unexpectedly, and came to Tarichese.
In Loeb's translation, Herod carries only Josephus:
They duly arrived and would have done their business, had I not instantly leapt from the parapet, with James my bodyguard, and been further aided by one Herod of Tiberias, who picked me up and conducted me to the lake, where I seized a boat, embarked, and escaping thus beyond all expectation from my enemies, reached Tarichaeae.
The bases for my thinking that the story is allegorical are (1) that it sounds unrealistic for Josephus and James to literally escape on the back of Herod, and (2) it sounds like the story shares numerous similarities with the stories of St. James and Herod.
On the other hand, Loeb's translation is better and it would be more realistic if the "Herod" were a strong man and Josephus were not a big. Plus, Herod could have been carrying Josephus as a sign to the crowd that he was vouching for Josephus and protecting him.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any scholars commenting on this passage in Josephus' Life.
(Question 2: Solved) Was the Epaphroditus to whom Josephus dedicated his work a Christian or Christian sympathizer?
Paul writes about his messenger Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25-30;4:18-22:
25. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
26. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
27. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
30. Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.
...
18. But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
19. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
20. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
21. Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you.
22. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.
26. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
27. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
28. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
30. Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.
...
18. But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
19. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
20. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
21. Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you.
22. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household.
So here, Paul sent Epaphroditus, whom he called his companion in labour who had been sick nigh unto death for the work of Christ, as a messenger back to the Philippians. He also told the Philippians that the saints of Caesar's household (ie. Nero's court and establishment) saluted them. This opens up in my mind the possibility that Epaphroditus himself was involved with Nero's court.
Josephus concludes his autobiography by dedicating it to Epaphroditus:
Whiston's translation:
But to thee, O Epaphroditus, thou most excellent of men! do I dedicate all this treatise of our Antiquities; and so, for the present, I here conclude the whole.
Loeb's translation:
Having now, most excellent Epaphroditus, rendered you a complete account of our antiquities, I shall here for the present conclude my narrative.
FOOTNOTE: The Life (at least in its final edition) formed an appendix to the Antiquities.
But to thee, O Epaphroditus, thou most excellent of men! do I dedicate all this treatise of our Antiquities; and so, for the present, I here conclude the whole.
Loeb's translation:
Having now, most excellent Epaphroditus, rendered you a complete account of our antiquities, I shall here for the present conclude my narrative.
FOOTNOTE: The Life (at least in its final edition) formed an appendix to the Antiquities.
He also opens his apologetic essay "Against Apion" by addressing Epaphroditus (Loeb's translation):
In my history of our Antiquities, most excellent Epaphroditus, I have, I think, made sufficiently clear to any who may peruse that work the extreme antiquity of our Jewish race, the purity of the original stock, and the manner in which it established itself in the country which we occupy today.
And in his Preface to the Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus writes that Epaphroditus' encouragement was a principle reason for his writing the Antiquities, as he excites abled people (like Josephus) to join their endeavors to his:
However, some persons there were who desired to know our history, and so exhorted me to go on with it; and, above all the rest, Epaphroditus, (4) a man who is a lover of all kind of learning, but is principally delighted with the knowledge of history, and this on account of his having been himself concerned in great affairs, and many turns of fortune, and having shown a wonderful rigor of an excellent nature, and an immovable virtuous resolution in them all. I yielded to this man's persuasions, who always excites such as have abilities in what is useful and acceptable, to join their endeavors with his.
Epaphroditus' involvement in "great affairs", as well as the fact that Josephus doesn't give more specifics, suggests that he was a well-known person, maybe involved in political events (like with the imperial court). Josephus' passage suggests that the Antiquities are in some way connected with Epaphroditus' own endeavors. It could be that the book agrees with his love for history, or it could be that he has a special interest in Jewish history.
Whiston in his footnotes believes that this Epaphroditus wasn't the one whom Paul spoke of, but I don't find Whiston's reasoning clear or convincing, and some other writers believe that the two Epaphrodituses are the same person.
Thackeray writes in his Introduction to the Antiquities:
The work, like the Life and the Contra Apionem which followed it, is dedicated to a certain Epaphroditus, the Maecenas whom Josephus found when bereft of his earlier royal patrons, Vespasian and Titus, The name Epaphroditus was not uncommon; but of those who bore it and of whom we have any record, two only come under consideration. Niese and others have identified the patron of Josephus with the freedman and secretary of Nero, who remained with that emperor to the last and assisted him to put an end to himself- an act for which he was afterwards banished and slain by Domitian, when in terror of designs upon his own life. The philosopher Epictetus was the freedman of this Epaphroditus; and when Josephus describes his patron as 'conversant with large affairs and varying turns of fortune' (tikhais politrois), it is tempting to see an allusion to the part which he had played in the death of Nero. But chronology refutres this identification:
93-94. First edition of the Antiquities
c.95-96. Banishment and death of Epaphroditus.
Yet the dedication to Epaphroditus reappears both in the Life (after 100) and in the C.Apionem, which also followed the Antiquities and hardly so soon as the year 94-95, as Niese supposes. With far more reason may we identify this new patron with Marcus Mettius Epaphroditus, a grammarian - mentioned by Suidas - who had been trained in Alexandria and spent the latter part of his life, from the reign of Nero to that of Nerva, in ROme, where he amassed a library of 30,000 books and enjoyed a high reputation for learning, especially as a writer on Homer and the Greek poets. To him and to his large library Josephus may well owe some of his learning, in particular that intimate acquaintance with Homeric problems and Greek mythology displayed in the Contra Apionem.
93-94. First edition of the Antiquities
c.95-96. Banishment and death of Epaphroditus.
Yet the dedication to Epaphroditus reappears both in the Life (after 100) and in the C.Apionem, which also followed the Antiquities and hardly so soon as the year 94-95, as Niese supposes. With far more reason may we identify this new patron with Marcus Mettius Epaphroditus, a grammarian - mentioned by Suidas - who had been trained in Alexandria and spent the latter part of his life, from the reign of Nero to that of Nerva, in ROme, where he amassed a library of 30,000 books and enjoyed a high reputation for learning, especially as a writer on Homer and the Greek poets. To him and to his large library Josephus may well owe some of his learning, in particular that intimate acquaintance with Homeric problems and Greek mythology displayed in the Contra Apionem.
Here is a statue of M. Mettius Epaphroditus:
Jona Lendering and Bill Thayer write on their academic blog:
The Roman courtier and patron of the arts, Epaphroditus, is an intrigueing man – or perhaps we must use the plural, Epaphroditi. Our sources mention two people:
* An influential courtier during the reign of Nero, who eventually helped the emperor commit suicide, retired, was patron of the philosopher Epictetus, and was killed by Domitian;
* A grammarian named Marcus Mettius Epaphroditus, who founded a library and several schools in Rome during the reign of the Flavian emperors.
Because the second man becomes “visible” in our sources when the first one disappears, it is possible that they are identical. The issue has some importance, because an Epaphroditus was patron of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. The interpretation of his splendid Against the Greeks depends partly on the identification of the correct Epaphroditus.
...the little statue is in the Palazzo Altieri in Rome, opposite the San Gesù.
SOURCE: rambambashi.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/epaphroditus-neros-assassin-josephus-protector/
* An influential courtier during the reign of Nero, who eventually helped the emperor commit suicide, retired, was patron of the philosopher Epictetus, and was killed by Domitian;
* A grammarian named Marcus Mettius Epaphroditus, who founded a library and several schools in Rome during the reign of the Flavian emperors.
Because the second man becomes “visible” in our sources when the first one disappears, it is possible that they are identical. The issue has some importance, because an Epaphroditus was patron of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. The interpretation of his splendid Against the Greeks depends partly on the identification of the correct Epaphroditus.
...the little statue is in the Palazzo Altieri in Rome, opposite the San Gesù.
SOURCE: rambambashi.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/epaphroditus-neros-assassin-josephus-protector/
- there are 70 faces to 
