Thanks for this provocative (mostly Jesus-absent) contribution. For now two piecemeal notes: (1) On the page 112 mention of "even (possibly) Essene leaders" in the revolt, translations of Josephus typically mention one such leader (not more), but this John may not have been an Essene. Abraham Schalit (in Namenwörterbuch zu Flavius Josephus, supplement to the Concordance edited by K.H. Rengstorf, Leiden, 1968, p.34, 46, 66) noted that Essa appears in Josephus as a variant reading for Gerasa, which, Schalit suggests, may indicate that John was not an Essene group member, but merely someone from Gerasa. "Vielleicht ist Essaios in B 2.567 als Ethnikon zu verstehen und mit Gerasenos identisch (vgl. Essa A 13.393 = 1 Gerasa). Dann waere 4 Johannes kein Essener gewesen!" (46) (2) On the page 103 mention of "Essenes martyred" (War 2. 152-153), may I suggest comparing Philo's account, surely written before the (so-called) First Revolt, Every God Man is Free 89-91. There, two sorts of kings have opposed Essenes. Some, ferocious like wild beasts; others, with soft-worded hypocrisy. Philo famously mentioned Essenes, but not Sadducees or Pharisees, at least not explicitly. In "Jannaeus, His Brother Absalom, and Judah the Essene" pages 34-36, I suggest the possibility that the former may include (according to Philo's source, maybe Posidonius or Strabo) Sadducee-influenced rulers (such as the Lion of Wrath, Jannaeus) and the latter, those influenced by Pharisees/seekers of smooth things. http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/jannaeus.pdf
Discussion thread started by Stephen Goranson
Thanks for this provocative (mostly Jesus-absent) contribution. For now two piecemeal notes: (1) On the page 112 mention of "even (possibly) Essene leaders" in the revolt, translations of Josephus typically mention one such leader (not more), but this John may not have been an Essene. Abraham Schalit (in Namenwörterbuch zu Flavius Josephus, supplement to the Concordance edited by K.H. Rengstorf, Leiden, 1968, p.34, 46, 66) noted that Essa appears in Josephus as a variant reading for Gerasa, which, Schalit suggests, may indicate that John was not an Essene group member, but merely someone from Gerasa. "Vielleicht ist Essaios in B 2.567 als Ethnikon zu verstehen und mit Gerasenos identisch (vgl. Essa A 13.393 = 1 Gerasa). Dann waere 4 Johannes kein Essener gewesen!" (46) (2) On the page 103 mention of "Essenes martyred" (War 2. 152-153), may I suggest comparing Philo's account, surely written before the (so-called) First Revolt, Every God Man is Free 89-91. There, two sorts of kings have opposed Essenes. Some, ferocious like wild beasts; others, with soft-worded hypocrisy. Philo famously mentioned Essenes, but not Sadducees or Pharisees, at least not explicitly. In "Jannaeus, His Brother Absalom, and Judah the Essene" pages 34-36, I suggest the possibility that the former may include (according to Philo's source, maybe Posidonius or Strabo) Sadducee-influenced rulers (such as the Lion of Wrath, Jannaeus) and the latter, those influenced by Pharisees/seekers of smooth things. http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/jannaeus.pdf
4 Comments
Jonathan Klawans
6/11/2014 10:44:29
Thanks to Stephen for these helpful notes, shedding further light on these issues (where I purposely hedged my bets with “possibly” and “ostensibly”).
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4/1/2016 23:06:37
Essenes, Pharisees, and Sadducees are mentioned strangely in the writings attributed to Josephus. They all appear without context, i.e. they are interpolations out of the blue. This raises suspicions that they did not exist when they were said to exist.
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Jonathan Klawans
26/1/2016 04:03:53
Thanks for these comments and questions, Geoff. While Josephus’s descriptions of the three groups are intriguing, I do believe that Josephus includes these descriptions in his works purposely (and I argue as much in my book, Josephus and the Theologies of Ancient Judaism). The existence of these groups is, in my view, about as certain as anything we know of the first century. The New Testament mentions Pharisees and Sadducees, as does rabbinic literature. So each one of all three groups is described by three or more independent ancient sources—that’s pretty significant evidence, I think.
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Geoff Hudson
26/1/2016 19:22:57
Jonathan, of course too I believe that Josephus did write with purpose. But whether it was under pressure or not I have to reserve judgement. What was his purpose in writing the Antiquities for example?
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