This result was an entirely unexpected by-product of a two-year research effort to catalog the parallels between 'War of the Jews' and the Gospel of Luke. Some parallels were already known about, but little independent research had been done, suggesting it was a ripe area to explore.
I had certainly not expected to discover that Josephus Flavius' own life is written as a parable, or parody, of Jesus Christ, not least since Josephus is widely assumed to be a reputable historical writer. The document in question - 'War of the Jews' - is the official roman government's account of the war, which Josephus prefaces by explaining that he had been given authorization to write it on behalf of the Roman government, and it is widely cited as one of the most important historical documents of that era, so for him to insert his life story in a manner designed to parallel Jesus' life is strange to the point of extraordinary.
What makes this all the more astonishing, is that Josephus' seemingly 'innocent' and 'in-passing' references to Jesus Christ in his publication 'War of the Jews', are widely cited as offering the only independent and contemporary evidence that Jesus existed. So discovering that Josephus' life story, as described in the same document, is a cleverly hidden, yet very detailed parody of Jesus Christ's story, should make us question whether those references to Jesus' story were in fact 'innocent' or 'in-passing'.
Incredible claims require incredible evidence, so it seems reasonable for me to include the evidence - i.e. the parallels between the two stories - right here, on this webpage, directly below.
Skeptical readers are encouraged to fact-check them; the Gospel of Luke is obviously trivial to find online, however 'War of the Jews' is also easily accessible in English, on a variety of independent websites - for the famous and widely read version* just type 'War of the Jews, Josephus Flavius, full text' into any search engine.
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Before I list the parallels, I would like to draw attention to some curious aspects of Josephus Flavius' story of his life and capture, which is found in the middle of the roman account of the war; 'War of the Jews':
As most historians will know, Josephus Flavius was originally called Josephus Matthias, and he writes that he had become the Jewish religious leader, their military general, and the supreme commander of the Jewish forces, and had frustrated the Roman invasion until his defeat at the siege of Jotapata, after which he switched sides and became accepted into the Roman ruling family - the Flavians. If you say it quickly enough, it doesn't sound that strange.
But his story is not only famous - it is quite suspect. And here are four reasons:
1. In the middle of 'War of the Jews', Josephus moves on from describing the previous century of conflict, and recounts his capture by the Romans. Strangely, he claims that he, as their general, had not only predicted that they would be defeated, but also had prophesied - correct to the day - that it would happen after 47 days. Now, unless you believe Josephus benefited from divine inspiration - which neither Christians nor Jews do - to correctly make such a prediction is truly implausible. But, in addition, it would be unthinkable for a general who is trying to rally his troops, to issue such a prophecy - or, put differently, it is implausible that a general could remain in charge of his troops, having prophesied defeat would occur in a specified number of days.
2. 'War of the Jews' which has Josephus as it's stated author, continues his story - which for this middle section is essentially autobiographical - saying that as the Romans came in and slaughtered the city, he had taken refuge in an underground den, with 40 others, all of whom wanted to commit mass suicide, and had threatened to kill him when he suggested to surrender instead. But then he recounts that he agreed to the mass-suicide bid, but said they should play a game of drawing straws to decide who should kill who.
So far the story is perhaps believable. The 40 men take turns drawing lots for who was to be killed next, and on each of the 38 times that they drew lots, Josephus didn't get chosen. Yet somehow these 40 'eminent' men duly killed each other one by one, with nobody saying 'hey, shouldn't we make sure that the one person that was going to weasel out of it, doesn't get to go last?'. It's not implausible that Josephus was in the final two who then failed to kill each other - it's the idea that 40 'eminent' men of the city, would kill themselves to achieve a mass-suicide bid, without noticing that the one objector among them - who they had threatened to kill for his objections no less - was being left to last.
3. A third example is where Josephus (again correctly) prophesied that the Roman Generals responsible for the invasion, would become emperors. To correctly identify that those two men (rather than other generals such as Placidus and Cerealis, say), were 'fated' to become emperors, is highly implausible per se. But it is also implausible he would say such a dangerous thing, since it puts Vespasian and Titus in the position that they must either punish him for saying it, or else risk being seen as enemies of the current emperor, Nero.
4. Having made this wonderfully accurate prophecy, Josephus recounts that he got adopted by the emperor to be a family member and thus a royal, as a result, being given tax free status and lands too. The result was that Josephus went from being a royal of one side of the war, to being adopted into the royal family of the opposing side, in the space of a few years.
To appreciate how absurd this is, we must understand that this was no minor revolt being suppressed. It was a crushing invasion of Judea, replete with ethnic cleansing and genocide, the rulers of the two sides hated each other with vengeance.
Indeed, at the time it was very much the 'mother of all wars'. If we measure it by the proportion of the world's population directly killed, it was more bloody than World War One and World War Two - put together.
History is always written by the victor, so can you imagine a scenario where a World War ends with the leader of the victorious side adopting the leader of losing side into his inner political circle, and then putting him in charge of their political narratives and publications regarding the war itself? If not, then surely this was equally impossible in the 1st Century AD?
At some point, 'Didn't happen' has to cross the mind of the reader.
(click here to view this as a table)
But that's enough background - Below I set out the evidence that Josephus wrote his own life story so as to contain a detailed series of parallels with the story of Jesus Christ.
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Section 1.
Evidence that Josephus described his capture in 'War of the Jews' in a manner that parallels the story of Jesus, with particular emphasis on Chapter 23 of the Gospel of Luke:
I will begin by detailing the parallels between Josephus' capture , and Jesus Christ's capture, which was the aspect I discovered first. To give a flavor of the parallels, I'll begin with some of the more simple ones:
This is already enough information to suggest the stories might be linked, however I'll now continue listing additional parallels below. In the interests of brevity I will show that they occur in clusters, but highlighting the individual parallels in bold. In each case, Jesus' story is in white, and Josephus' story is in blue. References to 'SJ' indicate that the text is found in the less well-known version of War of the Jews of which the surviving copies are in Old Russian (aka the 'Slavonic Josephus').
8. Jesus was the son of God (Whilst the story indicates that Jesus never claimed this, it is very heavily implied and suggested).
After his capture Josephus, was adopted as a family member (i.e. implicitly as his son), by the Roman General Vespasian, who was also deified by the Senate as a God. So in one sense, Josephus too, was the son of God.
9. Jesus’ teachings match the practices of the little-known Essene sect, suggesting he was a member of it, and therefore also the most important member of it.
Josephus is the only person who published information claiming to be a member of the Essene sect (Vita 2). Also the source of the most information about the practices of the Essene is Josephus' own publication, 'War of the Jews'.
10. Jesus had Messiah credentials, thanks to being descended from King David.
Josephus also had Messiah credentials - the Jews believed their Messiah was going to be a military leader, and that's what Josephus was. But in addition Josephus claimed to be descended from royalty, implying a descent from King David too.
11-12. Jesus’ prophecy was that the city he was in (Jerusalem) and indeed its holy temple, would be left with no stone standing in the timescale of ‘one generation’. The Gospel of John clarifies that the holy temple, believed to be gods seat on earth, had taken 46 years to build.
Josephus' prophecy was that his city (Jotapata) would be captured on the 47th day of the siege (it was taken at dawn) and entirely demolished. In doing so he suggested that it would survive for 46 days (3.7.33)
13-15. Jesus was betrayed to the Romans by a Jew (Judas), and Jesus said ‘Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners’.
Josephus was betrayed to the Romans by a Jew, a deserter who told the Roman General that the last watch of the night at the city walls would fall ‘asleep’ so the Romans should attack ‘at that hour’. (423 / 3.7.33)
16-22. As set out in the Book of Acts, Jesus’ betrayer (Judas) received bribe money, which he used to procure himself a ‘field of blood’, and in which he then fell headlong and died with his guts bursting out. The book of Acts proceeds immediately after this statement to comment: “for it is written in the Psalms: ‘may his place be deserted, with no one to dwell in it, and may another take his position’ .”
Josephus' betrayer procured by his acts that the city would become a battle'field', and the published record states that it ran with blood and that Jews were driven off the cliffs at its edges (meaning they fell headlong). (3.7.34) His place was taken (as city ruler) by Vespasian who had the city entirely destroyed and all the Jews killed or enslaved, such that it was left deserted with nobody to dwell in it. (426 / 3.7.36)
23-27. After Jesus’ betrayer Judas had died in his field of blood, the apostles sought to replace him. The two candidates were Joseph and Matthias. The first of these was also called Barsabbas Justus, but they selected the latter, by lot. When the Romans captured Jesus they kept him in a cell with Barabbas Justus, described as being ‘with those who had committed murder at the insurrection’.
As mentioned, Josephus was subjected to the casting of lots for who should kill who, a process which had left only two men. One was unnamed, and the other was himself; Josephus Matthias. Josephus had a son called Justus, so Justus was a family name of Josephus. (Vita 76) When the Romans took his city he hid in a cavern with forty men, and he was confined with these men who had committed murder at the insurrection (they had threatened insurrection by initially trying to kill him, and then immediately killed each other in a mass suicide pact). (430-433 / 3.8.4-7)
28-29. By the conventions of the time, Jesus could reasonably be referred to as Jesus of Joseph, since his earthly father was Joseph. The owner of Jesus’ grave was Joseph Arimathea.
Josephus' name is given as Josephus, which is the Latin form of Joseph. Prior to his adoption, his name was Josephus Matthias, which has obvious similarity to the name of the owner of Jesus’ grave.
30-33. Jesus talked of the temple of his city saying ‘you have made it a ‘den of robbers’ Jesus was subjected to soldiers casting lots over him, and they parted his clothes.
In the cavern under his city, described as a ‘den’, Josephus was with fellow ‘eminent’ Jews who had swords (high ranking soldiers) who are described in the document as ‘robbers’, for stealing Judea or Jerusalem away from the Roman Empire. These comrades demanded that they all commit suicide, but he had them determine the order of killings my means of these soldiers casting lots, and he survived by luck, cunning, ‘or providence’ (implying an act of God). (3.8.7) During the siege, Josephus devised a strategy to convince the Romans that they were not running out of water, which involved spreading clothing out across the battlements, dripping with water – i.e. soldiers ‘parting clothes’. (403 / 3.7.13)
34-35. The soldiers gave Jesus a gorgeous purple robe (the color exclusive to the emperor, since the dye was more expensive than gold) and a crown of thorns.
After Josephus surrendered, the emperor gave him expensive gifts including suits of clothing (received clothing of an emperor), (435 / 3.8.9) and adopted him as his son, and into the royal family (equivalent to receiving a crown).
36-37. Jesus died at a specific place outside Jerusalem (whose destruction he had predicted). This place was called ‘the place of the skull’.
A compatriot standing with Josephus was hit by a Roman catapult stone which displaced his skull 'half a mile'.* (413 / 3.7.23) Jerusalem’s siege mirrors this, with a prophet called Jesus being killed by a catapult stone whilst predicting Jerusalem’s destruction. (630 / 6.5.3)
*N.B. A skull hit by a stone slung over the city walls by a catapult, would obviously smash. This statement that the skull was moved by half a mile is such an obviously false statement, as to make it clear to the reader that it is fiction. And if this wasn't sufficiently obvious, the statement is followed by a claim that another catapult stone came down and hit a pregnant woman, causing her fetus to be displaced by a twelfth of a mile, which again, is sheer nonsense (as it happens, this might be a reference to the Gospel of Luke where Mary is pregnant with Jesus and the 'babe leapt in her womb' - I haven't assumed this is correct, but if it was it would link WAR 413 to Luke 1:42).
Suffice to say, this is one of the great many reasons why Josephus' story is clearly a parody of Jesus' story, rather than the other way around. But I digress... herewith are further parallels between Josephus' capture by the Romans and Jesus' capture, in their respective Judean cities.
38. Jesus’ body was taken and put in a grave.
Josephus, the supreme commander, fled to a hidden underground cave with forty 'eminent' companions – implicitly soldiers or officers. These men proceeded to systematically kill each other, so he was in a grave in all but name. (433 / 3.8.7)
39. This grave was a sepulcher: i.e an underground chamber with an entrance at the side (rather than above).
This ‘grave’ was an underground den extending sideways from a pit that concealed its entrance (427 / 3.8.1)
40-41. This grave belonged to a man called Joseph, and had not been used as a grave before.
The same is true in Josephus' story, because, with Josephus being the ruler of the city above, and also the occupier of this 'grave' he clearly could claim it as his.
42-45. Thanks to ‘supernatural providence’ (i.e. the intervention of God) Jesus spent two days in the grave, only to be raised alive on the third day. The person who led them to Jesus' grave is stated as being a woman, and indeed one who had been with him previously.
Josephus similarly spends two days in the 'grave' only to be raised to the surface alive on the Roman General's orders. Josephus suggests his survival might be due to 'supernatural providence'. (427 / 3.8.1) The person who led the romans to Josephus' grave is stated as being a woman who had been with Josephus previously. (427 / 3.8.1)
46-48. The entrance of Jesus' grave was guarded by many Roman soldiers. Those who arrived at Jesus' grave found two men inside it, alive.
The entrance of Josephus' 'grave' was guarded by many Roman soldiers so that he wouldn't escape. (427-429 / 3.8.1-3) Those who arrived at Josephus' 'grave' found two men (one of them being him) in it alive, along with 38 who were dead. (433 / 3.8.7)
49. The person who raised Jesus from the grave was God.
The official account says the person who raised him from the grave to the surface, was Vespasian. Vespasian went on to be deified, and thus in a sense was a God. (427-428 / 3.8.1-2)
50-53. And the two people they found alive in Jesus’ grave were kneeling, and were wearing ‘shining garments’, and the Gospel comments that (unspecified) people were afraid, and asked ‘why do you look for him among the dead’.
Josephus and his sole surviving compatriot surrendered (implicitly afraid and kneeling or similar), and since Josephus, the supreme commander, had fled the battlefield, it is implicit that he at least wore a breastplate - a ‘shining garment’, and they were among 38 dead men. (433 / 3.8.7)
54-56. The person who attended the grave, and had defended him (at the Sandrehin), was Nicodemus (meaning ‘victory of the people’), a ruler of the Jews.
The one person who both attended the grave, and had defended him (from the soldiers wishing to set fire to it), was Nicanor (meaning ‘victory of man’ or ‘ruler’). (429 / 3.8.3)
57-58. Jesus was filled with the holy spirit. Luke adds that ‘In that hour Jesus was glad in the Spirit.’
When captured in the cave, Josephus was ‘in that hour filled with the spirit, and interpreted visions in dreams and prayed to God.’
59-66. In the grave Jesus was dead, but afterwards he was alive again (the resurrection). Jesus’ mother came to the grave and found he was no longer in it (she had failed in her attempt to leave him buried). So his followers returned to Jerusalem saying ‘the Lord has risen and appeared to Simon. Then Jesus came and showed his wounds to some of his followers near Jerusalem, and he asked if they had food and ate broiled fish and honey (which is golden).
During Josephus’ capture at the destruction of Jotapata, he wasn’t dead in that ‘grave’. But later, at the corresponding destruction of Jerusalem Josephus was believed by the multitude to be dead, but then recovered and was found to be alive, with both events causing great consternation. This caused his mother who was in prison to lament that she could not bury him. And then [SJ - he showed] his wounds to his followers in Jerusalem, who were watched by Simon so they could not defect. But many succeeding in escaping to the Romans and were given ‘gentle nourishment’, although the Syrians ripped thousands of them apart believing they had swallowed gold (5.13.3) and this story proceeds [JS- 5.13.7 to mention Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus]
67-72. As such Jesus was a man disguised as a lamb being sacrificed according to the mandatory Passover ritual set out in Exodus 12, for his flesh to be eaten. According to the custom of the time, this ritual involves the lamb being skewered lengthways and roasted on a spit. And the soldiers took a spear and stuck it in Jesus’ ribs. And Jesus performed a miracle feeding 5,000 who sat down in fifties (mirroring the formation of an army).
Josephus had his men disguise themselves with sheepskins so as to look like dogs (i.e. men disguised like sheep). (404 / 3.7.14) [JS- 441 / 3.9.6 says when he surrendered the Jews were in such anger that they ‘would have devoured him with their teeth’]. The most significant casualty – the sole casualty on the Roman side – was a man who had climbed down to some survivors hiding in an underground cavern, receiving a spear straight up under the groin. (i.e. a man skewered lengthways). (425 / 3.7.35) [This is an example where the second version of the document, (Slavonic Josephus) offers a different story, saying that then he stretched out his arm… the other man stabbed him with a spear in the ribs… and the number of captives was 5,000]
73-78. Jesus was the lamb of God, and was hung from a wooden cross. There were three crosses with men on. Jesus’ death was marked by the sun being darkened, the earth shaking, the veil of the temple being torn, and angels were to come with a great sound of a trumpet.
Vespasian’s attack involved a battering ram with an iron tip shaped like the head of a ram that was hung below a wooden cross. (409 / 3.7.19) He also arranged three wooden towers with men on them to fire darts (420 / 3.7.30) and trumpeters sounded such that the Jews had to stop their ears, and the sky was darkened by the darts, (417 / 3.7.27). The great battering ram shook the walls at the first stroke causing a clamor as if the city had already been taken, and was then obstructed by sacks, but these cloth bags hanging at the gate were cut down. (410 / 3.7.20)
79-87. Jesus was metaphorically God’s Passover lamb, but yet also an adult. He did not defend himself, and was pierced in five places (hands, feet and his side) at a high up place on display in front of the Jews before dying there next to two men. And when the women including Salome came to Jesus’ grave they asked ‘who shall roll the stone away’ and they looked and found that it was rolled away for it was ‘very great’.
During the battle one of Josephus’ men from Galilee, Eleazar the [JS- son of Salome], lifted an enormous stone, and with it broke the iron ram’s head sculpture from the giant battering ram. He came and took this metal ram (took an adult version of a lamb) without defending himself, and displayed it high up (on the wall) in front of the Jews and Romans, and was pierced in five places by the Romans and died up there, and the official account continues adding that ‘next to him, two brothers showed their courage…’ (a different sense of being ‘next to’) (411 / 3.7.21)
88-92. Jesus had his feet anointed with oil, and a woman wept and fell down before him and touched his feet and was described as being ‘behind’ his feet.
Josephus poured boiling fenugreek beyond the walls to oil the Roman’s feet and make them slip back down the slope. They also threw boiling oil on the enemy. (419 / 3.7.29) Jewish women threw themselves down and wept at his feet and grabbed his feet, and held him in that way so they were implicitly behind his feet (406 / 3.7.16)
93-99. The Gospels repeatedly imply that Jesus was the son of God. Jesus, who was Jewish, was crucified and refused to speak at his trial. In relation to Jesus’ resurrection, Mark 13:24-26 says that the sun and moon shall be darkened, and stars shall fall, and then the son of God would ‘come in a cloud with great power and glory’. In summary; A Galilean Jew was crucified after refusing to speak, and then the sun, moon and stars were darkened, and son of God came in a cloud with great power and glory.
The reason Vespasian had believed the deserter who said the last watch of the night fell asleep, on the basis that he had tortured a Jew who had refused to say anything about the city during his torture and crucifixion, and it was on this basis that Titus led his men into Jotapata and destroyed it. (3.7.33) Vespasian was a Roman General who went on to be deified as a God by the Senate, and his son Titus – i.e. therefore the son of God – led the Roman forces into Jotapata at the break of dawn, just as a ‘thick mist’ descended on the city (implicitly causing the daylight, moonlight and stars to be darkened), and this helped him kill 40,000 Jews, suffering only one Roman casualty – i.e. a very glorious victory. In summary; A Galilean Jew was crucified after refusing to speak, and then the sun, moon and stars were darkened, and son of God came in a cloud with great power and glory. (424 / 3.7.34)
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Section 2.
Having discovered the parallels listed above, I was then surprised a second time to discover a second sequence of them. Unlike the previous group where a section of WAR contains parallels with a narrow section of the Gospel of Luke (Luke 23 specifically), the second set of parallels spans the Gospel of Luke, but is tightly constrained to paragraphs 340 to 363 of the near-700 paragraph-long document, War of the Jews. (or to use the conventional referencing system, 2.19.4 to 2.21.10).
So, the parallels in section 1 were compressed within a small region of the Gospel of Luke , but are more spread out in WAR, and the opposite is true of the following clusters of parallels set out below:
100-103. WAR 340-345 Cestius (implied as potentially Cestius Gallus in WAR 372) led the Roman army to Jerusalem, and came and set part of the city on fire (raised it) and attacked the temple itself. Some Jews fought the wicked Jews, seeking to accept Cestius as their benefactor, but were unsuccessful. So Cestius retired to his camp at Scopus (meaning the watchtower) outside Jerusalem and lay there all night.343 On being attacked he retreated and was besieged at Gaboa for two days, finally retreating into the gorge of Bethhoron and losing a huge number of men (they were ‘among the dead’ and in a sense were below the earth’s surface) and in the night of that third day he emerged to the surface alive, escaping to Antipatris.
Luke 23:33-50 They crucified Jesus on a cross (which had a central pillar – a tower), at a place outside Jerusalem. John associates this crucifixion with the raising (destruction) of the temple. Jesus was then placed in an underground cave – a sepulchre - and remained there until being raised up alive on the third day.
104-106. WAR 355 To raise funds John bought four amphora of oil, for four drachmae, and sold half an amphora for the same price. Vita, Josephus’ autobiography, mirrors this indicating that the profit was tenfold.
Luke 16:5 A rich man called his debtors asking how much he owns, and he said 100 measures of oil. And he said, take your bill and quickly write 50 (halve it). Luke 19:13 A nobleman went to receive a country for himself and gave them ten pounds saying ‘occupy’ until I come. When he returned the first said ‘thy pound hath gained ten pounds’ (tenfold profit)
107. WAR 349 Having rejected the Romans, the Jews selected their own Generals, including ‘Josephus of Matthias’ [who is introduced into the narrative here].
Luke 23:50 Joseph of Ari‘mathea’ is introduced.
108-109. WAR 350 Josephus came to Galilee and [as ruler] he appointed 70 prudent elders to be rulers of 'the whole of galilee', covering 'each' city, with 7 in each city to adjudicate petty matters.
Luke 10:01 the LORD appointed 70 and sent them two and two into every city where he would come. 10:17 the 70 returned saying even devils were subject through his name (i.e. they were ruled over)
110. WAR 352 Josephus [the ruler of Gamala] taught them how to expand the wings of an army, and make them wheel about; and when one wing has had success, to turn again and assist the others… and not to indulge in theft robbery etc.
13.34 how often I would have gathered your children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! 13:35 Behold, your house is left desolate…. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
111-116. WAR 354 There arose a man called John (elsewhere in WAR described as a Pharisee) Levi of Gishala (meaning camel) … he was a 'hypocritical' pretender to humanity… John had no equal anywhere in wicked practices, a thief and liar.. and treacherous deluder… and he got certain companions, at first few, and then still more and more numerous.. WAR 356 …ultimately John got 100,000 armed men crowded into the hippodrome (i.e. they would have been stepping on each other’s toes).
Luke 7:28 There is no greater prophet than John (Mark 1:6 says John was clothed in camel hair.), but everyone in the kingdom of God is greater than John (i.e. John is the worst person). Luke 12:1 In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, so much that they trod one upon another, he began to say to his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
117-118. WAR 356…Josephus was asleep when they came for him, awaking only when they came to set fire to his house. So he rushed out with his clothes torn and ash on his head, and his hands bound behind him, and his sword suspended from his neck (i.e. offering himself for execution), eventually speaking when permitted, to say he planned to use the money to encompass them with a wall.
Mark 14:41 And Jesus came the third time, and said, Sleep on now, and take your rest: it is enough, the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 15:1 And when they came to take Jesus to Pilate they bound him. Luke 22:48 when they took Jesus, one of them smote the servant of the high priest with a sword and cut off his ear (a sword by his neck), which Jesus then healed.
119-120. WAR 356 …money stolen from Agrippa and Bernice [queen of the Jews] was given to Josephus, so he was accused of betraying the people. John, under authority of Jesus of Shaphat, came with a mob causing all of Josephus’ friends to flee barring four (Vita clarifies that Josephus was left to die with only one who was called Simon)…
Luke 23:26 As they led Jesus away, they seized one Simon and made him bear Jesus’ cross (Jesus went to die, and he was with Simon)
121-123. WAR 358 But some still sought to attack, so he got on the roof of his house, and bid them calm and asked them to send in a delegation, so four leaders went in (Vita says only one) to the most secluded part of his house, and he closed the outer door. He then had him flayed to the bone, and then threw the doors open and dismissed him/them all covered in blood (i.e. he was red), so the others fled.
Luke 4:9 Satan took Jesus onto the pinnacle (roof) of the holy house. John 19:1-2 Pilate had Jesus’ scourged/whipped, and they put a purple robe on him (he was covered in a red color).
124-125. WAR 359 Now John devised another strategy, and feigning sickness gained permission to use the hot baths at Tiberius, and stayed there for two days, and when Josephus arrived on the third day he sent soldiers to kill him. However to evade this Josephus jumped into a boat two guards and went into the middle of Lake Galilee. Vita clarifies that one of the guards was called James.
Luke 5:9 When Jesus met his disciples and went into the boat, one of the disciples was called James.
126-127. WAR 360 John sent messages to Jerusalem, where the leaders responded by sending four men to undermine Josephus, these included Simon and Judas the son of Jonathan (Vita says this Judas was called Jonathan – i.e. John), but Josephus captured them and sent them back.
Luke 7:24 And when the messengers of John were departed… 7:27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, which shall prepare your way before you. Luke 9:49 And John said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in your name… And Jesus said ‘Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.’ 9:51 And it came to pass…he set his face to go to Jerusalem, 9:52 And sent messengers before his face…
128-132. WAR 360 ...John fled to Gischala, and the Galileans came from their cities to Josephus.. crying out that they were come against John.. and at the same time they would "burn him", and his city. Josephus ..announced that he would… "burn their families with fire, and also burn their houses" if they did not renounce John. So 3000 of John's party left him for Josephus, and threw "their arms down at his feet." WAR 361 adds that Josephus then sent out his soldiers to ‘gather the corn’/forage because the following day was the Sabbath.
3:15 ..and all men mused whether John was the Christ; 3:16 John said.. but one mightier than I cometh, "the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose" (being at someone’s feet): and he shall baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost and: 3:17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn/storehouse; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable. 6:1 And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. 6:2 And certain of the Pharisees said to them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
133-135. WAR 360…Jerusalem sent four commanders including Simon and Judas, since these were the most able speakers, in order to withdraw the goodwill of the people from Josephus. And by these means 'four cities' revolted from him. But Josephus regained those four cities without war by routing those four commanders.. (i.e. the four commanders had taken four cities from Josephus by false accusation – implicitly one city per commander. But Josephus had the four cities restored back to him i.e. fourfold what each commander had - individually - gained).
19:8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said to the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold…. 19:18 And the second came, saying, Lord, your pound hath gained five pounds... 19:19 And he said 'likewise' to him, Be you 'also' over 'five cities'. (i.e. the pound became 5, increasing by 4 – so by implication he gained four cities, not five)...
136-137. WAR 360 Josephus threatened John’s followers with the death of their families, leading 3000 of his followers to come and throw their arms down at his feet (i.e. 3000 ‘lay down’) (Vita suggests instead 4000 men).
Luke 15:38 there were 4000 men and Jesus commanded them to sit down.
138-153. WAR 361 [after he had captured Simon and the other three commanders] Josephus got 230 boats on Lake Galilee. But he put no more than four mariners in each boat, and had them stay far from the shore so as to appear to be full (i.e. suitably far from the shore)… And he sailed across the lake (he was in a boat) to threaten Tiberias [and implicitly Tiberias wanted them to depart].The city via signals sought to surrender to the boats (implicitlyhe ‘instructed’ them from the boats to surrender).WAR 362 And he took 7 guards, and arrested men of Tiberias in batches, first ten, then fifty, and eventually 600 of their senate and 'about' 2000 of the populace (i.e. a great many Jews were ‘caught’ using the boats. – and at nearly 10 extra men per boat, this implicitly made the boats sink lower into the water). [So in summary, with his soldiers they caught men and took them in the boats] and then the boats left Tiberius to return to Taricheae. (WAR 2.21.8-9) 363 Now the citizens declared that the uprising (in a sense the betrayal of Josephus) so Josephus tried to send ‘Levius’ (mirroring John Levi) to cut his hands off although he was afraid to go. Clitus was also too terrified to come forwards. And Josephus was in such passion he was ready to ‘leap out of the boat’ (into Lake Galilee) to punish John himself. But Josephus agreed to spare one hand if Clitus would cut the other off himself. So Clitus cut his left hand off with his own sword [implicitly requiring some surface to chop down onto].
Luke 5:1-10 ..Jesus stood by the lake of Galilee and saw two boats standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them (i.e. the boats were not full with people), and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to thrust out a little from the land (i.e. suitably far from the shore). And he sat down, and he taught/instructed the people out of the boat. They beckoned to their partners (i.e. sent signals) in the other boat to help. And then they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned [for the other boat to] help them… until… the boats.. began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, and he said, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For.. they were astonished at the amount of fishes taken: And so was also James, and John… with Simon. And Jesus [i.e. there were four men in the boat] said to Simon, Fear not; from henceforth you shalt catch men. John 6:21-24 They received Jesus into the boat and it was immediately at their destination. But the people on the shore saw only the boats with the disciples. ‘How was it that other boats came from Tiberias?’ And the people also took to boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus, and found him on the other side of the lake. John 21:7 And Jesus taught them how to cast the net, and Simon Peter cast himself out of the boat into Lake Galilee. Luke 22:21 behold the hand of him that betrays me is on the table with me.
154-157. WAR 363 Once the 2000 men had been taken, the people blamed Clitus for the revolt against Josephus, asking him to ‘spend his anger on him’. But Josephus ‘wanted to slay nobody’ (I.e. didn’t want to destroy life), so he planned to cut both of Clitus’ hands off. But Josephus agreed that if Clitus cut one hand off himself, he would only need to lose one hand. And in that way Josephus saved Clitus’ ‘right’ hand from being lost. WAR 361 indicates that these events happened on the Sabbath day.
Luke 6:6 And on the sabbath, Jesus taught: and there was a man whose ‘right’ hand was withered. 6:8 Jesus told him to rise and stand forth. 6:9 and Jesus asked… “Is it lawful on the sabbath days… to save life, or to destroy life? 6:10 And Jesus told the man: Stretch forth your hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.6:11 And they were angry and discussed what they might do to Jesus.
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Conclusion.
The significant individual parallels, together with the significant clusters of parallels, listed above, together contain over 150 parallels between Josephus Flavius' story, and Jesus' story in the Gospels. They speak for themselves, but clearly the parallels are far too extensive and detailed, to dismiss as coincidence.
This leaves us with a choice between three possibilities:
Option 1 would mean Jesus Christ never existed, whilst Options 2 and 3 both have the consequence that 'War of the Jews' can no longer be thought of as providing the sole independent contemporary evidence for the existence of Jesus.
We can comfortably eliminate option 1 since Josephus is so clearly parodying Jesus' story. We can also eliminate option 3 because, as it turns out, the references to Jesus' story aren't limited to a handful of 'additions' as has been supposed by some scholars, but rather - as demonstrated by the huge number of parallels that are arranged to form a signature (see Comparing the Parodies) - its links with Jesus' story are a core feature woven throughout the entire text of War of the Jews. If you removed them, there wouldn't be much left.
And that (along with other reasons explained in my book) narrows it down to option 2.
This is a significant discovery, since the way that Josephus' writings refer several times to Jesus' story in a seemingly innocent or 'in passing' manner, is frequently cited as providing the only independent and contemporary evidence that Jesus existed, and if Josephus has chosen to describe his life story as mirroring Jesus', then clearly he did not refer to Jesus' story in an 'innocent' or 'in passing' manner, but rather must have had some mysterious ulterior motive - i.e. something underhanded was going on.
This suggests that War of the Jews - which is self-evidently a work of propaganda published by the Roman Government - was written as part of a bigger plan, with an ulterior motive of either promoting, adding to, or modifying, people's understanding of the story of Jesus, in line with whatever the propaganda objectives of the Roman Government at the time were.
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Such strange circumstances demand an explanation...
Josephus' dark and ulterior motive for writing War of the Jews, the reason the Gospels were was created in the first place and who precisely the authors were, along with several other equally significant outcomes from my research from the past couple of years, can all be found in my novel, 'Naked Gods Play', which is available to buy on Amazon.
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* For a translation of the less well-known version of War of the Jews (the version for which the surviving copies are translations mainly in Old Russian) which is commonly called the 'Slavonic Josephus', a few of the most widely discussed excerpts that refer to the Gospel story, are available on many websites. A translation of a larger set of excerpts is available online in the back of one of the volumes of the Loeb classical library version of War of the Jews (here - limited one page unless your institution has a subscription, with free trials available to non-profits).
The problem with relying on sources that list the most important 'excerpts' is that the reader gets the impression that the differences between the versions exist mainly in certain specific areas. Indeed, the Loeb version describes them as 'principle additions' since some scholars (usually Atheist ones) find them so strange that they assume they were added to copies by Christian apologists during, say, the early middle ages.**
The reality is that whilst extended passages of unique material in each version are comparatively rare, small differences are the rule (the slavonic version is roughly half the length thanks to it omitting large amounts of detail, yet it still adds little bits of extra detail all over the place). The only English translation of the Slavonic Josephus, is offered by Leeming et al, and although it comes with an off-putting price tag, a pdf of the relevant chapter ('synoptic comparison') can be purchased for 35 euros.
**This is not plausible, since - as discovered through my research - the references to Jesus' story are so numerous as to be a core feature woven through the text of War of the Jews, such that if you remove them you would no longer have a coherent story of the war. In any event it makes no sense that a Christian apologist would have added references to Jesus into two versions that were already very different, such that some references to Jesus' story are contained in one, some in the other, and yet others are present in both, and yet no copies of either version have survived which lack these references, and indeed, as some scholars have noted, the references to Jesus are incompatible with what a Christian (early or modern) would have written about Jesus' story anyway.
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