Subject: Re: tc-list Josephus Ant 18.3.3

From: [email-masked] (Jim Oxford)
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 22:52:49 -0500

At 18:23 2/7/99, [email-masked] wrote:

>Denny Diehl here
>
>Perhaps this is not the right forum for this question.
>If so, please forgive.
>
>Does anyone have a handle on Josephus in Ant 18.3.3
>if there is textual evidence of it being an interpolation:
>
>    "Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise
>    man, if it be lawful to call him a man ... He was
>    the Christ..."

have a look at jp meier's "jesus in josephus:  a modest proposal," cbq 52
(1990):  76-103.  meier treats the testimonium flavianum thoroughly,
arguing that "this one was the christ" was a christian interpolation.

Jim Oxford
Ph D candidate in NT
Baylor University
[email-masked]

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From: M A Robinson <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 08 Feb 1999 21:16:39 EST

Jim Oxford writes:

>have a look at jp meier's "jesus in josephus:  a modest proposal," cbq 
>52 (1990):  76-103.  meier treats the testimonium flavianum thoroughly,

In contrast, take a look at Jakob van Bruggen, _Christ on Earth_ (Grand
Rapids: Baker, 1998 [Dutch original _Christus op aarde_ (Kampen: Kok,
1987)]), pp. 30-37, which, though allowing for some degree of possible
Christian interpolation, nevertheless concludes "that Josephus's [sic]
excursus about Jesus can be read as a meaningful passage that is an
integral part of the design of the eighteenth book of his _Jewish
Antiquities_ and as balanced information from a Jewish perspective about
the historical background of the founder of the by then well-known group
called Christians." (p. 36)

I suspect however, that Mr. Diehl is not inquiring so much about
speculations regarding interpolation, but about the actual absence (not
the expansion) of the passage regarding Christ in any source manuscripts
or versions. In that regard, I know of none, but would welcome any
information.

==============================================================
Maurice A. Robinson, Ph. D.
Professor of Greek and New Testament
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Wake Forest, North Carolina, USA

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From: "Mark Goodacre" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 15:57:09 GMT

For on-line treatments, you might like to try the following:

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~humm/Topics/JewishJesus/josephus.html
   
    by Alan Humm at UPenn -- features a nice reproduction in columns of 
    translations of Greek / Arabic /  Eisler's reconstruction

http://members.aol.com/FLJOSEPHUS/home.htm
     
     Flavius Joseph Home Page by G. J. Goldberg, featuring a reproduction of 
     his recent article on the Testimonium in Journal for the Study of the 
     Pseudepigrapha plus discussion of Meier and a variety of bits and bobs.

Mark
--------------------------------------
Dr Mark Goodacre                mailto:[email-masked]
  Dept of Theology                tel: +44 121 414 7512
  University of Birmingham     fax: +44 121 414 6866
  Birmingham  B15 2TT  United Kingdom

Homepage: http://www.bham.ac.uk/theology/goodacre