Antiquities of the Jews By Flavius Josephus

We have turned Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus into what we call Modern American Voice (MAV) where his writing is easy to understand. You can use the Table of Contents drop down at the top or the floating index on the left to go where you left off reading.

PREFACE

I see that people write histories for many different reasons. Some take up this branch of learning to show their skill as writers and win a reputation for elegant speech. Others write to please those whose lives are part of the story, and spare no effort, sometimes attempting more than their abilities can manage. Still others feel compelled to write because they took part in the events themselves and cannot refuse to record them for the benefit of those who come after. Many are also moved to bring important events out of obscurity and make them known to the public. Of these reasons, the last two apply to me. I took part in the war between the Jews and the Romans, knew its particular events, and saw how it ended. I was therefore compelled to write its history, since I saw that others had distorted the truth in their accounts.

I have now undertaken this work because I believe it will be worth the attention of all Greek readers. It will present the history of our ancient people and the constitution of our government, as they are set out in the Hebrew Scriptures. When I wrote about the war, I had already planned to explain who the Jews were from the beginning, what fortunes they had endured, what laws had taught them piety and the practice of other virtues, and what wars they had fought in distant times, before they were unwillingly drawn into their latest war with the Romans. But the subject was too large, so I made it a separate work, with its own beginning and end. As often happens when someone takes on a great task, time passed, and I grew tired and made slow progress. The subject was broad, and translating our history into a foreign language unfamiliar to us was difficult.

Some people wanted to learn about our history and urged me to continue. Above all, Epaphroditus encouraged me. He loves every kind of learning, but takes special pleasure in history. He has himself been involved in great affairs and many turns of fortune, and through them all has shown admirable strength of character and an unwavering commitment to virtue. I gave in to his encouragement. He is always urging those with useful abilities to put them to work for the benefit and enjoyment of others. I was also ashamed to let laziness outweigh the pleasure of working on a study so useful, so I renewed my efforts and continued with greater purpose. I had other reasons for writing as well: our ancestors were willing to share this knowledge with others, and some Greeks took great pains to learn about our nation.

I learned that Ptolemy II was exceptionally devoted to learning and the gathering of books. He was also especially eager to have our law, and the form of government described in it, translated into Greek. Eleazar, our high priest, was no less worthy of his office than any of his predecessors. He did not begrudge the king a share in this knowledge, which he would otherwise have denied him, because he knew our people's custom was to keep nothing we valued from being shared with others.

I thought I should follow the generosity of our high priest, and I believed there might still be many people who loved learning as the king did. Ptolemy did not receive all our writings. The interpreters sent to Alexandria gave him only the books of the law, though our sacred books contain many other subjects. Together, they tell the history of five thousand years, a period filled with strange events, the turns of war, great deeds by commanders, and changes in the form of our government.

Anyone who reads this history can learn above all that events go well, even beyond expectation, when God grants happiness to those who obey his will and do not dare to break his excellent laws. But when people turn away from faithfully observing those laws, what was once possible becomes impossible, and whatever they set out to do for good turns into an incurable disaster. I urge everyone who reads these books to direct their thoughts toward God and consider whether our lawgiver understood God's nature in a way worthy of him, whether he attributed to God works suited to his power, and whether he kept his writings free from the improper myths others have invented. Since he lived two thousand years ago, he could have made up such stories without fear of being challenged. Yet even the poets have not dared, across so many ages, to assign dates to the generations of their gods, much less to recount human deeds or establish laws.

As I continue, I will describe accurately what our records contain and set it out in its proper order of time. I have already promised to do this throughout the work, without adding anything to the record or taking anything away.

Since nearly all our constitution rests on the wisdom of Moses, our lawgiver, I cannot avoid saying a little about him first. I will be brief, but I must do so because readers may wonder why a work that promises to recount laws and historical events contains so much philosophy.

Moses believed that anyone who wished to live well and make laws for others must first consider the divine nature. By observing God's works, such a person could imitate the best example as far as human nature allows, and strive to follow it. Without such contemplation, the lawgiver himself could not think rightly, and whatever he wrote would not lead his readers toward virtue. They must first be taught that God is the Father and Lord of all things and sees all things. He grants a happy life to those who follow him, but brings unavoidable misery upon those who turn away from virtue.

When Moses wanted to teach this to his people, he did not begin his laws as other lawgivers did, with agreements and rights between one person and another. Instead, he lifted their thoughts toward God and the creation of the world, and taught them that human beings are the most excellent of God's earthly creatures. Once he had led them to accept religion, it was easy to persuade them to obey in all other matters. Other lawgivers followed myths and, in their stories, gave the gods the most shameful human faults. They offered wicked people ready excuses for their crimes. Our lawgiver, by contrast, first showed that God possesses perfect virtue, then taught that people must strive to share in that virtue. He imposed the severest punishments on those who refused to think and believe this way.

I urge my readers to consider the whole work from this point of view. They will see that nothing in it is unworthy of God's majesty or his love for humanity. Everything here relates to the nature of the universe. Our lawgiver sometimes speaks wisely but in riddles, and sometimes uses a proper allegory. When a matter calls for a direct explanation, he gives one plainly. Anyone who wants to understand the reasons behind each teaching will find a remarkable philosophical account here. For now, I will leave that account unexplained. If God gives me time, I will write about it after I finish this work.

I will now turn to the history itself, after first recounting what Moses says about the creation of the world, as it is described in the sacred books.