JOSEPHUS 523 of his Gentile contemporaries by arbitrary omissions as well as by the free embellishment of certain scenes. Books XII-XX, in which he speaks of the times pre- ceding the coming of Christ and the foundation of Christianity, are our only sources for many histor- ical events. In these the value of the statements is enhanced by the insertion of dates which are other- wise wanting, and by the citation of authentic docu- ments which confirm and supplement the Biblical narrative. The story of Herod the Great is contained in books XV-XVII. Book XVIII contains in chapter iii the celebrated passage in which mention is made of the Redeemer in the following words: “About this time lived Jesus, a man full of wisdom, if indeed one may call Him a man. For He was the doer of incred- ible things, and the teacher of such as gladly received the truth. He thus attracted to Himself many Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. On the accusation of the leading men of our people, Pilate condemned Him to death upon the cross; nevertheless those who had previously loved Him still remained faithful to Hinu. For on the third day He again ap- peared to them living, just as, in addition to a thou- sand other marvellous things, prophets sent by God had foretold. And to the present day the race of those who call themselves Christians after Him has not ceased." Attempts have been made to refute the objections brought agaiust this passage both for internal and external reasons, but the difficulty has not been definitively settled. The passage seems to suffer from repeated interpolations. The fact that the "Antiquities" testifies to the truth of Divine Revelation among the Jews as among the Christians, and confirms the historical facts related in the Bible by the incontrovertible testimony of pagan authors, renders this work of Josephus of extreme value for the history of the chosen people. The accounts which he gives of the rise and mutual relations of the different Jewish sects, which are so important in the history and sufferings of the Saviour; his information regard- ing the corruption of the ancient Jewish customs and institutions; his statement concerning the internal conflicts of the Jews, and lastly his account of the last war with the Romans, which put an end to the na- tional independence of the Jews, are of prime impor- tance as historical sources. JOSIAS Paderborn, to undertake in collaboration with Franz Kaulen (1st ed., Cologne, 1852-3; 2nd and 3rd ed. by Kaulen, 1883 and 1892). The text of Josephus's works has been published by Dindorf in Greek and Latin (2 vols., Paris, 1845-7) and Bekker (6 vols., Leipzig, 1855-6). There are critical editions by Naber, (Leipzig, 1888-96) and Nicse (7 vols., Berlin, 1887-95; text only, 6 vols., Berlin, 1888-95). Consult SCHUHER in Realencycl. für prot. Theol., 8. v.; MÜL- LER, Christus bei Flavius Josephus: EDERSHEIM in Dict. Christ. Biog., 8. v. For fuller bibliography Bee SCHURER, Gesch. des jud. Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, I (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1901), 98-106. KARL HOEBER. In his “Autobiography" (Paovlov Iwrýmov Blos), written A. D. 90, Josephus secks, not without attempts at self-glorification, to justify his position at the be ginning of the Jewish rising. In plan and language the book is probably influenced by the writings of Nicholas of Damascus, which Josephus had also used in the "Antiquities". His work entitled "Against Apion" (Karà Amlwvos), divided in two books, is a de- fence of the great antiquity of the Jews and a refuta- tion of the charges which had been brought against them by the grammarian Apion of Alexandria on the occasion of an embassy to the Emperor Caligula. " The early Christians were zealous readers of Jo- sephus's History of the Jews", and the Fathers of the Church, such as Jerome and Ambrose, as well as the early ecclesiastical historians like Eusebius, are fond of quoting him in their works. St. Chrysostom calls him a useful expounder of the historical books of the Old Testament. The works of Josephus were trans- lated into Latin at an early date. After the art of printing had been discovered, they were circulated in all languages. The first German translation was edited by the Strasburg Reformer Kaspar Hedio, in 1531, and a French translation was issued by Bur- going in Lyons in 1558. Among the best-known translations in English is that by Whiston (London, 1737), revised by Shilleto (5 vols., London, 1888-9). In the middle of the nineteenth century the interest in the "Jewish Antiquities" was revived by a trans- lation which the Society of St. Charles Borromeo in- duced Professor Konrad Martin, afterwards Bishop of Josephus Iscanus. See JOSEPH OF EXETER. Joshua. See JOSUE. Josias (JOSIAH-Heb. 'N and 1728", "Yah- weh supports"; Sept. 'Iwolas), a pious king of Juda (639-608 B. c.), who ascended the throne when he was only eight years of age. He was the son of Amon and the grandson of Manasses. His mother's name is given as Idida, the daughter of Hadaia [IV (II) Kings, xxii, 1]. Of the actual influences under which he grew up nothing is known for certain. His reign of thirty-one years is recorded in the parallel and slightly divergent accounts of IV (II) Kings, xxii-xxiii, 30, and II Paralipomenon (Chronicles), xxxiv-xxxv. The following is a summary of Josias's public acts as they are set forth in the former of these accounts. In the eighteenth year of his rule, the Jewish king undertook to repair the Temple with the help of the high-priest Helcias. During the course of this work, Helcias found "the Book of the Law", and handed it to the royal scribe, Saphan, who read it to Josias. The threats made therein against the transgressors of its contents frightened the monarch who well knew how often these had been disobeyed in the past, and who sent to consult the prophetess Holda then living in Jerusalem. Holda declared that the threatened punishments would indeed take place, but only after Josias's death. Whereupon the king assembled the people, published the Law in their hearing, and they all united with Josias in a solemn vow of obedience to its commands. This was followed by a drastic refor- mation of worship not only in Juda and in Jerusalem, but also in Northern Israel, which was not strictly a part of Josias's kingdom, but in which the Jewish prince could easily intervene, owing probably to the feeble hold of Assyria at the time upon this distant portion of its territory. The work of reform was concluded by a magnificent celebration of the Pasch. Of the thirteen years of Josias's reign which fol- lowed this important reformation, nothing is said in the narrative of the Fourth Book of Kings. We are simply told of the monarch's exceeding piety towards Yahweh and of his death on the battle-field of Ma- geddo, where he perished fighting against the Egyp- tian Pharaoh, Nechao II, who was then on his way to the Euphrates against the Assyrians. Whoever compares carefully and impartially with this first ac- count of Josias's reign the second one given in II Par., xxxiv-xxxv, cannot help being struck_with their wonderful substantial agreement. Both Bibli- cal records agree perfectly as to the age of the king at his accession and as to the length of his reign. Like the narrative of Kings, that of Paralipomenon refers to the eighteenth year of Josias's rule the dis- covery of the Book of the Law", relates the same circumstances as attending that event, speaks of a work of religious reformas carried out throughout all Israel on account of the contents of that book, and praises the magnificence of the solemn Pasch celebrated in harmony with its prescriptions. Like the narrative of Kings, too, that of Paralipomenon appreciates in the most favourable manner the king's 46
