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The Jewish War

jewishgreek~75 CE

Flavius Josephus's first-century eyewitness account of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 CE), including the siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE. One of the most important historical sources for Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity.

Translation: William Whiston (1737) (public-domain)

Overview

An eyewitness account of the Jewish revolt against Rome (66-73 CE) and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE. Written by Flavius Josephus, a Jewish priest who surrendered to Rome and became a Flavian client, it is the primary historical source for the most catastrophic event in Second Temple Jewish history.

Josephus was uniquely positioned to write this history. Born into a priestly Jerusalem family around 37 CE, he was appointed a military commander in Galilee at the war's outset. After his forces were defeated at Jotapata in 67 CE, Josephus surrendered to the Roman general Vespasian. He claimed to have prophesied that Vespasian would become emperor, and when that prophecy was fulfilled in 69 CE, Josephus gained his freedom and became a Flavian client and observer during the siege of Jerusalem. His account is thus the testimony of a man who changed sides and spent the rest of his literary life justifying that choice.

The description of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem is among the most vivid and horrifying in ancient literature. Josephus describes starvation so severe that a mother cannibalized her own infant. He records the systematic destruction of the Temple by Roman soldiers despite the order from Titus to preserve it. He catalogs the slaughter and enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Jewish people. The account, however colored by Josephus's pro-Roman perspective, provides the factual framework for the event that Jesus predicted in the Olivet Discourse and that reshaped Judaism and Christianity alike.

Bible connections
  • Matthew 24 (Olivet Discourse, prediction of Temple's destruction)
  • Mark 13 (destruction of Jerusalem foretold)
  • Luke 21 (signs of the end and Jerusalem's fall)
  • Luke 19:41-44 (Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, predicts siege works)
  • Revelation 17-18 (Babylon/Rome and the great city's fall)
  • Hebrews 8-10 (heavenly Temple superseding earthly sacrificial system)
Key terms
Sicarii– a militant Jewish faction named for the sica (short dagger), known for political assassinations and ultimately the Masada garrison
Flavian– pertaining to the Flavian imperial dynasty (Vespasian, Titus, Domitian) that crushed the Jewish revolt and became Josephus's patrons
vaticinium ex eventu– Latin for 'prophecy from the event,' describing predictions written after the fact and presented as prior predictions — a key debate in Gospel scholarship
9th of Av (Tisha B'Av)– the date on the Jewish calendar when both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, observed as a day of mourning in Jewish tradition
Did you know?

Josephus estimated that 1.1 million Jews died during the siege of Jerusalem and 97,000 were taken captive. While these numbers are almost certainly exaggerated, the event was catastrophic. Josephus himself witnessed and survived it, making him virtually our only eyewitness literary source for the destruction of the Second Temple.