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  • From: "Mark D. Nanos" <nanosmd AT home.com>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Did Josephus Know Saul?
  • Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 10:08:02 -0500


on 8/21/01 7:57 AM, Frank J. Schmuck at fschmuck AT chartertn.net wrote:

> I realize there is probably some age difference between the two men however
> they both lived in Jerusalem, they were both trained in Jerusalem, and they
> were both Pharisees. It would seem they traveled within the same circles.
> The extension of this question would then be if the worldview presented by
> Josephus in his writings would be similar to the worldview held by Saul
> prior to his travel to Damascus?

Josephus was born (37ce) about the time Paul would have left Jerusalem/Judea
(14 years before the trip to Jerusalem mentioned in Gal. 2:1, assuming this
was sometime in the forties or even early fifties that Paul returned for
this meeting). There is little reason to believe they traveled in the same
circles, and this time difference accents the point. Pharisaism had variety
and was in a state of flux, especially during the turbulent years leading up
to the revolt, which is about what Josephus tells us most. The worldview (a
broad topic itself) of Josephus's Pharisees would thus be different in some
ways than Paul's. But more important, Josephus's agenda when writing from
Rome after the revolt (writing up until 100?), including his participation
in the revolt and then surrender and change of heart, would certainly be
expected to alter the way that he presents the Pharisees (each book written
having a different agenda too). So too Paul's interests (and [differently]
the writer of Acts) would alter the way they represented various Pharisees
and Pharisaic groups.

So it would be a very involved matter to sort out, but certainly one worth
pursuing. The questions would need to be sharpened and informed, which the
research itself would help to accomplish (and "worldview" is simply too
broad to be of much use; certain topics would need to be identified). The
kinds of social science and other methodologies employed by someone like
Saldarini in his book on Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees in Palestinian
Society would serve as a good model for setting out many of the issues to

investigate. For Paul, (and Josephus) one important issue would be which
portraits of him you put into play, and it would be important to keep them
separate in the analysis and conclusions.

One of the most important and most interesting areas for research in this
area would involve consideration of the politics of the situations of these
two men and their compatriots--when Pharisees, when in Jerusalem/Judea or
elsewhere, and when no longer Pharisees--and the roles they played as well
as the perspectives with which they viewed themselves and their compatriots
as well as enemies.

For some quick introduction to the recorded views of Josephus on the
Jerusalem establishment, see his autobiography, Life. Brill now has
published (a very expensive!) a very useful translation and commentary on
Life, ed. by Steve Mason, if you should wish to begin some research on this
matter.

Regards,
Mark
--
Mark D. Nanos, Ph.D.
313 NE Landings Dr.
Lee's Summit, MO 64064
USA
nanosmd AT home.com





  • Did Josephus Know Saul?, Frank J. Schmuck, 08/21/2001
    • <Possible follow-up(s)>
    • Re: Did Josephus Know Saul?, Mark D. Nanos, 08/22/2001

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