Jewish Sources

Study Archive

Agrippa II
Queen Bernice
Herod the Great
James
King Jesus
Josephus
Apostle John
Justus of Tiberias
Matthew
Apostle Paul
Apostle Peter
Alfred Edersheim

Die Zerstörung des Tempels von Jerusalem - Francesco Hayez (1867)

Justus of Tiberias
In Photius, Bibliotheca

Josephus' Arch-Enemy

A Chronicle of the Kings of the Jews in the form of a genealogy, by Justus of Tiberias.

"He came from Tiberias in Galilee, from which he took his name.  He begins his history with Moses and carries it down to the death of the seventh Agrippa of the family of Herod and the last of the Kings of the Jews.  His kingdom, which was bestowed upon him by Claudius, was extended by Nero, and still more  by Vespasian.   He died in the third year of Trajan, when the history ends. Justus' style is very concise and he omits a great deal that is of utmost importance.  Suffering from the common fault of the Jews, to which race he belonged, he does not even mention the coming of Christ, the events of his life, or the miracles performed by Him.  His father was a Jew named Pistus; Justus himself, according to Josephus, was one of the most abandoned of men, a slave to vice and greed.   He was a political opponent of Josephus, against whom he is said to have concocted several plots; but Josephus, although on several occasions he had his enemy in his power, only chastised him with words and let him go free.   It is said that the history which he wrote is in great part fictitious, especially where he describes the Judaeo-Roman war and the capture of Jerusalem. " (English by J.H.Freese, The Library of Photius, vol. I, SPCK, London (1920).

What do YOU think ?

Submit Your Comments For Posting Here
..Will Be Spam Filtered and Posted Shortly..