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The Christmas Journey and the Jewish Revolt

Post author:G. J. Goldberg
Post published:December 23, 2021
Post category:Jesus Jewish Revolt New Testament

The journey to Bethlehem in Luke's story of the first Christmas is motivated by the Roman census. Jewish readers of Luke in the first century would remember the census as connected to the Jewish Revolt of the year 66. How would they have reacted to Luke's use of this event?

Welcome

Welcome to Gary J. Goldberg's Josephus Blog, featuring articles exploring the writings of the historian Flavius Josephus (c. 37-100 CE).

A major theme of this blog is that the present day is uncomfortably recognizable in Josephus's accounts of conflict between religion and politics, passionate spirituality and practical reason.

For more information about Josephus, please visit the main page at Josephus.org (established 1998).

Recent Posts

Evaluating the Josephus-Jesus Paraphrase ModelJune 19, 2022
Josephus's passage about Jesus is best explained through a paraphrase model, as described in a recent journal article. In this post, I expand on the article with a convenient color-coded summary that displays the paraphrase evidence at a glance. I also elaborate on the difference between this model and earlier proposals and discuss some of the implications for the dating of the gospels and the nature of early relations between Christians and Jews.
New Solution to the Josephus-Jesus Mystery Brings Fresh Evidence to a Problem Long Thought UnsolvableApril 20, 2022
In an article published in the February 2022 issue of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, I present extensive evidence for a new model that provides a simple and natural explanation of the composition of the Jesus passage. This explanation makes use of the copious research investigators of Josephus have made on his methods of composition used throughout his Jewish Antiquities.
King David’s PandemicJanuary 29, 2022
The Bible tells the story of a nation-wide pandemic under King David. I examine how Josephus changed the story to emphasize the human suffering and heroism during the plague.
The Christmas Journey and the Jewish RevoltDecember 23, 2021
The journey to Bethlehem in Luke's story of the first Christmas is motivated by the Roman census. Jewish readers of Luke in the first century would remember the census as connected to the Jewish Revolt of the year 66. How would they have reacted to Luke's use of this event?
The Asteroid, Sodom, and JosephusDecember 2, 2021
The recent evidence that an asteroid or comet caused the destruction of urban centers in the Jordan Valley over 3600 years ago leads to serious consideration as to whether the cataclysm was the source of the biblical story of the destruction of Sodom. The plausibility of this identification depends on whether the time and place of the biblical story can be reconciled. On this, Josephus provides some critical information.
About This SiteDecember 1, 2021
Since 1998 I have been managing a website on Flavius Josephus at Josephus.org. This new Flavius Josephus Blog has been created to allow for quick addition of articles to the site. The original site, which is now looking old-fashioned, will be upgraded to newer technology. I am trained as a physicist but have studied history… Read more: About This Site

A Flavius Josephus Blog