Josephus, a Jewish historian, a major source for Jewish history in the Second Temple period. Josephus was a member of the priestly aristocracy in Jerusalem born around 35. As a young man he served on an embassy to Rome. When the revolt against Rome broke out in 66 CE, he was sent by the revolutionary authorities in Jerusalem to command Jewish forces in Galilee. After the Romans besieged Jotapata, Josephus was captured by the Romans. He claims to have prophesied that Vespasian, the Roman general, was the emperor to be. When that prophecy was soon fulfilled, Josephus was taken into the service of Titus, son of Vespasian, now commanding the Roman forces besieging Jerusalem. After the war, Josephus was brought to Rome, where he was given a pension by the imperial family. With that support Josephus wrote an account of the Jewish war in seven books, laying blame for the destruction of Jerusalem on the heads of the rebels and portraying his patron, Titus, as a merciful general. About fifteen years later he wrote a larger history of the Jews, the Jewish Antiquities in 20 books. He also wrote an apologetic work, Against Apion, countering slanders against the Jewish by an Alexandrian pagan. Late in his life he also wrote a brief autobiography, telling a different tale about his own role in the Jewish revolt that differed in many ways from his account in the War. He probably died around 95 CE.
Philo of Alexandria, a Jewish philosopher and Biblical exegete. He lived from approximately 25 BCE to around 45 CE. Philo was a member of a wealthy and influential Alexandrian Jewish family. His nephew, Tiberius Julius Alexander, had a career in the Roman military, served as governor of Judaea, and as a member of the staff of Titus during the siege of Jerusalem during the Jewish revolt. Philo was a prolific writer. Some of his works were apologetic, particularly his Against Flaccus and his Embassy to Gaius, which reported on the violence against the Jews of Alexandria in 38 CE and his own efforts as part of an embassy to the Roman emperor on their behalf. He wrote several works including aLife of Moses, offering a straightforward account of the scriptural story, and a more elaborate allegorical commentary on the Pentateuch. His reading of scripture was shaped by Greek philosophy in which he combined Stoic insights within a largely Platonic framework. He offered a simpler commentary in a pair of works, Questions on Genesis and Questions on Exodus. Among his other works, On the Contemplative Life is an account of a Jewish ascetical sect, the Therapeutae, who lived a life of contemplation in a desert commune.
1 William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891 – September 19, 1971): A leading scholar of theOld Testament in the Twentieth century. He received his bachelor’s degree from UpperIowa University, and his PhD from Johns Hopkins, where he served on the faculty form 1930 to 1958, where he educated a generation of leading scholars of the Old Testament. He was particularly noted for his archaeological work. Among his most influential works are: From the Stone Age to Christianity (1940, rev. 1960), The Archeology of Palestine (1960) andYahweh and the Gods of Canaan: An Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths (1968)