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Did Flavius Josephus provide us with a hint of a three-year discrepancy within his writings? I submit that he did indeed do this very thing. In fact, I have found him to be a very unreliable historian. However, I will briefly treat what I feel to be a very important chronological error especially as it pertains to the first century C.E. Below, I start with the “hint” that is contained within The Life of Flavius Josephus.
“…and when I was about sixteen years old, I had a mind to make trial of the several sects that were among us. These sects are three:--The first is that of the Pharisees, the second that of the Sadducees, and the third that of the Essenes, as we have frequently told you;” (Life 2.10)
“…so I contented myself with hard fare, and underwent great difficulties and went through them all.” (Life 2.11)
“I imitated him (Banus) in those things, and continued with him three years. So when I had accomplished my desires, I returned back to the city, being now nineteen years old…” (Life 2.12)
Now, in viewing the footnotes, this discrepancy did not go without notice. William Whiston adds the following by way of a possible resolution:
When Josephus here says, that from sixteen to nineteen, or for three years, he made trial of the three Jewish sects, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes, and yet says presently, in all our copies, that he stayed besides with one particular ascetic, called Banus, par’ auto (with him), the old reading might be zerophagia (with them); which is a very small emendation, and takes away the difficulty before us.
I should first like to present the reader with a list of observations about the cited verses and/or footnote.
1) Josephus links the three-year trial with the three major sects thus implying approximately one year spent studying each sect.
2) Josephus states that he then spent three years with Banus. Due to the proximity of the discrepancy, I would postulate that it did not escape the author’s (Josephus) notice and therefore, it was intentional.
3) Whiston states in his footnote that “all our copies” utilize “par auto (with him)”. That is, there is absolutely no evidence of error in this regard. Furthermore, the grammatical structure would be rendered non-sensical if one were to accept Whiston’s proposed resolution.
4) Whiston’s resolution to the discrepancy is that the autograph may have used “zerophagia (with them)”. Whiston goes on to try and justify this proposed correction by saying that it is a “very small emendation” and that it takes away the difficulty.
The reader is naturally free to make up his or her mind regarding the above. However, it is my belief that historians should take a fresh and new approach to this and other discrepancies within Josephus. It is my contention that Josephus presented us with an intentional discrepancy in order to point out a three-year difference apparent within several of his presented historical “facts”. Further, I would contend that this particular “error” has not been treated properly by scholars throughout the years. The historical timeline must be reconstructed whenever possible lest cyclic mistakes continue.
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