【简译】约瑟夫斯论耶稣（Josephus on Christianity）

2023-01-15 12:58 作者:神尾智代 0人读过 | 我要投稿

Titus Flavius Josephus (36-100 CE), the Jewish historian, is the main source for understanding Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century CE. In the last decades of the 1st century CE, he wrote The Jewish War, the Antiquities of the Jews, Against Apion, and The Life of Flavius Josephus. His histories and eyewitness testimonies remain essential to the study of the historical context that gave rise to the origins of Christianity.

犹太历史学家提图斯·弗拉维奥·约瑟夫斯（公元36-100年）为我们提供了了解公元1世纪“第二圣殿犹太教”的主要资料。在公元1世纪的最后几十年里，他编写了《犹太战争》、《犹太人的历史》、《驳斥阿皮恩》和《弗拉维奥·约瑟夫斯的生活》。有关他的历史和目击者证词对于研究基督教起源的历史背景仍至关重要。

提图斯·弗拉维奥·约瑟夫斯

Flavius Josephus was born Yosef ben Matityahu, a member of a priestly household in Jerusalem through his father’s side (the house and order of Jehoiarib), and his mother was of royal descent (Hasmonean). He was educated in Jerusalem and most likely shared ideology and sympathy with the party of the Pharisees.

弗拉维奥·约瑟夫斯原名约瑟·本·马赛厄斯（Yosef ben Matityahu），他的父亲是耶路撒冷一个祭司家庭的成员（Jehoiarib，祭司家族的首领），他的母亲是皇室后裔（哈斯蒙尼）。弗拉维奥·约瑟夫斯在耶路撒冷接受教育，很可能与法利赛人有着共同的意识形态和同情心。

During the Great Jewish Revolt of 66 CE, Josephus was appointed the commander of Galilee. He became famous (and infamous) for changing sides during the siege at Jotapata. He successfully predicted that the Roman commander, Vespasian (r. 69-79 CE), would become the next Roman emperor. Vespasian spared his life, and Josephus spent the rest of the war as a consultant to Vespasian’s son Titus (r. 79-81 CE), who ultimately destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple complex in the year 70 CE. After the war, Josephus moved to Rome where he had access to archives and wrote his histories.

在公元66年的犹太人大起义（犹太战争）中，约瑟夫斯被任命为加利利（加里肋亚）的指挥官。他因在约德法特的围攻中改变立场而闻名（也很臭名昭著）。他成功地预测了罗马指挥官维斯帕先（提图斯·弗拉维乌斯·维斯帕西亚努斯，公元69-79年）将成为下一个罗马皇帝。维斯帕先饶了他一命，约瑟夫斯在战争余下的时间里担任维斯帕先的儿子提图斯（公元79-81年）的顾问，后者最终在公元70年摧毁了耶路撒冷和圣殿建筑群。战争结束后，约瑟夫斯搬到了罗马，在那里他可以接触到许多珍贵的档案并编写历史。

The writings of Josephus are crucially important for several disciplines: Second Temple Judaism in the 1st century CE, background sources for early Christianity, historical details of the client kings of the Roman Empire in the East, and the line of the Julio-Claudian emperors in Rome. Considered one of the greatest traitors by Jews, Christians were the ones who preserved his writings for posterity. This is because he wrote about John the Baptist, reported the death of Jesus’ brother, James, and provided a passage on Jesus himself.

约瑟夫斯的著作对几个学科来说都非常重要。公元1世纪的第二圣殿犹太教、早期基督教的背景资料、罗马帝国在东方的附庸国王的历史细节以及罗马的朱里亚·克劳狄王朝的皇帝谱系。犹太人认为他是最大的叛徒之一，而基督徒则为后世保留了他的著作。这是因为他记载了施洗者约翰，描述了耶稣的兄弟雅各的死亡，并提供了一段关于耶稣本人的内容。

基督的复活，意大利文艺复兴时期大师皮耶罗·德拉·弗朗西斯卡 ( Piero della Francesca ) 的壁画

希律·安提帕斯

A son of Herod the Great (c. 75-4 BCE), Herod Antipas (r. 4 BCE - 39 CE) inherited the region of Galilee (as one of the tetrarchs, the sons of Herod the Great). Josephus described his reign and activities in detail in Antiquities. Antipas was married to the daughter of King Aretas of Petra (the Kingdom of Nabatea in Jordan). However, when meeting the wife of another half-brother, Herodias, he divorced the daughter of Aretas and married her. Aretas then went to war against Herod Antipas who was defeated. In a digression, Josephus added the following:

Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God and was a very just punishment for what he did against John called the baptist [the dipper]. For Herod had him killed, although he was a good man and had urged the Jews to exert themselves to virtue, both as to justice toward one another and reverence towards God and having done so join together in washing. For immersion in water, it was clear to him, could not be used for the forgiveness of sins, but as a sanctification of the body, and only if the soul was already thoroughly purified by right actions. And when others massed about him, for they were very greatly moved by his words, Herod, who feared that such strong influence over the people might carry to a revolt - for they seemed ready to do anything he should advise - believed it much better to move now than later have it raise a rebellion and engage him in actions he would regret. And so John, out of Herod's suspiciousness, was sent in chains to Machaerus, the fort previously mentioned, and there put to death; but it was the opinion of the Jews that out of retribution for John God willed the destruction of the army so as to afflict Herod. (Antiquities 18.5.2)

作为希律大帝（约公元前75-4年）的儿子，希律·安提帕斯（公元前4年-公元前39年）继承了加利利地区（希律四王制）。约瑟夫斯在《犹太古史》中详细描述了他的统治和活动。希律·安提帕斯与佩特拉（约旦的纳巴泰王国）国王阿雷塔斯的女儿结婚。然而，当遇到另一个同父异母的兄弟希律二世的妻子（希罗底）时，他与阿雷塔斯的女儿离婚并娶了她。阿雷塔斯随后与希律·安提帕斯开战，后者被打败。在一段题外话中，约瑟夫斯补充了以下内容：

现在有些犹太人认为希律王军队的毁灭来自于上帝，是对他对施洗者约翰的所作所为的一种非常公正的惩罚。因为希律王把他杀了——虽然他是个好人，而且劝犹太人要发奋图强，既要彼此公正，又要敬畏上帝，这样做了之后，就一起接收洗礼。因为在他看来，浸泡在水中不能用于赦免罪过，而是作为身体的圣化，并且只有在灵魂已经被正确的行为彻底净化的情况下。当其他人围着他，因为他们被他的话语深深打动时，希律担心这种对人民的强烈影响可能会导致叛乱（因为他们似乎已经准备好做任何他建议的事情），认为现在行动比以后引起叛乱和让他参与他将后悔的行动要好得多。因此，出于希律的怀疑，约翰被困在马凯鲁斯，即前面提到的要塞，并在那里被处死；但犹太人认为，出于对约翰的报应，上帝要毁灭希律王的军队，以折磨希律。(Antiquities 18.5.2)

As a client king of Rome, Herod Antipas had a duty to keep law and order in his province. In this period, various messianic contenders riled up the mobs with anti-Roman speeches. Herod Antipas was afraid that the followers of John in their zealousness would rebel. He would be blamed by Rome for not keeping control.

作为罗马的附庸国王，希律·安提帕斯有责任在其省内维持法律和秩序。在这个时期，各种弥赛亚竞争者用反罗马的言论激怒了暴民。希律·安提帕斯担心热心的约翰的追随者会造反。他将会被罗马指责为没有对统治地维持秩序。

Scholars often compare Josephus’ report to the one found in the gospel of Mark. Mark claimed that John the Baptist had criticized the second marriage. Herod invited his clients to a birthday party, where he asked Herodias’ daughter, Salome, to dance for his guests. He promised her anything she wanted. Her mother told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist. While debating Josephus’ chronology, nevertheless, the story of the Baptist is considered historical and important from an outsider’s point of view.

学者们经常将约瑟夫斯的报告与《马可福音》中的报告进行比较。马可声称施洗者约翰曾批评了希罗底的第二次婚姻。希律王邀请客人参加一个生日聚会，在那里他请希罗底的女儿莎乐美为他的客人们跳舞。他允诺了她任何愿望，她的母亲告诉她要施洗者约翰的头。在人们争论约瑟夫斯的年表的同时，从局外人的角度来看，施洗者的故事被认为是具有历史性和重要性的。

耶稣的兄弟雅各之死

In describing the rule of the procurator Albinus (62 CE), Josephus included the story of the stoning of James, the brother of Jesus:

And now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea, as procurator. But the king deprived Joseph of the high priesthood and bestowed the succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was also himself called Ananus ... But this younger Ananus was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews ... Ananus was of this thought he had now a proper opportunity (to exercise his authority). Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned. (Antiquities, 20. 9).

在描述总督阿尔比努斯（公元62年）的统治时，约瑟夫斯记载了耶稣的兄弟雅各被用石头砸死的故事：

现在凯撒听到Festus的死讯，就派阿尔比努斯作为代理人前往犹太。但国王剥夺了约瑟夫的大祭司职位，将这一权威的继承权交给阿纳努斯的儿子，他自己也叫阿纳努斯......。但这个年轻的阿纳努斯是个胆大妄为的人，非常放肆；他也是撒都该教派的成员，他们对罪犯的审判非常严格，高于其他所有的犹太人......。阿纳努斯具有这样的倾向，他现在有一个适当的机会（行使他的权力）。Festus现在已经死了，阿尔比努斯也在路上，于是他召集了犹太公会的法官，把耶稣的兄弟（名字叫雅各）和其他一些人带到他们面前，当阿纳努斯控告他们违法时，他让人用石头将其砸死。(Antiquities, 20. 9).

Ananus was dismissed as high priest for acting on his own before the next Roman magistrate had arrived. Josephus did not clarify the details of the accusation as "breakers of the law." However, by the 2nd century CE, the story of James was expanded to include details of his piety so that he was then known as James the Just. According to this version, he was thrown down from the pinnacle of the Temple and is considered one of the first Christian martyrs.

阿纳努斯因在下一个罗马行政官到来之前自行其事而被解除了大祭司的职务。约瑟夫斯没有描述被指控为“破坏法律的人”的细节。然而，到了公元2世纪，雅各的故事被扩展到包括他虔诚的细节，所以他当时被称为“正义的雅各”。根据这个版本，他从圣殿之巅坠落，被认为是第一批基督教殉道者之一。

《弗拉维奥·约瑟夫斯的证词》

One of the most controversial passages is presented as a digression in his description of Pontius Pilate:

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared. (Antiquities 18.3.)

最具争议的段落之一是在他对本丟·彼拉多的描述中以离题的方式呈现：

大约在这个时候，耶稣住在那里，他是一个聪明人，如果真的应该称他为人的话。因为他做出了令人惊讶的事迹，并且是那些乐于接受真理的人的老师。他赢得了许多犹太人和许多希腊人的支持。他是弥赛亚。当彼拉多因我们中间主要人物的指控而将他判处十字架刑时，那些最先爱他的人并没有停止。他在第三天出现在他们面前，恢复了生命，因为上帝的先知已经预言了这些事情以及关于他的无数奇迹。以他为名的基督徒部落至今仍未消失。(Antiquities 18.3.)

Scholars debate if this passage was originally written by Josephus or added by a later Christian to validate Christian beliefs. It became more famous in the Middle Ages as proof of the story of Jesus, as it demonstrated an objective, outsider’s point of view. The passage is problematic because aside from the mention of Jesus as "the Christ" in the story of James, there is no other reference to the Jesus movement. What is odd is the fact that if Josephus believed that Jesus was the Christ (the messiah of Scripture), there should have been more details and references to the missions of the apostles throughout the empire. But after this passage, he went on to describe more abuses and conflicts under Roman rule. Some modern scholars attempt to recover the original by eliminating the Christological references, turning it into just one more report of a messianic contender.

学者们争论这段话最初是约瑟夫斯写的，或是后来基督徒为了验证基督教信仰而添加的。在中世纪，这段话作为耶稣故事的证据变得更加有名，因为它展示了一个客观的、局外人的观点。这段话很有问题，因为除了在雅各的故事中提到耶稣是“基督”之外，没有其他有关耶稣活动的说法。奇怪的是，如果约瑟夫斯相信耶稣是基督（圣经中的弥赛亚），就应该有更多关于使徒在整个帝国的使命的细节和参考。但在这段话之后，他又继续描述了罗马统治下的更多弊端和冲突。一些现代学者试图通过消除基督论的提法来恢复原作，把它变成一个又一个关于弥赛亚竞争者的报告。

Because of the above passages, Christians preserved the writings of Josephus, and they remain an important source for the study of early Christianity. In the reconstructions of towns and villages in Judea and Galilee, Josephus is essential for archaeologists as well. There were later traditions that some Christians wanted to grant him sainthood, but this did not materialize.

由于上述记载，基督徒保存了约瑟夫斯的著作，它们仍然是研究早期基督教的重要资料。在重建犹太和加利利的城镇和村庄方面，约瑟夫斯的文献对考古学家来说也是必不可少的。后来有传言说，一些基督徒想授予他圣人的身份，但这并没有实现。