Peter Kirby

This is a reminder that NINT 2025 on the historical Jesus starts this evening.

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Of all the techniques that could be used to study ancient texts, there are a few that stand out as being both very important and largely understudied, being either ignored in practice or taken on faith due to the lack of relevant expertise or accessible t…

While not nearly as much ink has been spilled over the reference to John the Baptist found in Antiquities 18.116-119 (Whiston’s chapter 18.5.2), when compared to the case of the Testimonium to Jesus, there is still a debate to be found in the literature o…

In a previous post on The Quotable Josephus, we’ve seen that Josephus was frequently used as a source for quotation (including quotation by way of Eusebius, who himself quotes the Jewish historian).

Josephus’ Antiquities, Greek and Latin In their article on “The Latin Translations of Josephus on Jesus, John the Baptist, and James” (Journal for the Study of Judaism 45, pp. 1-79), Levenson and Martin discuss the fact that four passages quoted from Jose…

The works of Josephus did not survive only in complete editions of his books.

The study of the texts of Josephus, even in connection to the ‘hotly contested’ and famous passages found there, is not all wrangling.

The question of the origin of the “table of contents” and related practices in antiquity (when they began to be used, how they entered the manuscript tradition, and whether they are authorial or not in any particular case) is an involved one.

Artist’s Rendition of Machaerus The translation in the Loeb edition of Josephus’ Antiquities 18.112 reads: On his return after transacting his business in Rome, his wife, who had got wind of his compact with Herodias, before any information reached him th…