Josephus Quips & Contradictions

JOSEPHUS QUIPS AND CONTRADICTIONS

 

Antiquities Of The Jews

By Flavius Josephus

Translated By William Whiston

 

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in Jerusalem in 37 CE, a few years after the time of Jesus, during the time of the Roman occupation of the Jewish homeland.  Reading through the Antiquities of The Jews, I came across some interesting quips and quotes concerning scripture.  This post is somewhat out of my normal activity but it should be good for a smile rather than the usual mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, bone-chilling apocalyptic BIN subjects.

• At the beginning of creation all animals could either speak or understand and had a common language.  Aren’t you glad your dog can’t talk to his fleas.  That would be abusive language.

But while all the living creatures had one language, (5) at that time the serpent, which then lived together with Adam and his wife,

• The serpent is a talking creature.  Of course, the serpent had to be able to speak to Eve, but is the serpent a snake?

He also deprived the serpent of speech, out of indignation at his malicious disposition towards Adam. Besides this, he inserted poison under his tongue, and made him an enemy to men;

• The serpent originally had legs capable of walking and now the snake must crawl (or wiggle) on the ground.

And when he had deprived him of the use of his feet, he made him to go rolling all along, and dragging himself upon the ground.

• Cain had a wife prior to the murder of Abel and being cast out of the land.

He also cast him, together with his wife, out of that land.

• Cain did not go to Nod and get a wife.  Instead, Cain and his wife traveled over a large area and built a city named Nod.

And when Cain had traveled over many countries, he, with his wife, built a city, named Nod, which is a place so called, and there he settled his abode; where also he had children.

Actually, scripture does not say that Cain went to Nod and took a wife.  It just says that Cain and his wife had children while in Nod.

Genesis 4:16-17 NET  So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.  (17)  Cain had marital relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch.

• Adam had many children, but only Seth is mentioned.

He had indeed many other children, but Seth in particular.

• The Sethite theory for eliminating the divine beings (or angels) from Genesis chapter 6 has many issues.  This view essentially states that the linage of Seth were godly men and the women of Cain’s linage were ungodly.  Marriage between these two linages was forbidden but the godly men of Seth married the ungodly women of Cain.  This erased this separation of the two groups producing much evil which incurred the wrath of God and resulted in a devastating flood.  Josephus lends credence the sons of Seth were not godly sons.

NOW this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers; and did neither pay those honors to God which were appointed them, nor had they any concern to do justice towards men. But for what degree of zeal they had formerly shown for virtue, they now showed by their actions a double degree of wickedness, whereby they made God to be their enemy.

• He later agrees that the sons of God (bene Elohim) are angels.

For many angels (11) of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants.

• Nimrod engineered the tower of Babel for security measures because God might send another flood and drown the world.  If he had only listened to his great-grandfather Noah, it would be known that there would not be another flood.

He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach!