A Pharisee from a priestly family well-versed in Jewish law, a man of letters well-versed in Greek classics, A.
D. The complete works of Flavius ​​Josephus, the greatest scholar, historian, military leader, politician, and writer of his time, a commander of the Jewish resistance who witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, but who also served three Roman emperors and suffered the stigma of being a traitor.

Few people in human history have received as much praise and criticism as Josephus.
While he is still condemned by his Jewish compatriots as a traitor and apostate, he is renowned among Christians, especially among the early apologists and during the Middle Ages as a great writer in both the East and the West.
It is clear that Josephus was not a conscientious and fair seeker of truth, but a writer with a high purpose of creating a certain impression.
Moreover, Josephus shares the flaws of most ancient writers.
His analysis is superficial, his chronology is riddled with errors, his sources are exaggerated, and his speech is reeks of mold.
Especially when it comes to matters that affect his reputation, he does not hesitate to make deliberate statements.


Despite these flaws, however, it cannot be denied that Josephus was an outstanding historian.
Josephus, while standing on the foundation of the Old Testament and the Law, sought to break free from the narrow confines of Judaism at the time, and he shared similarities with Christian writers in interpreting the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple as God's punishment.
Josephus integrated both Jewish and Hellenistic traditions, connecting the Roman secular world with the religious heritage of the Bible, and providing a wealth of information essential for understanding the mentality of the various peoples under the Roman Empire.
Josephus's position is almost absolute, especially in that it is the only historical book that tells the history of Palestine and the Diaspora Jews from the time before the birth of Jesus to the first century when Christianity was born.

--- From the preface by translator Professor Kim Ji-chan

Josephus's writings, valuable not only as relics of ancient classical works but also as immortal monuments of ancient scholarship, can be divided into two categories: historical and polemical.
The former includes 『Jewish Antiquities』 and 『The Jewish Wars』, and the latter includes 『Against Apion』 and several essays.
Above all, A.
D. It is very important to be able to hear the story of what happened after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD from reliable witnesses of that time.
Events that occurred after the period in which we are particularly interested often eloquently illustrate the preceding period.
Therefore, what Josephus ultimately describes helps us understand not only the character of the Jewish people in Josephus' time, but also the character of the Jewish people in the era associated with the forces that crucified the Savior.
Ultimately, Josephus's works are not read merely as a means of satisfying curiosity about facts.
These books will open the way to studying issues closely related to Christian history and will help us understand what was the greatest cause of the corruption and depravity of God's ancient people.
Those who have repeatedly experienced the clarification of previously obscure points when they learn the prevailing sentiments of the time in which an article was written will never ignore new facts emerging from the storehouse of traditional evidence, traditional interpretations, and national memory.

--- From the introduction by Dr. Henry Stebbing, a renowned 19th-century British literary editor

1.
I don't think all those who try to write history do so with the same goal in mind.
The purpose of writing history varies from person to person, as there are many reasons for doing so.
Some people write history to show off their writing skills and receive praise from others.
Some people go to great lengths to write history in order to look good to the characters who appear in that history, and thus they sometimes go beyond their abilities.
There are also some who were so caught up in the incident that they had no choice but to write history, because they had no choice but to reveal the whole story for the sake of their descendants.
Others write history because they believe the events they are involved in are significant and want to reveal historical facts for the benefit of the public.
Of these many reasons for writing history, I must honestly confess that the last two are the reasons why I write history.
Because I myself was deeply interested in the war between Judea and Rome, and because I knew the whole story and the outcome of the war well, and because I had seen some people distort the history of that war, I could not help but write the history of the Jewish war.


2.
I wrote this book believing that it would be a book worth studying by all Hellenes.
Because this book contains the ancient history and political system of our Jewish people as interpreted by the Hebrew Bible.
When I wrote the history of wars before, I tried to describe who the Jews originally were, what their fate was, what legislators they were educated by to piety and other virtues, and what wars they had fought before they were inevitably drawn into this last war with Rome.
However, since this book is likely to be so extensive, I have divided it into a series of treatises, each with a beginning and an end.
But as is often the case when planning a masterpiece, as time went on, I began to get bored.
Moreover, translating our history into a foreign language unfamiliar to us was no easy task, so we had no choice but to take our time.


However, some people who wanted to know our history advised me not to lose heart and to continue.
Among these, Epaphroditus was the most adept, a man who loved all kinds of knowledge and especially valued historical knowledge.
Epaphroditus was a man of great passion and will, who was not only interested in important events and the various twists and turns of life.
I couldn't help but fall for the persuasion of this man who always encouraged capable people to do something.
I was also deeply ashamed of myself for being so lazy and neglecting the joy I gained from doing such hard work.
So I came to my senses again and started doing this with a happy heart.
But besides these external motivations, I had another motivation.
That is, realizing that our ancestors loved to tell others about such things and that it was no easy task for the Hellenes to know our people, I could not just sit idly by.


3.
I learned that the second king of the Ptolemaic dynasty was not only zealous for knowledge and the collection of books, but was particularly interested in translating our laws and the political system contained therein into Greek.
Eleazar, who was a nobleman and high priest at that time, did not envy the above-mentioned king, namely, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, for participating in such a privilege (if he had been envious, he would not have complied with the king's request), and he knew that he did not forbid the customs of our people, which we cherish, to be made known to others.
So I thought I should follow the example of the high priest Eleazar and realize that there are still many people today who love knowledge like that king.
Ptolemy II did not obtain all our documents at that time.
For those who were sent to Alexandria as translators gave him only the Book of the Law, although there were many other materials among our sacred writings.


These sacred texts contain five thousand years of history.
During those five thousand years, many strange events, wars, great actions of leaders, and changes in the political form of our people took place.
In general, as you read this history, you will learn the great lesson that all events were fulfilled with incredible accuracy, that God gave promises of blessings only to those who follow His will and keep His law, and that when people do not keep the law, what was once possible becomes impossible, and what began well later turns into irreversible disaster.
I would like to urge all who read these scriptures to dedicate themselves to God.
I would also encourage you to read these writings, examining whether our legislator (Moses - translator's note) understood God's nature properly and whether he properly attributed God's authoritative acts to Him.
Even if he lied, he lived 2,000 years ago, so we have no way of knowing, but it would be good to consider whether he preserved God's writings purely from the vulgar fables formed by other documents.
Therefore, I will describe in detail only what is contained in these scriptures, in a certain chronological order.
I have already sworn that I will neither add to nor subtract from the contents of these holy documents.
[omitted]
--- From the introduction to “Ancient Jewish History: Records from the Creation of Heaven and Earth to the Babylonian Exile”

Chapter 1.
The creation of the world and the arrangement of nature
1.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
But when the earth could not be seen, and thick darkness covered it, and a wind was blowing over its surface, God commanded, “Let there be light.”
Then there was light, and God looked at the whole mass and separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And God called the beginning of the light and the rest “evening” and “morning.”
This was the first day.
But Moses says it was one day.
I could reveal the reason right now, but I've promised to compile the reasons separately and make a book, so I'll put it off until then.
On the second day, God placed the heavens above the entire world and commanded it to stand alone, separating it from the other parts.
God also placed a firmament (crystalline, firmament) around the heavens, joining them together in harmony with the earth, and making them suitable not only for the sending of water and rain, but also for the benefit of dew.


On the third day, God caused dry land to appear, and seas appeared around the dry land.
On the same day God caused trees and seeds to sprout from the ground.
On the fourth day, God decorated the sky with the sun, moon, and other stars, and established their movements and paths so that the changes of the four seasons would be clearly visible.
On the fifth day, God created living creatures, both those that swim and those that fly, to inhabit the sea and the air.
God also divided the animals into groups, male and female, for the purpose of reproduction, that is, to increase and multiply according to their kinds.
On the sixth day, God created four-footed animals and made them male and female.
On the same day, God also created man.
In the end, Moses is saying that the world and everything in it were created in just six days, and that the seventh day was a day of rest, a day of liberation from the labor of such work.
This is where our celebration of rest from labor on the seventh day and our calling that day the Sabbath (Hebrew for 'rest') comes from.

2.
After the seventh day, Moses begins to speak philosophically.
Moses says about the creation of man that God took dust from the ground, formed man, and put spirit and soul into him.
This man was called Adam, and because he was made from red clay, his name in Hebrew means 'one that is red.'
The soil must be red to be pure and true soil.
God also gave Adam the living creatures he had created, male and female, each according to its kind.
Then Adam gave them names, and they have been called by those names ever since.
But God saw that Adam had no female companion, no companion for him (for such a being had not been created), and considering that other creatures were male and female, He put Adam to sleep, and then He took one of his ribs and made a woman out of it.
When Adam saw the woman coming to him, he realized that she had been created from him.
The woman's name in Hebrew is Issa, but her name was Eve, which means 'mother of all living.'

3.
Moses continues:
God created a paradise in the east, filled with all kinds of trees.
Among them was the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, through which one could know good and evil.
God brought Adam and his wife into the garden and commanded them to take care of the trees.
There was a river that watered the garden, and this river flowed throughout the land and divided into four tributaries.
The Phison River, which means 'crowd', flows into India and into the sea, and the Greeks call it the Ganges River.
Not only the Tigris River but also the Euphrates River flows into the Red Sea.
The name Euphrates or Phrath means 'dispersion' or 'flower', the name Tigris or Diglath means 'narrow and swift', and the Geon River that runs through Egypt means 'originating from the east' and is called the Nile by the Greeks.
[omitted]
--- 「〈Volume 1.
From "3,833 Years of Historical Records: From Creation to the Death of Isaac"

Chapter 11.
The history of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors to the throne, the fall of the Babylonian kingdom to the Persians, and the experiences and prophecies of Daniel in Media.
1.
King Nebuchadnezzar died after reigning for 43 years.
He was a very active man and had better luck than his predecessors.
Berosus, in Book III of his Chaldean History, speaks thus of Nebuchadnezzar:
“When his father Nebuchodonosor (Nabopolassar) heard that the governors he had appointed over Egypt, Coelesyria, and Phoenicia had rebelled, he was unable to wage war himself, so he gave part of his forces to his son Nebuchadnezzar to suppress the rebellion.
At that time Nebuchadnezzar was a young man.
After Nebuchadnezzar defeated the rebels and subdued them, he annexed the region directly to his kingdom.
It was around this time that his father, Nebuchadnezzar (Nabopolassar), became ill and died after reigning for 21 years.
After learning that his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had pacified Egypt and other countries, Nebuchadnezzar left the transport of Jewish, Phoenician, Syrian, and Egyptian captives, as well as the transport of most of the troops, supplies, and food to his friends, and returned to Babylon in a hurry across the desert with only a small group of his men.
He then ascended the throne, which had been well protected for him by a prominent Chaldean figure, and began to administer state affairs.


He assumed the previous authority of his father and instructed the captives to be stationed in various colonies throughout Babylon when they arrived.
He adorned the temple of Belus and other temples with the spoils of war.
He also annexed, expanded, and rebuilt the new city into the old one, making it impossible for enemies to divert the river and attack the city.
He built a triple wall around the inner city and a triple wall around the outer city, all of which were made of baked bricks.
After surrounding the city with a wall and decorating the gates splendidly, another palace was built in front of the king's palace and connected to it.
I cannot even begin to describe in words how magnificent and splendid this palace was.
However, despite the grandeur and immense scale of these buildings, they took only 15 days to complete.


He also created a hill in the shape of a mountain out of stone for people to walk on, and planted it with all kinds of trees.
He also built for his wife, who had grown up in the palace of the Medes, what he called a "pensile paradise" for her, as she longed for something resembling her homeland.” Megasthenes also mentions Nebuchadnezzar in Book IV of his Indian History, emphasizing that Nebuchadnezzar surpassed Hercules in courage and achievements, as he conquered most of Libya.
Diocles also mentions Nebuchadnezzar in Book II of his History of Persia, and Philostratus, in his History of India and Phoenicia, records that Ethbaal besieged Tyre at the age of thirteen when this king was still ruling there.
These are the historical records of King Nebuchadnezzar.


2.
After Nebuchadnezzar's death, Evil-Merodach succeeded his father to the throne.
As soon as he ascended to the throne, he released Jeconiah and made him his closest friend.
He gave Jeconiah many gifts and favored him more than any other king who had been taken captive to Babylon.
It was because his father had betrayed the faith of Yeogo.
As we have already seen, although Jeconiah surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar along with his wife, children, and all his relatives for the sake of his country, Nebuchadnezzar broke his promise and took over the country by force, reducing it to ruins.
When Evil-Merodach died after reigning for 18 years, his son Neglissar ascended the throne and ruled for 40 years before passing away.
The throne then passed to his son Labosordacus, who held the throne for only nine months.
After his death, the throne passed to Belshazzar (Baltasar), whom the Babylonians called Naboandelus.
Against him came Cyrus king of Persia and Darius king of Media, who declared war.
When he was besieged in Babylon by these two kings, he had a strange and wonderful vision.
He was having a meal in the large room.


Many of his concubines and friends were also present there.
Although he had numerous silver vessels made for royal use, he decided to use the vessels of God that Nebuchadnezzar had plundered from Jerusalem and had kept in the temple of his god, unused, and ordered his men to go and bring them out.
He went one step further and arrogantly used the vessel as a drinking cup, blaspheming God directly.
Then suddenly a hand came out of the wall and began writing something on the wall.
He was so terrified by this sight that he summoned all the magicians, the Chaldeans, and those who could interpret such dreams and signs as were common among the barbarians, and commanded them to interpret the meaning of the writing.
But the wizards had no idea what the writing meant.


They confessed that they had no ability to interpret it no matter what they did.
Then the king was unable to come to his senses at this astonishing incident and was so distressed that he could not bear it any longer.
He then issued a proclamation throughout his kingdom, promising that anyone who could interpret the meaning of the writing would be given a gold necklace like the kings of the Chaldeans, would be clothed in purple, and would be given a third of his kingdom.
When this royal proclamation was posted, the magicians raced to decipher its meaning, but as before, they were unable to do so.
At this time, the king's grandmother saw that the king was greatly discouraged by this incident and encouraged him, saying this:
“Among the captives taken by King Nebuchadnezzar after the fall of Jerusalem, there was a man named Daniel, a Jewish man. He was a man of extraordinary wisdom who could find out things known only to God and not to man.
When Nebuchadnezzar had a difficult problem to solve, no one could solve it, but he solved it.
Therefore, the king should drive away those who do not know the meaning of the writing, and summon that person and ask him what the writing means.
Even if God tells you something depressing through him, it would be better to ask him without hesitation.” [omitted]

--- From “〈Book 10, 182 Years and 6 Months of Historical Records: From the Time the Ten Tribes Were Taken Captive to the First Year of Cyrus〉