Diodorus and Josephus

Josephus Antiquities 1.1.1 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) “Those antiquities which I here publish, O Epaphroditus(Nabatean Word), are contained in twenty books, and are the records of two thousand years; which records, although they were written by the Hebrews themselves in their own language, were yet by reason of the distance of time, and the great number of years, become obscure, and not easy to be understood by those that were unacquainted with their language.” Antiquities 1.1.2 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) “I shall begin my history with what is contained in our sacred books; but shall not go on in the order of time by reason of the great length of the work, but shall make use of such a method as shall be most useful for the instruction of the reader; for I shall carefully observe what I have found written in the sacred books, without adding any thing to what is therein contained, or taking away any thing therefrom(Nabatean Word).” Antiquities 9.1.1 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) “Now when Jehoshaphat(Nabatean) was dead, Jehoram(half Nabatean) his son succeeded him in the kingdom, who was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and reigned eight years in Jerusalem; but he did not imitate his father in his piety and righteous actions, but was guilty of wicked practices, and did not govern the kingdom after a prudent manner; for he married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, and by that means introduced the worship of the gods of the Phoenicians into his kingdom.” Antiquities 14.1 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) §1 “Now when Hyrcanus was beaten out of his kingdom by his brother Aristobulus, he fled to Antipater, and by his persuasion fled to Aretas, the king of Arabia, and entreated him to assist him in getting his kingdom again; for he promised him to restore those twelve cities which his father Alexander had taken from the Arabians, and to return them to him again.” §2 “So Aretas complied with these proposals, and brought an army with him of fifty thousand, and made Hyrcanus king, and besieged Aristobulus in the temple; and the greater number of the Jews assisted Hyrcanus, and the greater number of the Arabians assisted Aretas.” §3 “And when Aristobulus had taken the matter ill, and had not the courage to make war, he sent to Pompey’s lieutenant Scaurus, who was then in Damascus, and desired him to raise the siege, promising him money for so doing.” §4 “Accordingly Scaurus took the money, and wrote to Aretas to raise the siege, and threatened him with the Romans if he did not comply with him. So Aretas was terrified, and raised the siege.” §5 “Now when Aristobulus had got clear of this danger, he pursued the Arabians, and slew many of them; and as for Aretas, he retired out of Judea, and so ended this war.” §6 “But when Pompey came into Syria, Aristobulus and Hyrcanus came to him, and each accused the other; and Aristobulus pleaded his right to the kingdom by reason of his being the stronger, and Hyrcanus pleaded the justice of his cause, and the friendship of the Arabians.” §7 “Now Pompey put off the decision till he had settled affairs in Syria; but Aristobulus, suspecting Pompey’s intentions, withdrew to Alexandrium, and prepared for war; which occasioned great disturbances among the Jews.” Antiquities 14.2 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) §1 “When Pompey was come into Damascus, those that were sent by both Aristobulus and Hyrcanus came before him; and as for Aristobulus, he pleaded that he had received the kingdom from his father, and that he was the stronger of the two; but the friends of Hyrcanus said that he had the right of the kingdom by reason of his age, and that Aristobulus had taken it from him by violence.” §2 “And besides this, they accused Aristobulus, that he had been the occasion of bringing the Romans into Judea, and that he had made war upon his own country; but Aristobulus denied these accusations, and said that it was Hyrcanus that had invited the Romans, and that he himself had not desired any change of the government.” Antiquities 11.2.2 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) “Now there was one Sanballat (Nabatean), who was sent by Darius the last king of Persia into Samaria, who was a Cuthean by birth; and he willingly gave his daughter in marriage to Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high priest; but when the elders of Jerusalem heard of this, they were displeased, and said that the high priest’s brother ought not to marry a foreign woman; but that if he would not be obedient to the laws of his country, he must be deprived of his priesthood.” Antiquities 12.1.1 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) “After the death of Alexander, the king of Macedon (half Nabatean), his dominions were divided among his successors; and Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, got Egypt, and the parts of Libya, and Coele-Syria; and Seleucus got Babylon, and all the kingdoms which lay beyond the Euphrates; and Antigonus had Asia; and Antipater Macedonia.” “Now when Antiochus was dead, his son Antiochus Epiphanes succeeded him in the kingdom; who, when he had reigned eleven years, died; whose son Antiochus Eupator succeeded him in the kingdom. In the meantime, the affairs of the Jews were in confusion, and their calamities were great, while they were deprived of the exercise of their laws; and while those that were for innovations in religion were in power.” (mothers grandfather was Nabatean) Antiquities 14.5.1 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) “Now when Caesar had heard of Pompey’s(half Nabatean) death, he was very angry, and lamented him; and when he came to Alexandria, he was in danger of his life by the Egyptians; and as he was forced to make war against them, he was in a great strait, on account of the difficulty of the place, and the multitude(Nabatean Word) of his enemies.” Antiquities 15.1.2 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) “So Herod came to Rome, and was introduced by Antony to the senate; where Messala and Atratinus(Nabatean) were his advocates, and accused Antigonus (half Nabatean), that he was not only an enemy to the Romans, but also that he had taken the government by violence. And when the senate had heard both parties, they declared Herod to be king of the Jews, and gave him the royal authority; and appointed that Antigonus should be brought to punishment.” Antiquities 16.1.2 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) “Now when Herod had settled these affairs, he thought fit to send his sons to Rome, that they might be educated there; and when they were come to Caesar, he recommended them to him, and committed them to the care of Pollio(Nabatean), one of his friends; and as Caesar was very glad of this confidence Herod put in him, he took care of the education of the young men, and was very kind to them.” Antiquities 18.0.1 — Exact Text (Whiston, public domain) “Now Cyrenius, a Roman senator, and one who had gone through other magistracies, and had passed through them till he had been consul, and one who, on other accounts, was of great dignity, came at this time into Syria, with a few others, being sent by Caesar to be a judge of that nation, and to take an account of their substance. Coponius also, a man of the equestrian order, was sent together with him, to have the supreme power over the Jews. Moreover, Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which was now added to the province of Syria, to take an account of their substance, and to dispose of Archelaus’s money; but the Jews, although at the beginning they took the report of a taxation heinously, yet did they leave off any further opposition to it, by the persuasion of Joazar, who was the son of Boethus, and high priest. So they, being over-persuaded by Joazar’s words, gave an account of their estates, without any dispute about it.”

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