The Aramaized Hebrew of Josephus' Antiquities Book 20.9.1 on James the Just.

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
Post Reply
Trees of Life
Posts: 61
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2018 8:56 am

The Aramaized Hebrew of Josephus' Antiquities Book 20.9.1 on James the Just.

Post by Trees of Life »

James, bishop of Jerusalem was charged with offences of the law by High Priest Ananus ben Ananus in A.D. 62 and brought before the Sanhedrim—Josephus Antiquities Book 20, Chapter 9.1: ‹and brought before them the brother of Jesus called the Christ, whose name was James›.

Josephus' grammar utilizes hyperbaton to identify which James: ‹brother› and ‹James› are transposed to bring attention to the denomination ‹the Christ› which textually equates to the brother of the Lord whose name was James—James son of Zebedee—who bore the name of brother of the Lord, esoterically.

Josephus forgoes regular grammar in which James is followed by brother, of which would injudiciously pronounce that James the brother of Jesus—the foster brother of Jesus—was being documented, a disapprobation.

Identities verification for the Jameses are sourced from the original thread of this post here, http://earlywritings.com/forum/viewtopi ... 636#p92636

Forasmuch as Josephus composed his works in the 'language of his country', the Aramaized Hebrew composition's paradigmatic form was relayed into the text of the uncial Greek translation and the subsequent extant Greek editions with their English translations.

Given that the Aramaic word order was synchronized into Greek hyperbaton and ensuing English, and along with the referent that James the bishop was known as 'the Lord's brother', Josephus' Antiquities 20 Chapter 9.1 ‹ the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ, whose name was James› original Aramaic composition can be ventured with:

ahuy d'yeshua hamashiach shemeh di ya'akov

The Aramaic ‹ahuy d'yeshua› and ‹shemeh di› wording is attributed to Edward M Cook Remarks on the Aramaic of the James Ossuary, and 1986 word order in the Aramaic of Daniel, https://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Cook_remarks.shtml https://cua.academia.edu/EdwardCook

The ahuy d' and shemeh di — 'his brother of' and 'his name of ' word order, indicates to Aramaic readers to render the inalienable possession of brother and name to the following name.
James the Less, the redeemed familial brother of Yeshua, ascribed to ‹ahuy d'yeshua› of the ossuary inscription is not associated with the presented text which ascribes ‹ahuy d'yeshua hamashiach› to James the son of Zebedee, the Lord's brother, in its extensiveness, a milk-kin brother.

Inalienable possession is applied grammatically of both Jameses to Yeshua for reasons of status. James the less was a redeemed/foster brother and came after Yeshua in hereditas matters. James Zebedee's resemblance to Yeshua through their co-milk mother the Virgin Mariam made manifest that Yeshua possessed the dominant nature, and that James took after his milk-kin brother.

The Hebrew title hamashiach is congruous with its Hebraic origin.

Ya'akov is the Hebrew name before the reconstruction into the Anglicized James.

The text presented broken up:

ahuy d'yeshua hamashiach shemeh di ya'akov
  • ahu y d'yeshua hamashiach shemeh di ya'akov


    brother his diyeshua the messiah his name of ya'akov


    brother his of yeshua the messiah whose reknown of ya'akov


    the brother of Yeshua the Messiah whose character of Ya'akov


    brother the Lord's whose title of Ya'akov


    the Lord's brother surnamed Ya'akov


    Ya'akov the Lord's brother
The Lord's brother is expressed denominatively and belongs to Ya'akov.

Ya'akov the Lord's brother, Ya'akov the brother of the Lord, Ya'akov surnamed the Lord's brother' and Ya'akov who bore the surname of the Lord's brother', and comparable idioms are documented in Christian literature for the director of their sect in Jerusalem, of whom Josephus refers to in Ant. Book 20.9.

Yeshua the Messiah was predominately addressed as "The Lord". Most initiates of Yeshua favoured the term Lord when they addressed him, and rarely Messiah or Saviour.

The apostle Thomas writes "Lord Yeshua" and "Lord " in reply to Yeshua; "Lord " in place of Yeshua the Messiah; and titles him "Lord Yeshua Messiah" within editions of The Acts of Thomas, The Book of Thomas the Contender, The Gospel of Thomas, and The Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Thomas was designated as a scribe, Pistis Sophia [Book 1 Chapter 23 ].

Archivists of Christian history, including Hegesippus, Eusibius, Jerome and Origen, expressed the Lord's brother or brother of the Lord idioms as a commonality when referring to the director of the Church at Jerusalem — at that time period when the original editions of Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews abounded.

The Aramaized Hebrew variant of Antiquities Book 20 Chapter 9.1 ahuy d'yeshua hamashiach shemeh di ya'akov phraseology can be addressed accordingly in Ancient Greek.

By also observing the referentials of both Josephus' Testimonium Flavianum [Antiquities Book 18.3.3] and Christian doctrinal literature that Yeshua was the Messiah, along with the knowledge that Ya'akov bishop of Jerusalem was in antiquity documented idiomatically as 'the Lord's brother', those translators disabused of the exoteric brother descriptor are availed to revise the extant Greek text of Josephus' Antiquities Book 20.9.1 in relation to Ya'akov being surnamed the Lord's brother.

In essence, Antiquities Book 20.9.1 is phrased by Josephus with desideration, for by not broadcasting the Zebedee name, Josephus aligns himself with the Christian sect, in maintaining the esoteric 'Lord's brother' idiom of their director in Jerusalem.
Josephus' objective then is to protect the Zebedee household and meeting place for Christians, (including James' birthright successor John—who was still alive when Antiquities was published)—from hostile forces of anti-Christians.

By knowing the nature of James' kinsmanship to Yeshua—that they were nurtured by co-milk mothers and resultantly were milk-kin brothers ‹brother in the flesh› [Peter, The Contendings of the Twelve Apostles] and ‹according to the flesh› [Didascalia]—Josephus also displays an affinity with the Christian hierarchy. Indeed, along with protecting the Christian sect, he promoted Yeshua Christ as Messiah with the force of signs, [Testimonium Flavianum, Antiquities Book 18.3.3].

Josephus likewise has an affinity with the Ebionites in discerning in exactitude that the delayed destruction of Jerusalem in requital for its assassination of Jesus, came upon the nation due to the murder of James, which set the departure of the attendant Spirit that protected Jerusalem while James the Just dwelt there—as recapitulating the attendant Spirit that protected Israel while Elijah and Elisha dwelt there, both who were figuratively ‹chariots and horsemen of Israel›: 2 Kings Chapter 2.12; Chapter 13.14.


James the Just, bishop of Jerusalem, is termed 'the brother of the Lord' and 'the Lord's brother' in the Acts of Philip; Galatians 1.19; Lament of the Virgin,Transitus Mariae; History of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Legendary Life of Christ; Didascalia; Clementine Homilies; Apostolic Constitutions; Liturgy of Saint James; and augumented in the records of Hegesippus, Origen, Eusibius, Photius, etc.

In precise terms, James was the brother of Jesus son of God .

Psalm 2.2— anointed or Christ.
Psalm 2.7— 'thou my son.'

James son of Zebedee, was 'whom our Lord the Saviour called his brother', Apocalypse of Peter. Jesus said to James the Just, 'My brother, eat your bread, for the son of man is risen from the dead.' —The Gospel according to the Hebrews.
Post Reply