Ancient Knowledge and Josephus (25 July, 2013, Av 18, 5773)
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Duration ca. 14.56 minutes
The ancient pagans and the Jews both had an understanding that a good portion (i.e. the Ten Tribes) of the Israelite Nation was to be found in the West and in the British Isles. This may also be hinted at in the writings of Josephus.
Contents:
1. Mark Williams Sends an Informational-Lead!
2. Pagan Concepts of the Ten Tribes being in Britain
3. Jewish Notions of the Ten Tribes being in Ireland, Britain, and the West
4. Who Was Josephus?
5. Josephus and Balaam
6. The Prophecies of Balaam
7. Josephus Paraphrases Balaam.
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1. Mark Williams Sends an Informational-Lead!
Mark Williams forwarded to us an extract from Josephus on the Antiquities of the Jews.
See:
Josephus and a Prophecy of Israelites in the Islands
Josephus paraphrases the Biblical story adding his own insights and points derived from Jewish traditions extant in his time. Most of these sources have since been lost to us. We may surmise their contents from scraps of information and indirect references such as those Josephus provides.
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2. Pagan Concepts of the Ten Tribes being in Britain
It would seem that in Ancient Times both the Gentiles and the Jews each in their own way had some idea that the Ten Tribes were, at least in part, to be found in the British Isles.
In pagan terms the legend of Saturn (Cronus) being expelled from Israel and going to Britain would have represented Northern Israel being exiled and reaching the British Isles.
See:
A Hidden God?
How Pagan Mythology located the Israelites in the British Isles
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3. Jewish Notions of the Ten Tribes being in Ireland, Britain, and the West
The Jews spoke of the Lost Ten Tribes. They associated the Ten Tribes with the Sons of Moses and the Rechabites.
Jewish legends and traditions from the Second Temple period and shortly afterwards said that the Lost Ten Tribes, Rechabites, and Sons of Moses were in the Islands of the Blessed. This is confirmed by Apocryphical Jewish and Christian-Jewish writings that have survived from those times and also from other sources.
Arab sources also borrowed from the Jews. They spoke of Aad brother of Hud who had once lived in the area of Israel.
Hud represented the Jews who kept the Law of Moses. Hud is another form of "YaHud" i.e. Judah.
Aad the brother of Hud would therefore be the Ten Tribes.
The name Aad (cf. Aramaic ) can connote "exile". Aad was exiled for his sins and went to the Happy Isles of the Blessed meaning Ireland or both Britain and Ireland.
This is what happened to the Ten Tribes.
The Arab sources also say that the sons of Moses (who were associated with the Ten Tribes) were in the Happy Isles of the Blessed (Ireland and Britain) and in Gaul i.e. present-day France Belgium and Holland.
See:
Did the Jews Know Where the Ten Tribes Are?
Jewish Traditions and Locating the Ten Tribes of Israel in the West.
In British Legends (Welsh Triads) Britain was named after Prydain son of Aed the Great. There was a god named Aedui or Aed. Britain was also called "Aeddon", in honor of Aed.
See:
Aed and the Lost Tribes in Britain. The Lost Ten Tribes in Celtic and Arabic Lore
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4. Who Was Josephus?
The Jewish notions indicating that the Ten Tribes were in the West and the British Isles may have been reflected in the writings of Josephus.
Josephus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus (37 - c. 100), also called Joseph ben Matityahu (Biblical Hebrew: , Yosef ben Matityahu), was a scholar who witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer who was born in Jerusalem, then part of Roman Judea, to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry.
He initially fought against the Romans during the First Jewish-Roman War as the head of Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in 67 to Roman forces led by Vespasian after the six-week siege of Jotapata. Josephus claims the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Roman-Jewish War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a hostage and interpreter. After Vespasian did become Emperor in 69, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the emperor's family name of Flavius.
His most important works were The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94). The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation (66-70). Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Roman audience. These works provide valuable insight into first century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity.
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5. Josephus and Balaam
Josephus in his paraphrase of the Prophecy of Balaam, gives the prophecy as saying:
The multitude of your posterity also shall live as well in the islands as on the continent, and that more in number than are the stars of heaven.
This to our mind would be a reference to the British Isles.
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6. The Prophecies of Balaam
Balaam (Numbers 22:2-25:9) prophesied concerning Israel. He foresaw the future division between Judah and the Ten Tribes (Numbers 23:7). The Israelites would be a nation counted Alone and not with other peoples. They would not be subject to the same limitations as the others are (23:9). They would be above the other peoples though bearing heavier responsibilities.
They would be an innumerous people, a very great multitude (23:10). They were to receive an unconditional blessing (23:8,19-20). A portion of them would be governed by a monarch (23:21). Their symbols would include a lion (23:24, 24:9) and unicorn (23:22, 24:8) like the British Coat of Arms. They were to dwell according to their Tribes (Numbers 24:2), and in fertile rich areas (24:6), to be in many waters, in every sea, and to rule the waves (24:7). They would become the most powerful national grouping in world history (24:7). They would defeat Edomite nations such as Germany and Japan (24:9).
The Kenites (Rechabites) would be exiled along with the Ten Tribes and return alongside them (24:22 see Rashi).
All of the above points are pertinent to Western Peoples especially those who derive from the British Isles and their kinfolk.
See:
Balaam. The Talking Ass
The Prophecies of Bilaam
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7. Josephus Paraphrases Balaam.
Josephus paraphrased the Prophecies of Balaam. He expands on some points and adds details. These include the Israelites being found in the islands as well as on the continent. These additions need to be considered in light of the evidence indicating that amongst the Jews the concept exist that at least part of the Ten Tribes were in the west especially in the islands of Ireland and Britain.
Flavius Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews - Book IV
ch.4 s.6
CONCERNING BALAAM THE PROPHET AND WHAT KIND OF MAN HE WAS,
Then said he, "Happy is this people, on whom God bestows the possession
of innumerable good things, and grants them his own providence to be
their assistant and their guide; so that there is not any nation among
mankind but you will be esteemed superior to them in virtue, and in the
earnest prosecution of the best rules of life, and of such as are pure
from wickedness, and will leave those rules to your excellent children;
and this out of the regard that God bears to you, and the provision of
such things for you as may render you happier than any other people
under the sun. You shall retain that land to which he hath sent you,
and it shall ever be under the command of your children; and both all
the earth, as well as the seas, shall be filled with your glory: and
you shall be sufficiently numerous to supply the world in general, and
every region of it in particular, with inhabitants out of your stock.
However, O blessed army! wonder that you are become so many from one
father: and truly, the land of Canaan can now hold you, as being yet
comparatively few; but know ye that the whole world is proposed to be
your place of habitation for ever. The multitude of your posterity also
shall live as well in the islands as on the continent, and that more in
number than are the stars of heaven. And when you are become so many,
God will not relinquish the care of you, but will afford you an
abundance of all good things in times of peace, with victory and
dominion in times of war. May the children of your enemies have an
inclination to fight against you; and may they be so hardy as to come
to arms, and to assault you in battle, for they will not return with
victory, nor will their return be agreeable to their children and
wives. To so great a degree of valor will you be raised by the
providence of God, who is able to diminish the affluence of some, and
to supply the wants of others."