In his Life Josephus mainly describes his Galilean period, the more or less half year during which he was organizing the rebellion in the northern area of the country. At the end of this book he describes a spectacular event in Jerusalem through his intervention, at the end of the siege of the city in 70 CE. Maybe here also Galileans were involved?

Josephus recognizes three of his acquaintances who are hanging from crosses near Jerusalem. He hastens to Titus, who is the Roman commander in chief at that moment, and begs to have the three removed from their crosses. “He gave orders immediately that they should be taken down and receive the most careful treatment. Two of them died in the physicians’ hands; the third survived.” (Life 421)

Did two events of this kind, both of them with a Josephus playing the leading part, happen in Jerusalem in the first century CE, one around 30 CE and one in 70 CE? Too much coincidence doesn’t exist, so there was only one survival/resurrection event of this kind. In 30 or in 70 CE? There are numerous indications that it all happened in August of the year 70 CE.

(N.B. In the Gospels we meet Iosèph Arimathaias (Greek); in Aramaic the historian Josephus was called Yosèph bar Mattai.) ( )