Home
EE's HMC Home Page
ABSTRACTS
Summary
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
CHAPTER SEVEN - THE SIGN PROPHETS
Josephus describes a number of would-be prophetic figures who promise miraculous signs and who display some similarity to Jesus. Acts refers to two of these, Theudas and the Egyptian, in a manner that suggests confusion with Jesus was at least possible. This chapter examines what both Acts and Josephus have to say about these figures. Josephus' accounts have to be treated with some caution, since he is clearly biased against the 'charlatans' he describes, and tends to conform his accounts of them to a common form. Nevertheless, they do appear to have been similar to Jesus at least to the extent of attracting a popular following and meeting opposition from the authorities. On the other hand, none of these sign-prophets appears actually to have performed a miracle, neither was healing or exorcism in their repertoire. The chief importance for the sign-prophets in relation to the Jewish context of Jesus' miracles is in demonstrating the kind of expectations and the willingness to believe in a prophetic figure that were around in the society in which Jesus operated.
