The Sanhedrin of Jerusalem commissioned Judah and Joezar to assist Josephus (66 C.E.) in pacifying the people and inducing them to lay down their arms. Josephus at first calls them noble men ("Vita," § 7), but afterward remarks maliciously that, being priests, they had in their possession much money from the tithes given them. The envoys wished to return home, probably because they perceived Josephus' duplicity, but he persuaded them to remain ("Vita," § 12). He accused them of taking no thought for the future, and of accepting bribes from John of Giscala for permission to seize the grain in the imperial granaries in Galilee ("Vita," § 13); in other words, they sided with the patriot John. Josephus finally was obliged to send his colleagues back to Jerusalem ("Vita," § 14).
G. S. Kr.
