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Etienne Nodet
The second narrative concerns an analogous theme. Persian astron-
omers have seen a star ascending above Jerusalem, indicating the birth
of one who is to be a master of the world. They arrive after a year and
a half of observation, but they do not find anything, and the star disap-
pears. Then it reappears, and they show it to Herod, who gives them
an escort to follow the star. However, it vanishes once again, and they
obtain permission to follow it on their own, after promising to return.
After one year, they have still not returned, and the teachers of the
law explain that according to the prophecies of Balaam and Daniel, a
master will appear, born without a father. Herod makes enquiries in
Judea in order to find such a child who is aged less than three years,
and promises to adopt him—but in vain. The same Levi suggests that
all the children be massacred, but the teachers argue successfully that
according to Mic 5:1, the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, and
that it therefore suffices to kill all the children there. Herod does so.
This story, with the intermittent appearances of the star, follows the
career of Herod: the star, followed by infallible astronomers, approaches
him, then goes elsewhere after two eclipses. The master born without a
father may be an allusion to the legends which Suetonius reports about
the virginal birth of Augustus, the son of a god (i.e. Apollo) and master
of the world. The origin of this passage is uncertain. Eusebius (Hist.
Eccl. 1.8.5) and Photius (Bibliotheca 238) both affirm that Josephus
wrote about the massacre of the Holy Innocents in Bethlehem.
The Slavonic Version of the Jewish War of Josephus
The Old-Russian version of the War, which includes non-Christian passages on Herod, John the Baptist and Jesus, is a translation of the first Greek edition by Josephus, before the polishing work of his assistants-censors.
www.academia.edu
The second narrative concerns an analogous theme. Persian astron-
omers have seen a star ascending above Jerusalem, indicating the birth
of one who is to be a master of the world. They arrive after a year and
a half of observation, but they do not find anything, and the star disap-
pears. Then it reappears, and they show it to Herod, who gives them
an escort to follow the star. However, it vanishes once again, and they
obtain permission to follow it on their own, after promising to return.
After one year, they have still not returned, and the teachers of the
law explain that according to the prophecies of Balaam and Daniel, a
master will appear, born without a father. Herod makes enquiries in
Judea in order to find such a child who is aged less than three years,
and promises to adopt him—but in vain. The same Levi suggests that
all the children be massacred, but the teachers argue successfully that
according to Mic 5:1, the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, and
that it therefore suffices to kill all the children there. Herod does so.
This story, with the intermittent appearances of the star, follows the
career of Herod: the star, followed by infallible astronomers, approaches
him, then goes elsewhere after two eclipses. The master born without a
father may be an allusion to the legends which Suetonius reports about
the virginal birth of Augustus, the son of a god (i.e. Apollo) and master
of the world. The origin of this passage is uncertain. Eusebius (Hist.
Eccl. 1.8.5) and Photius (Bibliotheca 238) both affirm that Josephus
wrote about the massacre of the Holy Innocents in Bethlehem.
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