Gophna to Galilee
The Bridge Between Jewish and Christian Beginnings
Cliff Carrington, 3-2000
Flavius Josephus has a story involving a group of priests who defect to Titus and are given Roman protection and temporarily housed in a small town named Gophna. Titus promised the priests to respect their religion and that when the war was over he would settle them permanently with their property. This was most likely the group of priests, possibly including Johanan ben Zakkai and his disciples, who were finally settled at Jamnia by the Flavians.
“Some also there were
who, watching a proper opportunity when they might quietly get away, fled to
the Romans, of whom were the high priests Joseph and Jesus, and of the sons of
high priests three, whose father was Ishmael, who was beheaded in Cyrene, and
four sons of Matthias, as also one son of the other Matthias, who ran away
after his father's death, and whose father was slain by Simon the son of
Gioras, with three of his sons, as I have already related; many also of the
other nobility went over to the Romans, together with the high priests.
“Now Caesar [Titus] not
only received these men very kindly in other respects, but, knowing they would
not willingly live after the customs of other nations, he sent them to Gophna,
and desired them to remain there for the present, and told them, that when he
was gotten clear of this war, he would restore each of them to their
possessions again; so they cheerfully retired to that small city which was
allotted them, without fear of any danger.” [Jewish War, 6. 2. 2.]
The Flavians did not give away their favours cheaply, see the example of Flavius Josephus. What they needed was a non-nationalistic, peaceful and controllable Judaism. These rabbis were the men to do this for the Flavians, in exchange for their lives. The academy went through the Scriptures and edited them to suit their masters. This is the Judaism of today, excepting the modern Zionist movement.
There are many Jewish legends about the founding of their post-temple religion. These are found in the Talmud and Haggadah. With minor variations the story goes like this:
During the siege of Jerusalem in the summer of 70 CE a Jewish priest, the deputy head of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Johanan (Jochanan) ben Zakkai defected to the Romans. It is written that he communicated to the Roman camp, via arrow-mail, that he was a ‘Friend of Vespasian’ and wished to come over. The Romans gave him a promise of safe-conduct, if he could get out of the strife-torn city.
Rabbi Johanan devised a scheme, with the assistance of a relative who was in charge of a gate, to be carried out of Jerusalem in a coffin. This deception was needed because none but the dead were allowed out of the city. His disciples, with permission, carried their master out to the cemetery and placed the coffin in a burial cave. Later, at night, Rabbi ben Zakkai got out of the coffin and made his way to the Roman camp, where he was welcomed.
The Rabbi then has an interview with Vespasian (Sic), the commander of the siege. During the interview Rabbi ben Zakkai gives Vespasian a prophecy, very similar to Josephus’, that he would soon become emperor (Sic). He was taken into the camp to await the outcome of the war. Then Vespasian becomes emperor, fulfilling ben Zakkai’s prophecy. After the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple the Rabbi was rewarded.
Vespasian allotted Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai and his disciples, who had also defected or somehow survived the destruction, a place of refuge in the coastal town of Jamnia. This little town was on the main highway along the Mediterranean sea, the Via Maris. There, under Roman protection, and perhaps guidance, the rabbis founded an academy for the study of the Jewish Scriptures, which gained the name The Vineyard. This name either came from the fact that the academy was actually set up in an old vineyard, or because the students sat in rows like planted grape-vines. Either way, the members of this academy were the roots of modern Judaism.
Rabbi ben Zakkai had some able followers to assist in the teaching. Legend has it that they were Akiba ben Joseph (50-135), Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Ishmael the ‘Priest’ (60-140), Rabbi Jose and Rabbi Meir (110-175) amongst others. There were learned women also like Bruria, Rabbi Meir’s wife, who was the foremost authority on the Halakah, or explanation of the Laws. Even the servant-girl of Judah Ha-Nasi could explain the meaning of rare Hebrew words. They were later joined by Gamaliel II, Nasi, of the House of David, who took over from Rabbi ben Zakkai as head of the academy. He was recognised as Patriarch by the emperor.
Thus the ‘House of David - Branch of Jesse’ ruled the Jews through to the third century from Galilee. This was supported by the authorities with grants of Imperial land. It was this group of scholars who founded modern Judaism and settled the canon of what became the Hebrew ‘Old Testament’ which exists today in the English translation as the ‘Authorised’ Bible, ie. approved by the Authorities.
The Talmudic legends record some of the debate which went on as they decided which books to include or exclude from the canon. Much of the debate is profound, some trivial. For instance there was much opposition to including the three books, Ecclesiastes, Esther and the Song of Songs in the canon. The book which caused the most discussion was the Song of Songs. Many wanted to exclude it because of its obvious erotic nature. But the allegorists won the day and it made it into the canon by a Spiritual reading. But with typical Jewish compromise they had arrived at a decision after a few years and the Hebrew Bible - minus the revolutionary Maccabees - was set in Flavian concrete, as it were.
The Jewish canon, minus the revolutionary Maccabees, was set between 70 and 132 CE; which is also when the Gospel was written. The canons of both the Jews and Christian Gospel were completed at the same time, and remain basically as we have them today. The Hebrew canon is our prime example of how this came about. Its canon was set by the academy of tame Jewish scholars at Jamnia - under Flavian favour, protection and guidance. This is the official canon which could not be altered without official approval, it was Authorised.
The Flavian academy at Jamnia continued for sixty years to be the centre of Jewish learning. They set the all of the important calendar dates for the lunar feasts which varied from year to year. They also responded to questions about Jewish Law sent to them from communities around the world. Their authority was respected not only throughout the Roman world, but, even as far away as Babylon.
When the second Jewish war broke out the rabbis first went underground and later were relocated to a small town in western Galilee, near Mt. Carmel, opposite Nazareth, which was named Usha. Though one rabbi, Akiba, had joined the Bar Cochaba revolt and was tortured before execution for his breach of faith, the others remained faithful to the Romans. They were still under Roman protection, and guidance. The academy remained in Galilee until the end of the fourth century, though its location was moved to bet Shearim, Tiberius, Caesarea and Lydda over the years. The academy was given Imperial land grants by the Flavians. This was probably granted from the deceased Herod Agrippa II’s Galilean estates.
One of the first things the Flavians did upon gaining power was to regulate or found academies of learning. In other words - by the appointments to the chairs and payments of the salaries to the professors in Rome, Athens, Alexandria and other centres of learning - the Flavians controlled education and to a large extent men’s minds.
That they also founded and endowed the definitive Jewish academy is not unexpected. The scholars of Jamnian academy were in constant contact with the Romans, who undoubtedly advised them on how far they could go in their teaching - as the Flavians did with all of the other academies.
The most important head of the academy in its Galilee period was a friend of the ruling emperors, Judah Ha-Nasi, or Judah the Prince (ruled 135-217). He was also called ‘Rabbi’ or ‘Teacher’, because of his great learning. The son of Gamaliel II, he was of the House of David, through his great-grandfather Hillel the Babylonian (60BCE-10CE) of David’s Royal lineage.
He ruled like a real prince of David, with his body-guards and sumptuous court, which only admitted learned men and women. Judah Ha-Nasi used to say that; “it is the unlearned who bring trouble into the world.” He was reputed to have been close friends with the Antonine emperors, as was his father. He ruled from the end of the second to the beginning of the third centuries, and figures in many Jewish legends.
As Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai and Gamaliel II presided over the setting of the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures, so Rabbi Meir organised the Mishna, and Judah Ha-Nasi completed the basis of the Talmud. Thus by the end of the second century modern Judaism was formulated under the friendly, (excepting part of Hadrian’s reign), Roman rule and influence.
A Greek scholar from Sinope in the Pontus, Aqulia, was commissioned to translate, with exact literalness, the Hebrew canon into Greek. Alas, this ‘Aqulia’ Greek version of the early Hebrew canon has completely disappeared except for some fragments embedded in the later Fathers.
After the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple the Jamnian rabbis had to reconstitute not only the Jewish Scriptures but also its worship. They had to abandon, forever, the Temple, Sanhedrin, State, Warfare and History. To replace the Temple they had the Torah, for the Sanhedrin the Academy, for the State the Commonwealth of Jews, in place of warfare they now had ‘internal spiritual struggle’ and instead of History they turned to Interpretation or exegesis.
The rabbis retained many of the important feasts; Passover became a celebration of survivors, Tabernacles was of necessity without the temple as it had been all along. Chanukkah was a problem. It celebrated the cleansing of the temple after the victorious Jewish revolt against the Greeks. It became a ‘festival of lights’. There was much confusion in later Judaism about exactly what they were celebrating. Anyhow, the Christians soon took over the ‘festival of lights’ for Christmas and its original significance was by and large forgotten.
This was all accomplished under the guidance of the Flavians and their immediate successors between 70 to 132 CE. One result of this Flavian censorship was that the books recording the successful revolt and wars of the Jews against the Selecuid Greeks, ‘Maccabees’, were excluded from the Hebrew canon as being possibly inflammatory which might encourage further sedition.
This is also shown in the English translations of the Bible where the books of the Maccabees are regulated to the Apocrypha. The Flavians had tight control over all literature as a matter of policy. They certainly would be very careful with this religious canon. They virtually remade Judaism in their own image. The Rabbinic Judaism we have today was created at Jamnia by the Flavians.
There are many problems with the Johanan ben Zakkai story, not the least being that Vespasian was not actually present at the siege of Jerusalem, his son Titus (of the same name) was the commander. Secondly, when rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai escaped from the siege, in the summer of 70 CE, to promise the emperorship to Vespasian, Vespasian was already emperor! These and other inconsistencies can never be sorted out because of the lack of reliable material.
However, it is not only orthodox Judaism who claim Jamnian/Flavian beginnings. Even the mystics amongst the Jews trace their tradition back to these very same Flavian rabbis! Gershom Scholem, the late Jewish historian of the Cabbala traces its foundation to the academy at Jamnia:
“Palestine was the cradle of the movement, that much is certain. We also know the names of the most important representatives of mystical and theosophical thought among the teachers of the Mishnah. They belonged to a group of the pupils of Johanan ben Zakkai, around the turn of the first century A.D. There is good reason to believe that important elements of this spiritual tradition were kept alive in small esoteric circles; the writers at the end of the Talmudic epoch, attempted a synthesis of their new religious faith and thereby laid the foundations of an entirely new literature.
“As we have seen, these writers no longer appear under their own names, but under those of Johanan ben Zakkai, Eliezer ben Hyrakanus, Akiba ben Joseph [Jose], and Ishmael the “High Priest.” These authentic personages are at the same time introduced as the chief characters of their writings, the “heroes” of mystical action, the keepers and trustees of secret wisdom...” [Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, p. 41]
The seminal book for modern Cabbalists is the Medieval work known as the Sepher ha Zohar, which first surfaces in the twelfth century but pretends to come from the first century. In this work the principal rabbis, who propound the secrets of the Cabbala, are those from the first century academy. Perhaps this is wistful thinking on their part. But, interestingly, it is again a Flavian beginning to a Jewish sectarian movement.
The Desposyni! Eusebius, in his History, writes of two descendants of the House of David, (through Jude, the Lord’s brother), in Galilee. These men are called the ‘Desposyni’. They are summoned before Flavius Domitian and examined as to their political correctness. They were found harmless, were released and sent back to Galilee to become ‘leaders of the Churches everywhere’. The Christians claim these two men as their own. But, they were also claimed by the Jews as well. ‘Desposyni’ is only defined in the Lexicons as ‘Emperor’s Men’, or ‘members of the Imperial Household’! Paul gives away the plot: “All the Saints send their greetings, especially those of the Imperial household.” Phillipians. 4:22
The whole Domitian story is suspect. But, may have a grain of tradition embedded within it. Perhaps this is the Bridge between the Flavian Jewish academy in Galilee and these two men claimed to be Christians. That Domitian would act in the manner Eusebius presents him as doing is very unlikely, unless there is something else going on. It was precisely this period of transition for the Jews, after the turn of the century, that the first identifiable Christians come to our attention. Lucian, our first truly independent pagan witness, in his ‘Death of Peregrinus’, mentions a group of early Christians in this area at about the same time.
The Carmelites of the twelfth century claimed that they were the earliest Christian hermits and traced their beginnings to this period in Galilee under Titus and Vespasian. Their early Latin documents claim their descent from Elijah, through John the Baptist, to Jesus, after whose ascension they build a chapel to Mary on Mount Carmel, opposite Nazareth, under Flavian protection.
Five of these early Latin documents specifically name Titus and Vespasian, in that order. There is also something about a ‘seventh year’ of the Flavians after the destruction of the temple. Some of the documents claim that the Carmelites had a foundation near the Golden Gate, which faces East from the temple towards the Mount of Olives and the garden of Gethsemane, which was the position of the Flavian commander’s camp during the siege. As that may be, they all claim their foundation in conjunction with ‘Titi et Vespasaini’.
Another early apocryphal work ‘The Avenging of the Saviour’, written in bad seventh century Latin claims the Flavians destroyed Jerusalem to avenge their new Lord. The story is interesting in that Titus is anachronistically claimed to be a prince under Tiberius, when he summons Vespasian and five thousand men, to go to Judea for vengeance.
Both Titus and Vespasian are converted to Christianity by a character named Nathan. When they surround Jerusalem the Jewish armies commit suicide rather than be killed by the Romans. This is reminiscent of the Masada story in Josephus. Anyhow, the Flavians destroy the city, locate the Veil of Veronica and send it to Tiberius who is cured of ‘nine kinds of leprosy’ and also converts to Christianity!
This is pure romance of course. But, the connection with the early Carmelite stories is unmistakable. Notably both name the Flavians as ‘Titus and Vespasian’. It is unusual to mention the son before the father. They both have something about a seven year period of the Flavian siege.
Both religions are intimately connected to the House of David and Galilee. Perhaps Christianity was just another one of these first century Flavian Jewish projects? A covert operation supporting an underground Jewish sect which diluted and Hellenised the Jewish Diaspora: a countervailing sect which later got out of control and two centuries later became a religion in its own right, under Flavius Constantine!
However it happened, the propagation of both Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism happened in the same place and at the same time - under the Flavians.
“...but it was only after the rise of the Flavians that we Romans believed in such stories.” [Tacitus, Histories, 1. 10.]