Eleazar's Speeches

Eleazar’s speeches at the end of Josephus’ Jewish Wars offer some interesting commentary on how this particular sect of Judaism viewed the Roman occupation.  Or rather the views Josephus ascribed to this group of people.  While it is clear that not all Jews were opposed to Roman rule, after all Josephus himself believed that Judaism and Roman rule could coexist, this particular group of people were vehemently against it.  When examining these speeches it is important to remember that Josephus was not present when the speeches were actually given.  Instead they were conveyed by a group of people that avoided suicide by hiding in a well.  Now what makes this section interesting is how Josephus appears sympathetic to Jewish cause.  He certainly didn’t have to be.  He could have written this section to make Eleazar appear as lunatic; he was commissioned to write this history under Roman rule, they certainly did not care how the Jewish revolt was viewed.   If anything, they would most likely prefer to view their enemies as barbarians hardly worthy of thinking twice about.  Instead Josephus illustrates the scene as one of imminent destruction with the Jewish leader Eleazar maintaining his composure and humanity.  Eleazar decides instead surrendering to torture and slavery he and his followers would commit suicide.  Viewed today this may seem like a cowardly escape, but Eleazar saw it as the only remaining option to control his own fate.

So if this wasn’t to be a means of escape then what was it?  Eleazar himself answers this.  He claims that he already has a commitment that he will serve no other person except God.  He sees this as only keeping his word.  “Since we, long ago, my generous friends, resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice.”  This is Eleazar keeping his word and in interesting attribute to have for scoundrel and enemy of the Roman Empire.

The next discourse I find very intriguing.  Eleazar claims that they have not been defeated by the Romans, but by the wrath of God.  That “God hath convinced us that our hopes were in vain, by bringing such distress upon us in the desperate state we are now in, and which is beyond all our expectations; for the nature of this fortress which was in itself unconquerable, hath not proved a means of our deliverance.”  He goes on to say that they are being punished for revolting against the Romans.  I find it interesting that Josephus would write this.  I understand that he was writing for a Roman audience, but he didn’t have to make the Jews appear sorry for their actions.  Perhaps as a Jew himself, he sought to gain sympathy from his own people and try to mend any misgivings between the Romans and Jews.  But I think it extends beyond this.  I believe we can see a bit of Josephus through these speeches.

Granted, Josephus had no qualms about serving under Rome.  Still, he didn’t decry the actions of Eleazar and his followers.  Even in these dire and absolutely dreadful circumstances, Josephus shows the resiliency of his people.  Instead of surrendering to slavery they decide to take the last thing they own, their lives.  It’s an interesting statement that Josephus is making.  That although revolting against the Romans may have been the wrong course of action, Josephus still held some allegiance with his Jewish ancestry and wasn’t willing to abandon that quite yet.

Eleazar's First Speech
Eleazar's Second Speech