Josephus did not list piety in the catalogue of virtues in his eulogy for David, but he clearly considered it a key royal quality. He emphasizes this in the addition he inserts into the biblical account of David’s election as king, discussed above. In the biblical account, after Samuel selects David’s older brother based on his impressive appearance. In Josephus’ version, Yahweh adds that mostly Greek virtues, and including piety, make effective and responsible kings. Josephus has Yahweh tell Samuel,
You, for your part, are looking to the youth’s beauty and thinking him worthy to rule as king.I, however, do not make kingship the prize of bodily good looks, but rather of virtue of soul. I seek one who is altogether outstanding in this respect, endowed with piety (εὐσεβείᾳ), justice,
courage, and obedience, in which beauty of soul consists.186
186 Jos. Ant. 6.160: ἀλλὰσὺ µὲνεἰςτὸκάλλοςἀπιδὼντοῦνεανίσκουκαὶδὴτοῦτονἡγῇἄξιοντοῦ
βασιλεύεινεἶναι, ἐγὼδ’ οὐσωµάτωνεὐµορφίαςἔπαθλονποιοῦµαιτὴνβασιλείανἀλλὰψυχῶνἀρετῆςκαὶ ζητῶὅστιςταύτηςἐστὶτελέωςεὐπρεπὴς, εὐσεβείᾳκαὶδικαιοσύνῃκαὶἀνδρείᾳκαὶπειθοῖἐξὧντὸτῆς ψυχῆςσυνίσταταικάλλοςκατακεκοσµηµένος.
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This is by no means the only place where Josephus presents piety as a royal virtue. Josephus refers to almost half (49%) of all biblical kings as either pious (εὐσεβής) or impious (ἀσεβής).187 In general, he uses piety like other Greek writers. He often represents good kings with the combination of piety and justice188 and indicates that piety refers to the king’s general reverence for the divine and his cult while royal justice refers to the king’s fair treatment of his subjects.189 Likewise, in his writings piety and impiety encompass a broad range of good or bad royal actions (e.g. murder, keeping oaths, respecting the dead).190 Josephus also uses it as a general quality to illustrate the good character of a variety of non-Jewish rulers.191 In some but not all of these cases, piety refers to honoring the Jews’ cult in Jerusalem.192
Josephus references Herod’s impiety on a few occasions to demonstrate his general failure to be a responsible king. For example, Josephus relates how Herod had heard that the Hasmonean ruler Hyrcanus had opened David’s tomb and extracted three thousand talents of silver, but that a significant sum remained in the tomb. He decided to
187 Saul: Jos. Ant. 6.154, 6.265, 6.288, 7.294; David: 7.151, 7.338, 7.341, 7.356, 7.374, 7.384, 8.196;
Rehoboam: 8.251, 8.253; Abijah: 8.280; Asa: 8.290, 8.314, 8.315; Jehoshaphat: 8.394, 9.2, 9.16; Jehoram: 9.27, 9.96, 9.99; Uzziah: 9.222, 9.226; Jotham: 9.236; Ahaz: 9.243, 9.246; Hezekaiah: 9.260, 9.264, 9.276; Menasseh: 10.37, 10.45 (Menasseh); Josiah: 10.50, 10.51, 10.56, 10.68; Jehoahaz: 10.81; Zedekiah: 10.104; Jeroboam: 8.208, 8.266, 8.271, 8.280, 8.289; Nadav: 8.287; Basha: 8.300, 8.309; Omri: 8.313; Ahab: 8.361, 9.1, 9.109; Jehoahaz: 9.173.
188 Jos. Ant. 6.265, 7.338, 7.341, 7.356, 7.374, 7.384, 8.208, 8.251, 8.280, 8.300, 8.314, 8.394, 9.16, 9.236,
9.260, 10.50. For this usage in Greek and Greek-Jewish writers, see, for example, LetArist. 215; Philo Jos.
143; Diod. 5.7.7; Dion. Hal. 76.4.
189Jos. Ant. 7.384, 8.300, 9.236. On εὐσεβεία, see G. Kittel (1976) 175-85 (esp. 176).
190 E.g. Jos. Ant. 6.265, 8.300 (general good governance); 6.127, 7.294, 10.138 (keeping oaths); 6.288,
7.151, 153, 8.361, 9.109, 15.182, 16.90, 400, 402, 17.1 (murder of citizens, other kings, or family members); 16.188 (respecting the dead).
191 Xerxes, Darius: Jos. Ant. 11.120-132; Ptolemy Philadelphus 12.52; Ptolemy Philometor: 13.69;
Antiochus Sidetes: 13.242; Pompey: 14.72; Marc Antony: 14.315; Augustus: 16.165; Claudius: 20.12-13.
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break into the tomb and seize the money in order “to pay for all his lavish gifts.”193 Josephus clearly disapproved, and called it an act of impiety (ἀσέβεια).194 He also cites Herod’s introduction of Roman-style contests and gladiatorial games to illustrate how Herod’s disregard for the Jews’ laws and customs led the masses to neglect their former piety.195
Josephus also alludes to the importance of piety for kings in his account of Saul’s murder of the high priest Ahimelech. Saul murdered the high priest because he (wrongly) suspected him of helping David. After describing the event, Josephus claims that Saul’s actions illustrated the principal that “piety (τῆςεὐσεβείας) and justice are especially needed by those who are most exposed to envy.”196 Here, he is referring to men who obtain sole power.197 He implies that piety in a general way prevented kings from devolving into tyrants.
Josephus’ treatment of piety further demonstrates how he bridged biblical and Greco-Roman models of kingship. Both societies valued a monarch who displayed reference for the divine and cult. In addition, it confirms Josephus’ belief that effective and responsible kingship depended in part on the king’s ability to restrain his power through virtues. 193 Jos. Ant. 16.179: ὉγὰρἩρώδηςπολλοῖςτοῖςἀναλώµασινεἴςτετὰςἔξωκαὶτὰςἐντῇβασιλείᾳ χρώµενος, ἀκηκοὼςἔτιτάχιονὡςὙρκανὸςὁπρὸαὐτοῦβασιλεὺςἀνοίξαςτὸνΔαυίδουτάφονἀργυρίου λάβοιτρισχίλιατάλαντακειµένωνπολὺπλειόνωνἔτικαὶδυναµένωνεἰςἅπανἐπαρκέσαιταῖςχορηγίαις. 194 Jos. Ant. 16.188: Ἡρώδηςδὲδιὰτὴνἐπιχείρησιν, ἣνἐποιήσατοτῷτάφῳ, χεῖρονἐδόκειπράττεινἐντοῖς κατὰτὴνοἰκίαν, εἴτεδὴτοῦ µηνίµατοςἐπιδόντοςεἰςἃ µάλιστακαὶπρότερονἐνόσειπλείωγενέσθαιπρὸς ἀνηκέστουςἐξελθεῖνσυµφοράς, εἴτεκαὶτῆςτύχηςἐνἐκείνῳτὴνἐπίθεσινποιουµένηςἐνοἷςτὸκατὰτὴν αἰτίανεὔκαιρονοὐµικρὰνπίστινπαρεῖχεντοῦδιὰτὴνἀσέβειαναὐτῷτὰςσυµφορὰςἀπηντηκέναι. 195 Jos. Ant. 15.267: Διὰτοῦτοκαὶ µᾶλλονἐξέβαινεντῶνπατρίωνἐθῶνκαὶξενικοῖςἐπιτηδεύµασιν ὑποδιέφθειρεντὴνπάλαικατάστασινἀπαρεγχείρητονοὖσαν, ἐξὧνοὐ µικρὰκαὶπρὸςτὸναὖθιςχρόνον ἠδικήθηµενἀµεληθέντωνὅσαπρότερονἐπὶτὴνεὐσέβειανἦγεντοὺςὄχλους. 196 Jos. Ant. 6.265: µάλισταδεῖτῆςεὐσεβείαςαὐτοῖςκαὶτῆςδικαιοσύνηςἔγγιστατοῦφθονεῖσθαι. 197 Jos. Ant. 6.264: ἐξουσίαν… καὶδυναστείαν.
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