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[366]
And now all the rest of the commanders of the Romans deemed this
sedition among their enemies to be of great advantage to them, and were
very earnest to march to the city, and they urged Vespasian, as their lord
and general in all cases, to make haste, and said to him, that "the
providence of God is on our side, by setting our enemies at variance against
one another; that still the change in such cases may be sudden, and the
Jews may quickly be at one again, either because they may be tired out
with their civil miseries, or repent them of such doings." But Vespasian
replied, that they were greatly mistaken in what they thought fit to be
done, as those that, upon the theater, love to make a show of their hands,
and of their weapons, but do it at their own hazard, without considering,
what was for their advantage, and for their security; for that if they
now go and attack the city immediately, they shall but occasion their enemies
to unite together, and shall convert their force, now it is in its height,
against themselves. But if they stay a while, they shall have fewer enemies,
because they will be consumed in this sedition: that God acts as a general
of the Romans better than he can do, and is giving the Jews up to them
without any pains of their own, and granting their army a victory without
any danger; that therefore it is their best way, while their enemies are
destroying each other with their own hands, and falling into the greatest
of misfortunes, which is that of sedition, to sit still as spectators of
the dangers they run into, rather than to fight hand to hand with men that
love murdering, and are mad one against another. But if any one imagines
that the glory of victory, when it is gotten without fighting, will be
more insipid, let him know this much, that a glorious success, quietly
obtained, is more profitable than the dangers of a battle; for we ought
to esteem these that do what is agreeable to temperance and prudence no
less glorious than those that have gained great reputation by their actions
in war: that he shall lead on his army with greater force when their enemies
are diminished, and his own army refreshed after the continual labors they
had undergone. However, that this is not a proper time to propose to ourselves
the glory of victory; for that the Jews are not now employed in making
of armor or building of walls, nor indeed in getting together auxiliaries,
while the advantage will be on their side who give them such opportunity
of delay; but that the Jews are vexed to pieces every day by their civil
wars and dissensions, and are under greater miseries than, if they were
once taken, could be inflicted on them by us. Whether therefore any one
hath regard to what is for our safety, he ought to suffer these Jews to
destroy one another; or whether he hath regard to the greater glory of
the action, we ought by no means to meddle with those men, now they are
afflicted with a distemper at home; for should we now conquer them, it
would be said the conquest was not owing to our bravery, but to their sedition."
1
1 This prediction, that the city (Jerusalem) should then "be taken, and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war, when a sedition should invade Jews, and their own hands should pollute that temple;" or, as it is B. VI. ch. 2. sect. 1, "when any one should begin to slay his countrymen in the city;" is wanting in our present copies of the Old Testament. See Essay on the Old Test. p. 104--112. But this prediction, as Josephus well remarks here, though, with the other predictions of the prophets, it was now laughed at by the seditious, was by their very means soon exactly fulfilled. However, I cannot but here take notice of Grotius's positive assertion upon Matthew 26:9, here quoted by Dr. Hudson, that "it ought to be taken for granted, as a certain truth, that many predictions of the Jewish prophets were preserved, not in writing, but by memory." Whereas, it seems to me so far from certain, that I think it has no evidence nor probability at all.
Flavius Josephus. The Works of Flavius Josephus. Translated by. William Whiston, A.M. Auburn and Buffalo. John E. Beardsley. 1895.
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