Galileans, ambiguous oracles, Christians, and the generational prophecy.

[Charles Wilson]

Josephus, W..., 6, 4, 5:

"So Titus retired into the tower of Antonia, and resolved to storm the temple the next day, early in the morning, with his whole army, and to encamp round about the holy house. But as for that house, God had, for certain, long ago doomed it to the fire; and now that fatal day was come, according to the revolution of ages; it was the tenth day of the month Lous, [Ab,] upon which it was formerly burnt by the king of Babylon..."

I have often wondered how the rebels interpreted the part of Daniel 9.24-27 which seems to predict the destruction of the sanctuary. Did they ignore that part? Did they think the sanctuary would be destroyed and then the Messiah would build another? Did they actually hope that the sanctuary would fall so as to fulfill Daniel? Were they disappointed, not by the fall of the temple, but by the fact that nothing happened afterward?

Life of Josephus:

"Now, I am not only sprung from a sacerdotal family in general, but from the first of the twenty-four courses; and as among us there is not only a considerable difference between one family of each course and another, I am of the chief family of that first course also; nay, further, by my mother I am of the royal blood; for the children of Asamoneus, from whom that family was derived, had both the office of the high priesthood, and the dignity of a king, for a long time together..."

Soooo much here, Ben. Josephus is not only from Jehoiarib but from the chief family of Jehoiarib - Rulers and High Priests - The Hasmoneans. Yet, at the very moment when he could state that it was his Course that was on Duty, the same Course that was on Duty at the Destruction of the First Temple that he goes all quiet and descriptive.

He does, however leave one of the largest Clues in the entirety of the Works of Josephus. He gives us the date of the Destruction. Now, I don't know if this is correct. The early Rabbis give this and I quoted Ta'anit 29A. Consider it Real or consider it "See-It-As". The point is simple: Jehoiarib was on Duty for the Destruction of both Temples.

Further, the character "Jesus" stands in a curious relationship to Titus here. "Jesus" is condemned for threatening to destroy the Temple and that is something that the Romans did. Titus is absolved by Josephus since he could not control certain rabid soldiers. Titus wanted to turn the Temple into a U-Store and well...there's no holding back frenzied soldiers now, is there?

That is why I stated that Josephus in giving us a Set Piece here. Where he should have said something he is quiet. Which brings up your point:

Did they think the sanctuary would be destroyed and then the Messiah would build another?

Yes, they did and Josephus tells us this in his own silent way:

"Nor was this mourning of a private nature, but the lamentations were very great, the mourning solemn, and the weeping such as was loudly heard all over the city, as being for those men who had perished for the laws of their country, and for the temple. They cried out that a punishment ought to be inflicted for these men upon those that were honored by Herod; and that, in the first place, the man whom he had made high priest should be deprived; and that it was fit to choose a person of greater piety and purity than he was..."
...
"And indeed, at the feast of unleavened bread, which was now at hand, and is by the Jews called the Passover, and used to he celebrated with a great number of sacrifices, an innumerable multitude of the people came out of the country to worship..."

Something strange going on here, isn't there? Josephus talks of the "Jews" and makes the confusion of Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread manifest. What is missing here? "Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up".

From the date of the Destruction of the Temple, it is possible to compute the dates of Passover and which Course was on Duty. When rewriting from a Source, you may go beyond "Editorial Fatigue" and believe that is what happened here. The Passover was to be a Coup in 4 BCE. The Temple was to be destroyed and at the Transfer of Mishmarot Groups, Immer was to take over from Bilgah - "The one who comes after me is before me" says John, of Bilgah.

Were they disappointed, not by the fall of the temple, but by the fact that nothing happened afterward?

YES, YES, YES!!!

They were disappointed that God (in 4 BCE) did not Stand with them and even though Jairus convinces the Priest to try again 12 years later, the Faithful will be disappointed again. They gather for the War and expect Titus to die and to reestablish the Temple and the Priesthood. Vespasian allows a few survivors from the Priesthood - Zakkai and others - to survive and build Yavneh. The other Priests are murdered. Disappointed? An understatement. Yet, this is the only way out. We don't have to wonder about it. "It's in the literature".

CW

[Ben C. Smith]

The predicted destruction of the temple in Daniel 9.24-27 would go quite well with the dominical saying about rebuilding the temple in three days. On this supposition, the saying would be speaking about the temple itself, which will, according to the prediction, be destroyed at the end, as Daniel prophesied... but worry not: it will be rebuilt 3 days later (and the messianic age will dawn). Of course, no such thing happened, so once more the prediction is transformed into something else: either a slander put on Jesus' lips (as in Mark) or a saying about the resurrection instead (as in John). Just speculation again here, so far, in the spirit of the OP.

[Charles Wilson]

Just speculation again here, so far, in the spirit of the OP.

...but nice speculation.

[Ben C. Smith]

Some more thoughts.

Josephus writes in Wars 6.5.4 §312, as we have seen, about the "ambiguous [ἀμφίβολος] oracle likewise found in their sacred writings," which oracle motivated the rebels toward war with Rome. But earlier, in Wars 3.8.3 §352, he has already written about himself that he "was able to give shrewd conjectures about the interpretation of such dreams as have been ambiguously [ἀμφιβόλως] delivered by God." The most famous interpreters of dreams in the Hebrew scriptures, of course, are Joseph and Daniel, and Josephus had some mad respect for Daniel:

Steve Mason, Josephus and the New Testament, pages 49-50:

We know that Josephus was especially fond of the book of Daniel. Although rabbinic Judaism would not ultimately include Daniel among the prophets, Josephus considered him "one of the greatest of the prophets" (Ant. 10.266). Josephus confirms the evidence of the NT that Daniel was widely read by first-century Jews, because that book was thought to have revealed events of their own time. That is, the four-kingdom scenario envisioned by Daniel (2:31-45), which seems to end with the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes (d. 164 B.C.E.), was understood by Jews of Josephus's time to present the Roman empire as the last world power (Ant. 10.276). This interpretation was doubtless enhanced by Dan 9:24-27, which counts seventy weeks of years (= 490) from the rebuilding of the temple to its final desecration and the appearance of an "anointed ruler." Since the temple had been rebuilt in about 500 B.C.E. (no one knew the exact date), speculation was rife throughout the first century that the end was near. Thus, although many biblical statements were interpreted by Jewish groups to refer to the awaited deliverer, we have good reason to suppose that Josephus was thinking of Daniel when he spoke of such prophecies.

We have one further key insight into Josephus's thinking in this matter. In War 6.312, he notes that the Jewish rebels had been provoked to war in part by their misunderstanding of an "ambiguous oracle in their sacred Scriptures, to the effect that at that time one from their country would become king of the world." Josephus comments that, though most Jewish teachers believed this prophecy to refer to a Jewish leader, in reality it "signified the sovereignty of Vespasian, who was proclaimed emperor on Jewish soil" (6.313). The Roman historian Tacitus makes a similar comment on the Jews' misunderstanding of their own prophecy, which led them to oppose rather than support Vespasian (Hist. 5.13). If we put all of these clues together, Josephus's recognition of a Roman ruler as divinely chosen does not seem all that remarkable. He was well aware of current Jewish interpretations of Daniel, which looked for an anointed leader to appear in his own time. Although this hope was usually interpreted in opposition to Roman power, it was natural for someone with Josephus's perspective to transfer the prediction to a Roman leader. Since Roman rule seemed inevitable anyway, such a reading would be more intrinsically probable to him than the Jewish, nationalistic one. And it had a precedent in the Bible itself, for Isaiah calls the Persian King Cyrus, benefactor of the Jews, God's "anointed" ruler (Isa 45:1). It seems plausible, at least, that such an interpretation of Daniel was current among Josephus's social circles, which opposed the revolt. He might well have had this gem in his hip pocket to be produced at an appropriate moment. Or perhaps, the link with the Romans was his own innovation.

Mason thus agrees that Daniel is likely the source (or, in my view, a major source) for the "ambiguous oracle" which inspired the rebels.

[Ben C. Smith]

Feldman links the ambiguous oracle to messianic expectations:

Louis Feldman, Josephus' Interpretation of the Bible, page 151: There is reason to think, despite the efforts of de Jonge (1966,132-48), Neusner (1987b), and others (e.g., Horsley 1992, 4:791-97), that expectation of a messianic figure, whether or not he was called by the name "messiah," was widespread among Jews. In particular, we call attention to Josephus's statement that what more than all else incited the Jews to war against the Romans in 66 was "an ambiguous oracle, likewise found in their sacred scriptures, to the effect that at that time, one from their country would become ruler of the world" (War 6.312). The fact that Josephus declares that this, more than anything else, drove the Jews to war would indicate that it was a strongly and widely held belief. That it was indeed widely held seems indicated by the fact that a similar prediction is mentioned by Tacitus, who states that the majority (pluribus) were persuaded that "their ancient priestly writings contained the prophecy that this was the very time when the East should grow strong and that men starting from Judaea should possess the world" (Histories 5.13.2).

I have been accustomed to regarding messianic beliefs as being held by at least some sectarian groups; this emphasis on the majority is interesting and bears more looking into.

[Charles Wilson]

My concern here is that Josephus may have had the "ambiguous oracle" in mind and that oracle was concerning Vespasian but Josephus has told a tale here and it is not ambiguous for him. The A-O is for and about Vespasian and Josephus sees Daniel as providing a calendar that can be modified to that end. Atwill covers the manipulations. The End comes to the day of the taking of Masada and the Romans take over the Lord-of-the-Earth stuff.

Also, I want to place the "Abomination of Desolation" in the Manipulated Text category. Daniel provides the Symbolic Container for the Greek perpetrator but the Mark 13 material is smeared to hide the work of the Greek General Demetrius Eucerus.

YMMV.

Big Time. This only means that Daniel may be more manipulated than first appearances may show. "Jewish Rebels" covers a lot of ground, maybe too much.

[neilgodfrey]

Identifying a passage in Daniel 9 as a source of the "ambiguous prophecy" can never be the final answer when we remember Josephus's context:

War 6.310ff

Now if any one consider these things, he will find that God takes care of mankind, and by all ways possible foreshows to our race what is for their preservation; but that men perish by those miseries which they madly and voluntarily bring upon themselves;

for the Jews, by demolishing the tower of Antonia, had made their temple four-square, while at the same time they had it written in their sacred oracles, “That then should their city be taken, as well as their holy house, when once their temple should become four-square.”

But now, what did the most elevate them in undertaking this war, was an ambiguous oracle that was also found in their sacred writings, how,” about that time, one from their country should become governor of the habitable earth.” The Jews took this prediction to belong to themselves in particular, and many of the wise men were thereby deceived in their determination. Now this oracle certainly denoted the government of Vespasian, who was appointed emperor in Judea.

However, it is not possible for men to avoid fate, although they see it beforehand. But these men interpreted some of these signals according to their own pleasure, and some of them they utterly despised, until their madness was demonstrated, both by the taking of their city and their own destruction.

Martin Goodman points out two significant points here:

1. There is no prophecy in the known canonical scriptures about the temple becoming four-square as a sign of impending captivity, so are we right to be so sure that the second prophecy must also have derived from the known canonical scriptures?

2. Josephus never in the course of his detailed discussions of the course, plans, leadership, origins of the rebellion or Jewish military efforts makes any reference to messianic hopes, so his introduction of an "ambiguous prophecy" having such a major role in the war seems strangely vague, certainly without supporting evidence.

Both Steven Mason (in A History of the Jewish War) and Martin Goodman do discuss in detail the opportunistic and propaganda value the different prophecies of Josephus.

Goodman, Martin. 2007. “Messianism and Politics in the Land of Israel, 66-135 C.E.” In Redemption and Resistance: The Messianic Hopes of Jews and Christians in Antiquity, 149-157. New York: T. & T. Clark.

[neilgodfrey]

Other events Josephus cites as signs of impending doom and that culminated in his introduction of an ambiguous prophecy in Wars 6:

• Sign 1: a star that, like Matthew's star of Bethlehem, stood over the city. The star was shaped like a sword.
• Sign 2: a comet appeared in the sky for an entire year
• Sign 3: during the Feast of Unleavened Bread a great light shone around the temple and altar making the area as light as day for half an hour
• Sign 4: a sacrificial heifer gave birth to a lamb
• Sign 5: a massive eastern gate opened of its own accord
• Sign 6: the angels of Mons appeared riding and running through the clouds
• Sign 7. a great earthquake, then a great noise, followed by many voices shouting "let's get out of here"
• Sign 8: Jesus the son of Ananias (a veritable Cassandra as befits the imminent fall of a great city)
• Sign 9: demolishing the tower of Antonia making their temple four-square in fulfilment of a sacred prophecy
• Sign 10: the ambiguous oracle by which evil men were deceived for their own destruction

How many of these signs were historical compared with the number Josephus invented for dramatic effect?

Which were which?

On what basis do we choose to assign a historical core to one or some and not to others?

[Charles Wilson]

Dio, Epitome 64:

"While he [Vitellius] was behaving in this way, evil omens occurred. A comet was seen, and the moon, contrary to precedent, appeared to suffer two eclipses, being obscured on the fourth and on the seventh day. Also people saw two suns at once, one in the west weak and pale, and one in the east brilliant and powerful. On the Capitol many huge footprints were seen, presumably of some spirits that had descended from it. The soldiers who had slept there on the night in question said that the temple of Jupiter had opened of itself with great clangour and that some of the guards had been so terrified that they fainted..."

[Ben C. Smith]

The generational prophecy is grounded in the idea that there was to be, in fact, a last generation of people before the end. This concept finds expression in the gospels, even apart from the prophecy itself, several times:

Matthew 12.41-42: 41 "The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment, and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation at the judgment and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here."

Matthew 23.36: 36 "Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation."

Luke 11.30-32: 30 "For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South shall rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here."

Luke 11/49-50: 49 "For this reason also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation.'"

The concept of a last generation upon which "all these things" will fall was also current at Qumran:

1Q14, fragments 17-18, lines 1-6: 1 [...in you]r [midst;] you shall turn away, [but not escape; and whoever] 2 [escapes, I will turn over to the sword. You shall sow and not] reap, yo[u shall tread olives] 3 [and not anoint yourself, tread grapes and no]t drink [w]ine. [The laws of Omri] are [kept] 4 [and all the procedures of the House of Ahab; you beha]ve according to their counsels; t[hus I shall destroy you] 5 [and hand over its inhabitants to insult. Its interpretation] concerns the [l]ast generation [דור] [....]

1QpHab, column 2, lines 5-10a: 5 Likewise: ~ The interpretation of the word [concerns the trai]tors in the last 6 days. They are violator[s of the coven]ant who will not believe 7 when they hear all that is going [to happen t]o the final generation, from the mouth of 8 the Priest whom God has placed wi[thin the Commun]ity, to foretell the fulfilment of all 9 the words of his servants, the prophets, [by] means of whom God has declared 10a all that is going to happen to his people Is[rael].

1QpHab, column 7, lines 1-5a: And God told Habakkuk to write what was going to happen to 2 <to> the last generation, but he did not let him know the consummation of the era. 3 ~ And as for what he says: «So that /may run/ the one who reads it.» 4 Its interpretation concerns the Teacher of Righteousness, to whom God has made known 5 all the mysteries of the words of his servants, the prophets.

4Q166, column 1, lines 8b-11: 8b [Its interpretation: with madness,] blindness and confusion 9 [of heart he has stricken them ...] and the era of their disloyalty not 10 [... for] they are the generation of the visitation 11 [...] from those who [upho]ld the [cov]enant.

4Q177, column 2, lines14b-16: 14b [The interpretation of the word concerns the last] days when against th[em] will rally 15 […] a just people, but the wicked, the demented and the simple[ton …] … the men who serve God […] 16 [… who have cir]cumcised the foreskin of their he[art in] the l[ast] generation [… and al]l that belongs to them, he will pronounce unclean and n[ot ....]

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls there is also a fragment (4Q176a) which may be a part of a particular section of the book of Jubilees, including mention of a final generation; I present the text from Jubilees for convenience:

Jubilees 23.11-17: 11 And all the generations which shall arise from this time until the day of the great judgment shall grow old quickly, before they complete two jubilees, and their knowledge shall forsake them by reason of their old age Land all their knowledge shall vanish away]. 12 And in those days, if a man live a jubilee and a half of years, they shall say regarding him: "He has lived long, and the greater part of his days are pain and sorrow and tribulation, and there is no peace. 13 For calamity follows on calamity, and wound on wound, and tribulation on tribulation, and evil tidings on evil tidings, and illness on illness, and all evil judgments such as these, one with another, illness and overthrow, and snow and frost and ice, and fever, and chills, and torpor, and famine, and death, and sword, and captivity, and all kinds of calamities and pains." 14 And all these shall come on an evil generation, which transgresses on the earth: their works are uncleanness and fornication, and pollution and abominations. 15 Then they shall say: "The days of the forefathers were many (even), unto a thousand years, and were good; but behold, the days of our life, if a man has lived many, are three score years and ten, and, if he is strong, four score years, and those evil, and there is no peace in the days of this evil generation." 16 And in that generation the sons shall convict their fathers and their elders of sin and unrighteousness, and of the words of their mouth and the great wickednesses which they perpetrate, and concerning their forsaking the covenant which the Lord made between them and Him, that they should observe and do all His commandments and His ordinances and all His laws, without departing either to the right hand or the left. 17 For all have done evil, and every mouth speaks iniquity and all their works are an uncleanness and an abomination, and all their ways are pollution, uncleanness and destruction.

A similar concept appears in 1 Enoch:

1 Enoch 1.2: And he took up his parable and said, "Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come [καὶ οὐκ εἰς τὴν νῦν γενεὰν διενοούμην, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ πόρρω οὖσαν ἐγὼ λαλῶ]."

I also want to mention something from those Qumran fragments given above: some of them speak of "the interpretation" of the prophetic words they have just cited. The original word for "interpretation" is, of course, פשר (pesher). If you read the interpretation (the pesher) through modern eyes and compare it to the original prophecy, you may experience something of a disconnect, since the interpretations do not always seem to follow the prophecy very closely.

For example, 1Q14 quotes from Micah 1.8-9 and then interprets the prophet's words as applying to the Teacher of Righteousness:

1Q14, fragment 11, lines 2b-6: 2b Barefoot and na[ked ...] 3 [... has reached as] far as the gate of my people, as far [as Jerusalem...] 4 [Its interpretation concerns the Teacher of Righteousness, who will] judge [his] enemies [...] 5 [...] he will act treacherously [...] 6 [...] ... [....]

In a pesher from 1QpHab. the interpreter reads a prophecy about the Chaldeans in Habakkuk 1.6 as applying to the Kittim. Examples could be multiplied. This kind of interpretation, sometimes looser and sometimes stricter than at other times, finds a rough parallel in modern fundamentalist Christians interpreting, say, Revelation 13.16-17 as having to do with implanted microchips.

But imagine receiving only the interpretation and not the original verbatim prophecy in these cases. Someone would be telling you that "the scriptures say" that the Kittim, swift in battle, are going to slay many and take possession of many countries, not believing in the precepts of God. How easy would it be to guess the original prophecy?

Habakkuk 1.6: 6 "For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous people who march throughout the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs."

1QpHab, column 2, lines 12-15a: 12 Its interpretation concerns the Kittim, wh[o ar]e swift and powerful 13 in battle, to slay many [...] in the kingdom of 14 the Kittim; they will take possession [of many countries] and will not believe 15a in the precepts of [Go]d [....]

There is a similar theme, sort of, but nothing about the Kittim, and of course all the words have been changed. Furthermore, even if you were able to figure out that Habakkuk 1.6 was the passage in question, you would notice, perhaps confusingly, that there is language from other passages seeping in, such as "the precepts of God," which can be found in verses such as Leviticus 18.4, 30; Deuteronomy 6.2; 8.11; 11.1; Ezekiel 11.20; and others.

Omitting the prophecy itself can sometimes make the interpretation (the pesher) difficult to link to a scriptural prophecy.

And this is obviously the position we are in with Josephus in several cases. He gives his interpretation, but he does not cite the prophecy verbatim or tell us in which book it is located.

So, for example, twice Josephus mentions a prophecy about sedition amongst the Jews leading to pollution of the temple:

Josephus Wars 4.6.3 §386-388: 386 κατεπατεῖτο μὲν οὖν πᾶς αὐτοῖς θεσμὸς ἀνθρώπων, ἐγελᾶτο δὲ τὰ θεῖα, καὶ τοὺς τῶν προφητῶν χρησμοὺς ὥσπερ ἀγυρτικὰς λογοποιίας ἐχλεύαζον. 387 πολλὰ δ᾽ οὗτοι περὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ κακίας προεθέσπισαν, ἃ παραβάντες οἱ ζηλωταὶ καὶ τὴν κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος προφητείαν τέλους ἠξίωσαν. 388 ἦν γὰρ δή τις παλαιὸς λόγος ἀνδρῶν † ἔνθα τότε τὴν πόλιν ἁλώσεσθαι καὶ καταφλέξεσθαι τὸ ἁγιώτατον νόμῳ πολέμου, στάσις ἐὰν κατασκήψῃ καὶ χεῖρες οἰκεῖαι προμιάνωσι τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ τέμενος: οἷς οὐκ ἀπιστήσαντες οἱ ζηλωταὶ διακόνους αὑτοὺς ἐπέδοσαν. / 386 These men, therefore, trampled upon all the laws of men, and laughed at the laws of God; and for the oracles of the prophets, they ridiculed them as the tricks of jugglers; 387 yet did these prophets foretell many things concerning [the rewards of] virtue, and [punishments of] vice, which when these zealots violated, they occasioned the fulfilling of those very prophecies belonging to their own country; 388 for there was a certain ancient oracle of those men, that the city should then be taken and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war, when a sedition should invade the Jews, and their own hand should pollute the temple of God. Now while these zealots did not disbelieve these predictions, they made themselves the instruments of their accomplishment.

Josephus Wars 6.2.1 §109-110: 109 τίς οὐκ οἶδεν τὰς τῶν παλαιῶν προφητῶν ἀναγραφὰς καὶ τὸν ἐπιρρέποντα τῇ τλήμονι πόλει χρησμὸν ἤδη ἐνεστῶτα; τότε γὰρ ἅλωσιν αὐτῆς προεῖπον, ὅταν ὁμοφύλου τις ἄρξῃ φόνου. 110 τῶν ὑμετέρων δὲ πτωμάτων οὐχ ἡ πόλις καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν δὲ πᾶν πεπλήρωται; θεὸς ἄρα, θεὸς αὐτὸς ἐπάγει μετὰ Ῥωμαίων κάθαρσιν αὐτῷ πῦρ καὶ τὴν τοσούτων μιασμάτων γέμουσαν πόλιν ἀναρπάζει.” / 109 And who is there that does not know what the writings of the ancient prophets contain in them - and particularly that oracle which is just now going to be fulfilled upon this miserable city? For they foretold that this city should be then taken when somebody shall begin the slaughter of his own countrymen. 110 And are not both the city and the entire temple now full of the dead bodies of your countrymen? It is God, therefore, it is God himself who is bringing on this fire, to purge that city and temple by means of the Romans, and is going to pluck up this city, which is full of your pollutions.

To what prophecy, exactly, is he referring? He is giving us the pesher without the prophecy itself, sending us on a scavenger hunt.

The best suggestion I have seen for this one is from Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 9.1-10: 1 Then He cried out in my hearing with a loud voice saying, "Draw near, O executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand." 2 And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each with his shattering weapon in his hand; and among them was a certain man clothed in linen with a writing case at his loins. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. 4 And Yahweh said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst." 5 But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity, and do not spare. 6 Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary." So they started with the elders who were before the temple. 7 And He said to them, "Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!" Thus they went out and struck down the people in the city. 8 Then it came about as they were striking and I alone was left, that I fell on my face and cried out saying, "Alas, Lord God! Art Thou destroying the whole remnant of Israel by pouring out Thy wrath on Jerusalem?" 9 Then He said to me, "The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is very, very great, and the land is filled with blood, and the city is full of perversion; for they say, 'Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh does not see!' 10 But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor shall I spare, but I shall bring their conduct upon their heads."

This passage has Jews executing other Jews, defiling the temple. To judge by the state of play in scriptural interpretation at Qumran, this could easily be the oracle that Josephus had in mind. Even if this choice is mistaken, however, it hardly follows that Josephus had no scriptural reference in mind.

The modern mind may recoil at this loosey-goosey kind of interpretation, but it happened all the time in antiquity, really (and still happens today in some circles).

Another odd oracle:

Josephus, Wars 6.5.4 §310-311: 310 Ταῦτά τις ἐννοῶν εὑρήσει τὸν μὲν θεὸν ἀνθρώπων κηδόμενον καὶ παντοίως προσημαίνοντα τῷ σφετέρῳ γένει τὰ σωτήρια, τοὺς δ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ἀνοίας καὶ κακῶν αὐθαιρέτων ἀπολλυμένους, 311 ὅπου γε Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν μετὰ τὴν καθαίρεσιν τῆς Ἀντωνίας τετράγωνον ἐποίησαν, ἀναγεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς λογίοις ἔχοντες ἁλώσεσθαι τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὸν ναόν, ἐπειδὰν τὸ ἱερὸν γένηται τετράγωνον. / 310 Now if any one consider these things, he will find that God takes care of mankind, and by all ways possible foreshows to our race what is for their preservation; but that men perish by those miseries which they madly and voluntarily bring upon themselves; 311 for the Jews, by demolishing the tower of Antonia, had made their temple four-square, while at the same time they had it written in their sacred oracles that then should their city be taken, as well as their holy house, when once their temple should become four-square.

What prophecy is there that forecasts that the squaring of the temple would be what leads to its destruction? The best suggestion I have seen for this is:

Daniel 9.25-26: 25 "So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. 26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined."

In this case, it seems possible that this temple, built with plaza a moat (the word "plaza" being רְחֹב, often translated as "town square" in passages such as Deuteronomy 13.16 and Judges 19.15), is being conflated with Ezekiel's temple in Ezekiel 40-44, that temple being square right down to the dirtiest details. But none of this may be correct, and Josephus may have intended a different passage; since he has given us the pesher without the prophecy, it is hard to be certain.

So, when we come to the "ambiguous oracle," there is certainly a chance that I am mistaken about it referring to Daniel and probably importing elements from the Shiloh prophecy and the Star prophecy. But I would like to see a better suggestion, if anyone has it. To my mind, given the laxity of interpretation by the standards we can trace at Qumran, Daniel with highlights from other texts seems like an ideal candidate.