In Acts 21:27-40, we read about a riotous lynch mob that attacked Paul on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and his subsequent arrest by Roman soldiers. Historical sources and archaeological finds corroborate many of the details of this narrative in fascinating ways. Still, one peculiar point stands out to many readers as inviting further explanation. Shortly after Paul’s arrest, the Roman commander is surprised to discover that Paul is not “the Egyptian” who led a revolt and gathered assassins in the wilderness. Paul clarifies that he is not, and the account moves on, leaving us to wonder who this seemingly well-known revolutionary was and why the commander mistook Paul for him? As it turns out, we do have more information on the man from at least one other source, and the background is worth considering.

Imposters and deceivers

Before getting into the details about the Egyptian himself, it’s worth noting a little context. Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian who wrote multiple important works in the late first century AD, tells us that there were numerous “imposters and deceivers” appearing in Jerusalem during the time of the Roman Governor Felix:

“These works, that were done by the robbers, filled the city with all sorts of impiety. And now these impostors and deceivers persuaded the multitude to follow them into the wilderness, and pretended that they would exhibit manifest wonders and signs, that should be performed by the providence of God. And many that were prevailed on by them suffered the punishments of their folly; for Felix brought them back, and then punished them.” (Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 20, Chapter 8, Section 6)¹William Wheston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Hendrickson Publishers, 1987) 536

It is worth noting that this pattern of deceitful figures boasting signs and wonders to mislead the people and even direct them out into the wilderness is exactly what Jesus predicted would occur:

“For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them,” (Matthew 24:24-26).

It is also worth noting that Josephus sets these events in the time of Felix, who is also mentioned throughout Acts 23-24 as the governor who was in charge at the time of Paul’s arrest and subsequent trial. Thus, Acts and Josephus are certainly discussing the same general time period.

The Egyptian false prophet

With this context in mind, we can now take a look at the story of the Egyptian himself. The New Testament account reads as follows:

“As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, ‘May I say something to you?’ And he said, ‘Do you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?’ But Paul said, ‘I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people,'” (Acts 21:37-39).

Josephus seems to describe the same man. Immediately after the passage cited above about the imposters and deceivers, he writes:

“Moreover, there came out of Egypt about this time to Jerusalem one that said he was a prophet, and advised the multitude of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives, as it was called, which lay over against the city, and at the distance of five furlongs. He said further, that he would show them from hence how, at his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall down; and he promised them that he would procure them an entrance into the city through those walls, when they were fallen down. Now when Felix was informed of these things, he ordered his soldiers to take their weapons, and came against them with a great number of horsemen and footmen from Jerusalem, and attacked the Egyptian and the people that were with him. He also slew four hundred of them, and took two hundred alive. But the Egyptian himself escaped out of the fight, but did not appear any more. And again the robbers stirred up the people to make war with the Romans, and said they ought not to obey them at all; and when any persons would not comply with them, they set fire to their villages, and plundered them.” (Josephus, The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 20, Chapter 8, Section 6)²William Wheston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Hendrickson Publishers, 1987) 536

In another of his works, Josephus reports again on this event, explaining:

“But there was an Egyptian false prophet that did the Jews more mischief than the former; for he was a cheat, and pretended to be a prophet also, and got together thirty thousand men that were deluded by him; these he led round about from the wilderness to the mount which was called the Mount of Olives, and was ready to break into Jerusalem by force from that place; and if he could but once conquer the Roman garrison and the people, he intended to domineer over them by the assistance of those guards of his that were to break into the city with him. But Felix prevented his attempt, and met him with his Roman soldiers, while all the people assisted him in his attack upon them, insomuch that when it came to a battle, the Egyptian ran away, with a few others, while the greatest part of those that were with him were either destroyed or taken alive; but the rest of the multitude were dispersed every one to their own homes, and there concealed themselves,” (Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book 2, Chapter 13, Section 5)³William Wheston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Hendrickson Publishers, 1987) 614

Thus, in this odd episode of Judean history, a false prophet and insurrectionist from Egypt stirred up a mob and then ran off into the wilderness. Even at the later time that Josephus wrote, he had never been seen again. The events of Acts 21 would not have been very long after the Egyptian’s attempted uprising. Therefore, it comes as little surprise that, when a violent mob erupted in the streets of Jerusalem again, the local Roman commander assumed that the Egyptian had returned and was at it again. Thus, once again, even in fairly incidental details, the events described in the New Testament fit remarkably well with what we know from other historical accounts of the time.

How many men did the Egyptian lead?

Despite the agreement between the book of Acts and both of Josephus’ accounts on the essential details of the events surrounding the Egyptian, critics will often accuse the New Testament of an error here. They will point out that Josephus claims that the Egyptian raised 30,000 men while the New Testament only mentions 4,000. However, there are several reasons why we should not assume Acts to be in error here.

First of all, Josephus’s numbers don’t only come into apparent conflict with the New Testament. They also come into apparent conflict with, ironically enough, Josephus himself! In the second account listed above (from “The Wars of the Jews”), Josephus puts the number at 30,000 men and says that the vast majority of them were killed or captured. Yet, in the first version cited above (from “Antiquities of the Jews”), we read that Felix “slew four hundred of them, and took two hundred alive.” That’s a total of only 600 men, hardly “the greatest part” of 30,000. Thus, either Josephus himself was wildly inconsistent in reporting the numbers, later scribes miscopied his numbers to make them inconsistent, or else there is some nuanced way to harmonize both the large and small numbers that is not altogether obvious to us now. In any of these cases, conflict with Josephus’ numbers need not cast doubt on the New Testament account.

Secondly, even if we take the numbers in “The Wars of the Jews” as correct, they don’t necessarily contradict those in Acts. Josephus lists 30,000 as the starting number of men raised by the Egyptian before the conflict. The wording in Acts may imply that 4,000 were how many escaped with him into the wilderness after the failed insurrection. On this reading, we may still feel a slight discrepancy in Josephus calling such a fleeing mass “a few others,” but considering that this would be only about 13% of the original force that escaped and Josephus is trying to emphasize Felix’s complete route of the rebellion, his wording would not be altogether wrong.

Thirdly, even if the figure of 4,000 mentioned in Acts could be proven to be false, that would not invalidate the account. The book of Acts does not claim to narrate precisely what happened with the Egyptian, only what this particular Roman commander said happened. If the Roman commander had the details of the story wrong and the book of Acts accurately reported his mistaken words to Paul on the matter, this would constitute only an error on the part of the commander, not the book. Acts would still have accurately reported what the commander said, which is all the book claims to have done.

Finally, if Acts and Josephus are, indeed, in genuine conflict on this detail, we should trust Acts over Josephus. Of course, the fact that the book of Acts is inspired Scripture is one very good reason for this, but there is even more. Acts was written earlier than Josephus. Acts records the words of a Roman commander who may have been present himself during the uprising or, at the very least, was serving at the same place and very close in time to the events. We have very good reasons to see the account given in Acts as the more reliable of the two sources. Still, even if irreconcilable conflict over the numbers is assumed, the overall agreement in detail gives us strong corroborating evidence that the events surrounding the Egyptian insurrectionist really did happen.