Matthias Curtus

Matthias Curtus^[1] (Greek: Ματθαῖος ὁ Κυρτός, Κυρτός was his Greek epithet^[2] as his nickname from the Latin word Curtus, meaning the swollen or the humpback^[3]; flourished 1st century, born 76 BC^[4]) was an ethnic Jew living in Jerusalem.

Matthias came from a wealthy family who descended from the priestly order of the Jehoiarib, which was the first of the twenty four-orders of Priests in the Temple in Jerusalem.^[5] He was the son of Matthias Ephlias and the daughter of the High Priest Jonathon. Jonathon may have been Alexander Jannaeus, the High Priest and Hasmonean ruler who governed Judea from 103 BC-76 BC.^[6] The paternal grandfather of Matthias was Simon Psellus.^[7]

Matthias was a contemporary to the last rulers of the Hasmonean dynasty in particular to Hyrcanus II who served as High Priest from 76 BC-67 BC and 63 BC-40 BC.^[8] He followed in the footsteps of his father and paternal grandfather and served as a Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem. He married an unnamed Jewish woman through whom had a son called Josephus. His son would be the paternal grandfather of the Roman Jewish Historian of the 1st century, Flavius Josephus.

References

1. ^ Josephus, Flavius Josephus: translation and commentary p.9
2. ^ Fergus, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C. - A.D. 135) p.p.45-6
3. ^ Josephus, Flavius Josephus: translation and commentary p.9
4. ^ Fergus, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C. - A.D. 135) p.p.45-6
5. ^ Fergus, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C. - A.D. 135) p.p.45-6
6. ^ Fergus, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C. - A.D. 135) p.p.45-6
7. ^ Josephus, Flavius Josephus: translation and commentary p.p.7-9
8. ^ Reader’s Digest, Reader’s Digest: Jesus and His Times p.54

Sources

• M. Fergus, S. Emil & V. Geza, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C. - A.D. 135), Continuum International Publishing Group, 1973
• Reader’s Digest: Jesus and His Times, The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. Printed by Fourth Printing USA, July 1990
• F. Josephus & S. Mason, Flavius Josephus: translation and commentary, BRILL, 2001