Faith in Jesus 97 (1Qphab 2,14) 36. to believe moses (Josephus, Ant. 2,274) and the prophets (4 Ezra 7,130; Josephus, Ant. 11,96) is a natural expression of this conviction. in most of the cases in which “faith” language is used in connection with the prophets, the object of faith is not the prophets as such, but their message (e.g., Josephus, Ant. 8,232; 9,12.72.86; 10,28.39.105.114.119.124.178). tobit can therefore be said to have believed the word of God through the prophet nahum (tob 14,4, cf. philo, Agr. 50). Josephus explains that the Jews believed that Daniel conversed with God (Ant. 10,267). according to martin hengel, adherence to charismatic and Zealot leaders was conditioned upon faith. the object of this faith, however, was not the prophet himself but his message or his divine authoriza- tion 37. lindsay quotes two instances in which Josephus refers to faith in holy persons (in addition to moses and the prophets). in Ant. 3,308 Joshua and caleb dissuade the people from believing the frightening message of the spies, and in Ant. 5,215 some young men believe Gideon’s account 38. in both of these examples, faith is not understood as absolute faith in a person, but belief in their message. in the examples of a religious understanding of faith, the ultimate object of faith is always God 39. Faith in God’s spokespersons is de- rivative of faith in God; the one to trust for salvation is still God him- self. philo discusses how israel ought to have had faith in moses. the reason is that they had already received abundant proof of his truth- fulness (Mos. 1,196), a reference to the divine legitimization of moses (cf. exod 19,19). in Somn. 2,24, therefore, the virtuous person be- lieves what moses says about God. as far as i have been able to as- certain, Jewish writings that antedate the christian movement do not award this role to the messiah. on the contrary, the Psalms of Solomon emphasizes that the messiah will hope in God (17,34.39). the chris- tian additions to the Testament of Benjamin (10,7.8.9 slavonic Recen- sion), the Sibylline Oracles (8,255), and the Life of Adam and Eve (42,3), constitute the only examples i have found of texts that describe 36 cf. also lohse, “emuna und pistis”, 150. 37 The Charismatic Leader and His Followers (ed. J. Riches; trans. J.c.G. GReiG; new York 1996) 23. n. t. Wright compares Jesus’ call to faith to the demand for personal loyalty by Jewish messianic pretenders and concludes that Jesus’ call was not “unique” (Victory, 263). he fails to consider the distinction described above. 38 Josephus and Faith, 131-132. 39 concerning philo, lindsay concludes: “pi,stij as religious faith or trust is exclusively pi,stij which is directed toward God” (Josephus and Faith, 60).