Zealots (Judea)

The Zealots were members of a Jewish political movement during the Second Temple period who sought to incite the people of Judaea to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Land of Israel by force of arms, most notably during the First Jewish–Roman War. "Zealotry" was the term used by the Jewish historian Josephus for a "fourth sect" or "fourth Jewish philosophy" during this period.

Etymology

The term ''zealot'', the common translation of the Hebrew '' kanai'' (, frequently used in plural form, , ''kana'im''), means one who is zealous on behalf of God. The term derives from Greek (''zelotes''), "emulator, zealous admirer or follower".

History

Josephus' '' Jewish Antiquities'' states that there were three main Jewish sects at this time, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. The Zealots were a "fourth sect", founded by Judas of Galilee (also called Judas of Gamala) in 6 CE against the Census of Quirinius, shortly after the Roman Empire declared what had most recently been the tetrarchy of Herod Archelaus to be a Roman province. According to Josephus, they "agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord." (18.1.6)

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia article on ''Zealots'':

Others have also argued that the group was not so clearly marked out (before the first war of 66–70/3) as some have thought.

Simon the Zealot was listed among the apostles selected by Jesus in the Gospel of Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles. He is called Cananaean in Mark and Matthew ( Matthew 10, , Mark 3,) Two of Judas of Galilee's sons, Jacob and Simon, were involved in a revolt and were executed by Tiberius Alexander, the procurator of Iudaea province from 46 to 48.H.H. Ben-Sasson, ''A History of the Jewish People'', Harvard University Press, 1976, , p. 275

The Zealots took a leading role in the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), as they objected to Roman rule and violently sought to eradicate it by indiscriminately attacking Romans and Greeks. Another group, likely related, were the Sicarii, who raided Jewish settlements and killed Jews they considered apostates and collaborators, while also urging Jews to fight the Romans and other Jews for the cause. Josephus paints a very bleak picture of their activities as they instituted what he characterized as a murderous "reign of terror" prior to the Jewish Temple's destruction. According to Josephus, the Zealots followed John of Gischala, who had fought the Romans in Galilee, escaped, came to Jerusalem, and then inspired the locals to a fanatical position that led to the Temple's destruction. They succeeded in taking over Jerusalem and held it until 70, when the son of Roman Emperor Vespasian, Titus, retook the city and destroyed Herod's Temple during the destruction of Jerusalem.

Talmudic descriptions

In the Talmud, the Zealots are characterized as non-religious, that is not following the contemporary religious leadership. They are called the ''Biryonim'' (בריונים) meaning "boorish", "wild", or "ruffians", and are condemned for their aggression, their unwillingness to compromise to save the survivors of besieged Jerusalem, and their blind militarism in opposition to the rabbis' desire to seek a peace treaty with Rome. However, according to one body of tradition, the rabbis initially supported the revolt until the Zealots instigated a civil war, at which point all hope of resisting the Romans was deemed impossible.

The Zealots are further blamed for having contributed to the demise of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, and of ensuring Rome's retribution and stranglehold on Judea. According to the Babylonian Talmud, Gittin:56b, the ''Biryonim'' destroyed decades' worth of food and firewood in besieged Jerusalem to force the Jews to fight the Romans out of desperation. This event precipitated the escape of Johanan ben Zakai and his meeting with Vespasian, which led to the foundation of the Academy of Jamnia and the composition of the Mishnah, ensuring the survival of rabbinical Judaism.

''Sicarii''

The Sicarii were a splinter group of the Jewish Zealots who, in the decades preceding Jerusalem's destruction in 70 CE, strongly opposed the Roman occupation of Judea and attempted to expel them and their sympathizers from the area. The Sicarii carried '' sicae'', or small daggers, concealed in their cloaks. At public gatherings, they pulled out these daggers to attack Romans and alleged Roman sympathizers alike, blending into the crowd after the deed to escape detection.

According to historian Hayim Hillel Ben-Sasson, the Sicarii, originally based in Galilee, "were fighting for a social revolution, while the Jerusalem Zealots placed less stress on the social aspect," and the Sicarii "never attached themselves to one particular family and never proclaimed any of their leaders king". Both groups objected to the way the priestly families were running the Temple.

Affiliation with Paul the Apostle

While most English translations of the Bible render the Greek word ''zelotes'' in Acts 22:3 and Galatians 1:13-14 and Philippians 3:5-6 of the New Testament as the adjective " zealous", an article by Mark R. Fairchild takes it to mean a Zealot and suggests that Paul the Apostle may have been a Zealot, which might have been the driving force behind his persecution of the Christians (see the stoning of Saint Stephen) before his conversion to Christianity, and the incident at Antioch, even after his conversion. While Paul was not formally part of the Zealot movement—focused on violent resistance to Roman rule, his pre-conversion actions reflect a similar fervor for preserving Jewish purity and traditions. This zeal may also explain his later confrontations, such as the incident at Antioch, even after his conversion.

In the two cited verses Paul literally declares himself as one who is ''loyal'' to God, or an ''ardent'' observer of the Law according to the Douay-Rheims of Acts 22:3, but the relationship of Paul the Apostle and Jewish Christianity is still debated. This does not necessarily prove Paul was revealing himself as a Zealot. The ''Modern King James Version'' of Jay P. Green renders it as 'a zealous one'. Two modern translations (the Jewish New Testament and Alternate Literal Translation) render it as 'a zealot'. The Unvarnished New Testament (1991) renders Galatians 1:14 as "being an absolute zealot for the traditions".

See also

* S. G. F. Brandon
* Eifert
* Knanaya
* Sicarii (1989), a modern group inspired by the Sicarii
* Sikrikim, a modern group inspired by the Sicarii
* Simon the Zealot
* '' Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth'', a book about the life of Jesus by Reza Aslan
* Zealots of Piety
* Zealots of Thessalonica

Notes

External links

*
*

{{Authority control

1st-century Judaism
AD 6 establishments
73 disestablishments
Jews and Judaism in the Roman Empire
Ancient political movements
Early Christianity and Judaism
Jewish nationalism
Jewish rebellions
National liberation movements
Census of Quirinius
First Jewish–Roman War