Menahem ben Judah lived around the time of the

First Jewish–Roman War The First Jewish–Roman War (66–74 CE), also known as the Great Jewish Revolt, the First Jewish Revolt, the War of Destruction, or the Jewish War, was the first of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire. Fought in the prov ...

and is mentioned by

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

. He was the leader of a faction called the

Sicarii The Sicarii were a group of Jewish assassins who were active throughout Judaea in the years leading up to and during the First Jewish–Roman War, which took place at the end of the Second Temple period. Often associated with the Zealots (altho ...

who carried out assassinations of Romans and collaborators in the Holy Land. He was the son of Judas of Galilee and grandson of Hezekiah, the leader of the

Zealots The Zealots were members of a Jewish political movements, Jewish political movement during the Second Temple period who sought to incite the people of Judaea (Roman province), Judaea to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Land ...

, who had troubled Herod and was a warrior. When the war broke out, he attacked

Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...

with his band, armed his followers with the weapons stored there, and proceeded to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, where he captured the fortress Antonia, overpowering the troops of Agrippa II. Emboldened by his success, he behaved as a king, and claimed the leadership of all the troops. Thereby, he aroused the enmity of Eleazar, another Zealot leader, and met death as a result of a conspiracy against him (ib. ii. 17, § 9). Some identify him with Menahem the Essene, including Israel Knohl (English edition, 2001), who makes this identification from two purportedly messianic hymns from

Qumran Qumran (; ; ') is an archaeological site in the West Bank managed by Israel's Qumran National Park. It is located on a dry marl plateau about from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, about south of the historic city of Jericho, and adjac ...

.Israel Knohl trans. David Maisel ''The Messiah Before Jesus: The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls'' 2002 p.61 "Significantly, the only mention of Menahem in the Mishna occurs immediately after the remarks on the wickedness of slighting God's honor. The protagonist of the messianic hymns, whom we have identified with Menahem, describes himself " He may be identical with the Menahem ben Hezekiah mentioned in the Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin 98b) and called "the comforter that should relieve", and is to be distinguished from Menahem ben Ammiel, the Messiah of the Sefer Zerubbabel.

References

This article is an evolution of th
corresponding article
which gives the following Bibliography: Grätz, Gesch. passim; Hamburger, R. B. T. s.v. Messiasc; M. Gaster, in Jew. Chron. Feb. 11 and March 11, 1898; A. M. Hyamson, False Messiahs, in Gentleman's Magazine, Ixix. 79–89; Johannis à Lent, De Judœorum Pseudo-Messiis. Jewish messiah claimants 1st-century Jews 1st-century people Zealots Jewish rebels {{Judaism-bio-stub