Judas of Galilee
Judas of Galilee, or Judas of Gamala, was a Jewish leader who led resistance to
In Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus states that Judas, along with Zadok the Pharisee, founded the Zealots, the "fourth sect" of 1st-century Judaism
Several scholars, such as Gunnar Haaland and James S. McLaren, have suggested that Josephus's description of the fourth sect does not reflect historical reality, but was constructed to serve his own interests. According to Haaland, the part covering the Zealots acts as a transition and an introduction to the excursion concerning the Jewish schools of thought, all of which Josephus presents to portray the majority of Jews in a positive light, and to show that the Jewish War was incited by a radical minority.[5] Similarly, McLaren proposes that Judas and his sect act as scapegoats for the war that are chronologically, geographically and socially removed from the priestly circles of Jerusalem (and Josephus himself).[6]
Josephus does not relate the death of Judas, but does report that Judas's sons James and Simon were executed by
Judas is referred to in Acts of the Apostles, in which a speech by
See also
References
- ^ Raymond Brown, An Adult Christ at Christmas: Essays on the Three Biblical Christmas Stories, Matthew 2 and Luke 2 by Raymond E. Brown (Liturgical Press, 1978), page 17.
- ^ Julian Doyle, Crucifixion's a Doddle
- ^ Flavius Josephus, Antiquities Book 18 Chapter 1
- ^ Reza Aslan, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, pp. 40–41
- ^ Gunnar Haaland, A Villain and the VIPs: Josephus on Judas the Galilean and the Essenes. In Anders Kolstergaard et al. (ed.), Northern Lights on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Proceedings of the Nordic Qumran Network 2003–2006. Studies on the Text of the Deserts of Judah v. 80. Leiden: Brill, 2009. Pp. 241–244.
- ^ James S. McLaren, Constructing Judaean History in the Diaspora: Josephus’s Accounts of Judas. In John M.G. Barclay (ed.), Negotiating Diaspora: Jewish Strategies in the Roman Empire. London: T&T Clark, 2004. Pp. 90–108.
- ^ Flavius Josephus, Antiquities 20.5.2 102
- ^ "Messianic claimants (12) Menahem".
- ^ Acts 5:37