Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§9.3 The Historical Context
as a title in War 4.160-61). 88 And he uses the term earlier simply in the sense of
'someone who is zealous/ardent for a cause' — including himself as a youthful
disciple of the hermit Bannus {Life 11); 89 here we should also recall that Paul
could call himself a 'zealot' without indicating membership of a political party or
resistance movement. 90 'Sicarii' is the name Josephus uses for the assassins who
emerged in the 50s and who used a short dagger (sica) concealed in their clothes
to stab their enemies in a crowd (War 2.254-7); they were one of the factions in
the final revolt, not to be identified simply with the 'Zealots'.
Taking all the data into account, we should almost certainly refrain from
using the term 'Zealot' as a titular description of a political faction given to violence
prior to the revolt beginning in 66. 91 The political situation in Palestine certainly
deteriorated in the 50s, with increasing banditry building to the revolt itself.
But prior to that the situation was much calmer. We should certainly not
deduce from Luke's reference to Simon 'the zealot' (Luke 6.15; Acts 1.13) that
Jesus had chosen a 'freedom fighter' or 'terrorist' as one of his disciples! At the
same time, it is evident that the tradition of zealous and committed piety as exemplified
by Phinehas was still widely prized through the first century. If this too
was Judaism, its self-understanding as the elect people of God separated out
from among the nations must also count as a fundamental defining characteristic.
b. The Evidence of Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
In addition to these particular groupings within Judaism (or forms of Judaism),
we have to make room for other expressions of Judaism, most notably those
found in the pseudepigrapha. For a grasp of first-century Palestinian Judaism
there is an immediate problem here. All four of Josephus' 'sects' we know were
operative in the land of Israel during the period with which we are principally
concerned. But with the Apocrypha several of the items come from the diaspora,
and the scope and datings of much of the Pseudepigrapha are so unclear that we
are often uncertain as to which of the writings are of relevance to us. 92 At the
88. R. A. Horsley, 'The Zealots: Their Origin, Relationship and Importance in the Jewish
Revolt', NovT 28 (1986) 159-92.
89. See also Ap. 1.162; in Philo, Migr. 62; Som. 1.124; 2.274; Abr. 22, 33, 60; Mos.
1.160-61; 2.55, 161, 256, etc. In the LXX Pentateuch it is God who is described as a 'zealot'
(Exod. 20.5; 34.14; Deut. 4.24; 5.9; 6.15).
90. See above §9.2a.
91. See also D. R. Schwartz, 'On Christian Study of the Zealots', Studies 128-46; L. L.
Grabbe, Judaism from Cyrus to Hadrian (2 vols.; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992) 499-500;
D. Rhoads, 'Zealots', ABD 6.1043-54.
92. The texts of the documents to be mentioned are most readily accessible in the OT
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