Category:Zealots (subject)

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The Zealots were one of the Jewish parties of the Second Temple period.

Overview

According to Josephus, the party of the Zealots was formally founded in the year 6 CE by Judas the Galilean and Zadok the Pharisee, at the time of the Census of Quirinius when the Romans took direct control of Judea and Samaria.

Josephus describes the Zealots as a "fourth sect" besides the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes. He claims that the Zealots "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" (Ant 18.1.6). The Zealots fostered strong Messianic expectations about the coming of the Son of David, whom they saw as a military leader prompting with his actions the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.

The Zealots advocated violence against the Romans, their Jewish collaborators, and the Sadducees. A group of them, called Sicarii, distinguished themselves for carrying out a series of political assassinations against their opponents.

The Jewish authorities and the Romans struggled to suppress the movement of the Zealots. Around 46, the Roman Procurator Tiberius Alexander executed two of Judas' sons, Jacob and Simon. The Zealots movement however survived and gained strength, as the political and social situation deteriorated.

The Zealots had an active role since the early stages of the Jewish War. Eleazar ben Simon led them to a crushing victory against the Romans in the Battle of Ben Horon. Ananus ben Ananus tried to form a government of national unity among Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes, which excluded the Zealots. As the revolt progressed, however, the Zealots were able to take control of the situation, eliminating all their adversaries. Josephus largely blames the fanaticism of Zealots and Sicarii for the disastrous outcome of the War.

The destruction of the Temple in the year 70 CE did not mean the end of the Zealot movement. Anti-Roman attitudes remained very much alive and erupted into a new outburst of violence with the Revolt of Bar Kokhba at the beginning of the second century CE.