§ Debates · Ch. 4 · Between Caesar and God
Who were the Zealots?
2 positions · no single answer
Position A · held by Some scholars
All the revolutionaries
The term would cover all the Jewish revolutionaries of the period; Josephus does indeed call 'zealous' anyone showing passionate enthusiasm for a cause.
Rests on: p. 98
Reads the same page as : the same source, different readings.
Where the debate comes up
Statements tied to the debate
- The word 'zealot', now a synonym for fanatic, comes from a group in the revolt. In the Bible, zeal is the jealous defense of God and people, sometimes violent, as when the priest Phinehas kills an Israelite and a Midianite woman. Some scholars call all the rebels of the time Zealots; in Josephus's writings, however, the Zealots form a faction of their own, born late in the war, alongside the Sicarii (whose name comes from a dagger) and Simon son of Giora's men.