Zealots

Zealots Those prepared to take up arms against the Romans occupying Palestine. As a group they came into existence at the beginning of the Jewish rebellion in 66 ce, but there was much social unrest as early as 6 ce, when Judas the Galilean led a revolt against the census of Quirinius (Acts 5: 37). Jesus had a sympathizer with this movement among the Twelve (Luke 6: 15). By 66 ce, however, the name came to signify an organization or coalition of bandits, terrorists, and the unemployed to fight the Romans. The identification of Jesus with a popular movement of rebellion has been argued on the ground of his suffering crucifixion, the form of execution for a terrorist or rebel. The theory, however, is unlikely, since Jesus' teaching about the kingdom of God was not given in language typical of the later Zealotry (cf. Mark 12: 17). It could be that Simon, called the Zealot by Luke but ‘the Cananaean’ by Mark (3: 18) which means in Aramaic a zealot in the sense of an enthusiast, gets this name because of his personal character. Or perhaps he was an enthusiast for God (like Paul, Acts 22: 3).