Zadok the Pharisee
ZADOK THE PHARISEE
ZADOK THE PHARISEE (early first century c.e.), founder, together with *Judah the Galilean, of the "fourth philosophy" among the Jews of the late Second Temple period (see *Sicarii). This "philosophy" was, in effect, the theoretical basis and justification of the Jewish rebellion against the Romans, and according to Josephus was first introduced by Zadok and Judah during the assessment of Jewish property by the Syrian governor Quirinius (6 c.e.). This assessment, claimed the two rebels, amounted to no less than the enslavement of the Jewish people, and inasmuch as "God alone is their leader and master," there was no alternative but to make a bid for independence. Josephus stresses the zeal which Judah and Zadok inspired in the young, and attributes to them the subsequent strife leading up to the rebellion.
[Isaiah Gafni]