ZEALOTS: ORIGIN, CHARACTERISTICS AND IDEOLOGY - HISTORY - 2025

The Zealots or Zealots were the members of a Jewish-nationalist political movement of armed resistance, created in rejection of the Roman Empire's occupation of the Judea region.

This organization was considered by the historian Flavius ​​Josephus (37-100 AD) as the fourth most important Jewish philosophy of the time, after the Sadducees, the Pharisees and the Essenes.

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Although their principles and beliefs were strictly governed by religion, by accepting God as their only divine deity, they are considered to this day a rebellious and extremist movement that frequently rivaled other groups of the time, such as the Pharisees.

Although in the beginning their actions were not too violent, over the years they became a sect that came to murder civilians, just because they had interests different from their own.

Several historians qualify the Zealots as the first terrorist group in history, especially for taking extreme measures against those who opposed their ideology or thought differently from them.

Origin

The name Zealot comes from the Greek zelotai and its Hebrew equivalent kanai which means jealous. Based on the actions of the movement, it is considered that the meaning could be: jealous of the laws of God.

This group was founded in the first century AD by Judas El Galileo, who in year six led an insurrection against a census ordered by Rome to impose new taxes.

Paying taxes to a foreign king was against Jewish law and placed a huge economic burden on the population who already paid tribute to his temple.

Although this revolt was quickly quelled, it marked the beginning of a subversive and violent flame that would spread for more than sixty years in the region.

characteristics

-The Zealots demanded compliance with Jewish laws, but rejected the position of the religious authorities who passively accepted Roman hegemony.

-They were very violent. Historians qualify them as the guerrillas of the time.

-They were extremely efficient in defending mountainous areas and in individualized attack.

-The members who carried out these individual attacks belonged to a faction of the Zealots themselves called “sicarii” or “sicarios”, since they carried a dagger called “sica” that they hid in their clothes and extracted unexpectedly when they were near their victims.

-The Romans were not their only targets but anyone, even if they were Jewish, who supported the foreign occupation.

Ideology

-For the Zealots, God was the sole sovereign of Israel, so the occupation of Rome was a powerful affront against their religion.

-This group trusted that it was God's will that the people rise up heroically against their oppressors and awaited the arrival of a military messiah to guide them in this endeavor.

-For them, violence was justified as long as it led their people to freedom.

Zealots and Jesus of Nazareth

As many Zealots as Jesus of Nazareth are contemporaries, so it is not surprising that historians speculate on the interaction of the Christian leader with this important movement of the time.

The Bible mentions Simon the Zealot as one of Jesus' disciples, however, historians warn about the possibility that the translation means that Simon could be “jealous” of his God or his beliefs.

Judas Iscariot is another of the disciples linked to the Zealots, since they consider that his surname ish-kraioth is really an appellation linked to the gun of the hitmen, the sica.

Authors even point out that Rome's intention to execute Jesus of Nazareth was with the aim of eliminating an important Zealot leader.

And about the execution episode, some scholars of the subject also mention that the famous Barabbas, executed alongside Jesus, was also a zealot. However, none of these theories have been fully proven, all falling into the realm of assumptions.

Phases of the Zealot movement:

There are no detailed records of the activities carried out by the Zealots throughout their almost seventy years of life, however, historians affirm that their behavior can be divided into three phases:

1st phase

The movement was barely born, the leaders dedicated themselves to recruiting members and carrying out sporadic revolts in defense of their struggle.

2nd phase

This phase is located during the adult stage of Jesus of Nazareth, it is characterized by terrorist acts, harassment and guerrilla warfare.

3rd phase

At this stage the Zealots were already a militarily organized movement, whose actions led to the destruction of Jerusalem during the Great Jewish Revolt.

I Judeo-Roman war

The zealots had a leading role during the I Judeo-Roman War or Great Jewish Revolt that began in 66 AD

This confrontation began after the Greeks in Caesarea carried out a massive lynching against Jews without the Roman garrison intervening in their defense. To this was added the theft of money from the temple in Jerusalem by the Roman attorney Gesio Floro.

In retaliation, the Jewish priest Eleazar Ben Ananias himself demanded that his congregation attack the Roman garrison in Jerusalem. The Zealots took control of that city and did not accept any kind of deterrence from Rome.

The historian Flavius ​​Josephus, who according to other historians was a pro-Roman Jew, acted as a negotiator during the siege, but his intervention only further enraged the Zealots.

The fighting in the Judean Province was so bloody that Rome was only able to take control of the region four years later in AD 70 when, after an intense siege, they invaded Jerusalem, looted and burned its iconic temple, and destroyed Jewish fortresses.

The end of the Zealots

After the fall of Jerusalem, the only Jewish fortress standing was Masada near the Dead Sea, where an important group of Zealots took refuge in defense of their last Jewish stronghold.

The historian Josephus states that nine hundred people were at the site by the time a Roman contingent of 9,000 soldiers arrived at its gates.

The Zealots, led by hitman Eleazar Ben Yair, resisted a three-year siege that culminated in AD 73 when Jewish insurgents chose to kill themselves rather than be captured by the Roman Empire.

After these events, small groups of Zealots would still remain, but by the second century AD they had completely disappeared.

At present, scholars of the subject generate debates at the time of granting a positive or negative image to the Zealots. There is a group that does not hesitate to describe them as guerrillas and ruthless murderers, while others claim to understand the intentions of these insurgents in defense of their nation, culture and independence.

References

1. Richard A. Horsley. (1986). The Zealots, their origin, relationships and importance in the Jewish Revolt. University of Massachusetts. Published by Brill. Taken from jstor.org
2. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2014). Zealot. Taken from britannica.com
3. Kaufmann Kohler. (2011). Zealots. Taken from jewishencyclopedia.com
4. Morton Smith. (2011). Zealots and sicarii, their origins and relation. Taken from Cambridge.org
5. Reza Aslan. (2013). Zealot: The life and times or Jesus of Nazareth. Review. Taken from nytimes.com