How early were Christians known as Galileans?

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rakovsky
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Re: How early were Christians known as Galileans?

Post by rakovsky »

BEN,

Besides the passage in Book 17 about Judas the son of Ezekias who revolted in Galilee, Josephus writes about Judas of Gamala who revolted apparently in the same era in Book 18, Chapter 1, sections 1 and 6. The commentors seem to think that these are the same. Here are Josephus' words:
Yet was there one Judas, a Gaulonite, (1) of a city whose name was Gamala, who, taking with him Sadduc, (2) a Pharisee, became zealous to draw them to a revolt, who both said that this taxation was no better than an introduction to slavery, and exhorted the nation to assert their liberty; as if they could procure them happiness and security for what they possessed, and an assured enjoyment of a still greater good, which was that of the honor and glory they would thereby acquire for magnanimity. They also said that God would not otherwise be assisting to them, than upon their joining with one another in such councils as might be successful, and for their own advantage; and this especially, if they would set about great exploits, and not grow weary in executing the same; so men received what they said with pleasure, and this bold attempt proceeded to a great height. All sorts of misfortunes also sprang from these men, and the nation was infected with this doctrine to an incredible degree; one violent war came upon us after another, and we lost our friends which used to alleviate our pains; there were also very great robberies and murder of our principal men. This was done in pretense indeed for the public welfare, but in reality for the hopes of gain to themselves; whence arose seditions, and from them murders of men, which sometimes fell on those of their own people, (by the madness of these men towards one another, while their desire was that none of the adverse party might be left,) and sometimes on their enemies; a famine also coming upon us, reduced us to the last degree of despair, as did also the taking and demolishing of cities; nay, the sedition at last increased so high, that the very temple of God was burnt down by their enemies' fire. Such were the consequences of this, that the customs of our fathers were altered, and such a change was made, as added a mighty weight toward bringing all to destruction, which these men occasioned by their thus conspiring together; for Judas and Sadduc, who excited a fourth philosophic sect among us, and had a great many followers therein, filled our civil government with tumults at present, and laid the foundations of our future miseries, by this system of philosophy, which we were before unacquainted withal, concerning which I will discourse a little, and this the rather because the infection which spread thence among the younger sort, who were zealous for it, brought the public to destruction.
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6. But of the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy, Judas the Galilean was the author. These men 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. They also do not value dying any kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man lord. And since this immovable resolution of theirs is well known to a great many, I shall speak no further about that matter; nor am I afraid that any thing I have said of them should be disbelieved, but rather fear, that what I have said is beneath the resolution they show when they undergo pain. And it was in Gessius Florus's time that the nation began to grow mad with this distemper, who was our procurator, and who occasioned the Jews to go wild with it by the abuse of his authority, and to make them revolt from the Romans. And these are the sects of Jewish philosophy.

Whiston's footnote
Since St. Luke once, Acts 5:37, and Josephus four several times, once here, sect. 6; and B. XX. ch. 5. sect. 2; Of the War, B. II. ch. 8. sect. 1; and ch. 17. sect. 8, calls this Judas, who was the pestilent author of that seditious doctrine and temper which brought the Jewish nation to utter destruction, a Galilean; but here (sect. 1) Josephus calls him a Gaulonite, of the city of Gamala; it is a great question where this Judas was born, whether in Galilee on the west side, or in Gaulonitis on the east side, of the river Jordan; while, in the place just now cited out of the Antiquities, B. XX. ch. 5. sect. 2, he is not only called a Galilean, but it is added to his story, "as I have signified in the books that go before these," as if he had still called him a Galilean in those Antiquities before, as well as in that particular place, as Dean Aldrich observes, Of the War, B. II. ch. 8. sect. 1. Nor can one well imagine why he should here call him a Gaulonite, when in the 6th sect. following here, as well as twice Of the War, he still calls him a Galilean. As for the city of Gamala, whence this Judas was derived, it determines nothing, since there were two of that name, the one in Gaulonitis, the other in Galilee.
Loeb's Footnotes:
In the parallel passage in BJ ii 118, and in Ant. xviii. 23, Josephus refers to Judas as the Founder of the Fourth Philosophy. JS Kennard, 'Judas of Galilee and His Clan', plausibly identifies this Judas with the Judas who seized the opportunity to aspire to sovereignty in Galilee. (BJ ii. 56).
...
It should be noted that the identification of the Fourth Philosophy with the Zealots, which scholars so often assume, is not found in Josephus here or in the account in BJ iv. 121 ff.


Here is the related section in Wars of the Jews II, 118:
Under his administration, a Galilaean. named Judas incited his countrymen to revolt, upbraiding them as cowards for consenting to pay tribute to the Romans and tolerating mortal masters, after having God for their lord. This man was a sophist who founded a sect of his own, having nothing in common with the others.

(2) Jewish philosophy, in fact, takes three forms. The followers of the first school are called Pharisees, of the second Sadducees, of the third Essenes.
Thackeray's FOOTNOTE:
Judas of Galilee (as he is called here and in Gamaliel's speech in Acts v. 37) or of Gamala in Gaulanitis {A. xviii. 4) was the founder of the Zealots, whose fanaticism and violence under Florus, the last of the procurators, hastened the war with Rome. Of the issue of the revolt we learn only from Acts loc. cit. : Judas was killed and his followers dispersed.
There is no sufficient reason tor identifying this fanatic doctor, as Schiirer does, with the brigand Judas, son of Ezechias, who raised an insurrection in Galilee after the death of Herod (BJ. ii. 56).
This note refers to the passage earlier in Book 2 of Wars of the Jews, which says that in the wake of Herod's death:
At Sepphoris in Galilee and of Judas, son of Ezechias, the brigand-chief who in former days infested the country and was subdued by King Herod, raised a considerable body of followers, broke open the royal arsenals, and, having armed his companions, attacked the other aspirants to power.
Both in Wars of the Jews and in the Antiquities these two Judases of Galilee are mentioned not far apart chronologically, and IIRC as acting within about 10 years of each other. It sounds like they were similar figures and so it raises a question in my mind too whether they were the same person. Do you think that they were the same person?

Although Loeb's edition notes "the identification of the Fourth Philosophy with the Zealots, which scholars so often assume, is not found in Josephus here or in the account in BJ iv. 121 ff.", when I turn to Wars of the Jews, Book IV, Manuscript section 121, I don't see any footnotes or mention of Judas the Galilean, so I don't know what it is referring to in the bold. Do you think that the Fourth Philosophy, of Judas the Galilean refers to a Zealot group?

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Re: How early were Christians known as Galileans?

Post by rakovsky »

Looking over Josephus' account now, I don't see any place that he explicitly calls the Fourth Philosophy, of Judas the Galilean, "The Galileans". Nor do I see any place in the early texts calling Christians "The Galileans" clearly.

AFAIK, "The Galileans" appears only as a title for an unidentified sect in Epictetus' writings that could reasonably refer to the rebels' Fourth Philosophy or to the Christians, and it shows up in the 6th century AD writer John Malas' claim that "The Galileans" was a title for the Christians' sect. However, maybe even Epictetus is not referring to Christians in particular, but to the Galileans as a demographic known for their rebellions?

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Re: How early were Christians known as Galileans?

Post by Ben C. Smith »

rakovsky wrote: Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:46 pm Looking over Josephus' account now, I don't see any place that he explicitly calls the Fourth Philosophy, of Judas the Galilean, "The Galileans". Nor do I see any place in the early texts calling Christians "The Galileans" clearly.
Yes, that is true.
AFAIK, "The Galileans" appears only as a title for an unidentified sect in Epictetus' writings that could reasonably refer to the rebels' Fourth Philosophy or to the Christians, and it shows up in the 6th century AD writer John Malas' claim that "The Galileans" was a title for the Christians' sect.
Those passages are in the OP, yes.

Also to be considered, however, are Justin Martyr, Hegesippus, and Eusebius: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3862&p=82612#p82612.
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