Judas of Galilee

Judas of Galilee or Judas of Gamala (Hebrew: יהודה בן חזקיהו‎ Yehuda ben Hezkiyahu) led a violent resistance to the census imposed for Roman tax purposes by Quirinius in Iudaea Province around 6 CE. The revolt was crushed brutally by the Romans. These events are discussed by Josephus in Jewish Wars and in Antiquities of the Jews.

In Antiquities of the Jews Josephus states that Judas, along with Zadok the Pharisee founded the "fourth sect", of 1st century Judaism (the first three are the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes). Josephus blames this sect, usually identified with the later Zealots, a group of theocratical-nationalists who preached that God alone was the ruler of Israel and later urged that no taxes should be paid to Rome, for the Great Jewish Revolt and for the destruction of Herod's Temple.

Josephus does not relate the death of Judas, although he does report that Judas' sons James and Simon were executed by procurator Tiberius Julius Alexander in about 46 CE. He also reports that Menahem, one of the early leaders of the Jewish Revolt in 66 CE, was Judas' "son", but most scholars doubt this. Menahem may have been Judas' grandson, however. Menahem's cousin, Eleazar ben Ya'ir, then escaped to the fortress of Masada where he became a leader of the last defenders against the Roman Empire.

Judas is mentioned in the New Testament Book of Acts of the Apostles. The author has Gamaliel, a member of the Sanhedrin, refer to him as an example of a failed Messianic leader. Some scholars believe this is an error, since it describes the revolt of Theudas, which would not actually take place for another ten years, as happening before that betrayal by Judas, Other scholars understand that the Theudas mentioned in Acts is not the Theudas mentioned by Josephus, but may be an unknown revolutionary with the same name, or may be another Galillean named Judas that led a revolt in 4 BCE. In any case, the Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles is still disputed.