Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-02T23:27:20.600Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Some Remarks on the Zealots with Special Regard to the Term ‘Qannaim’ in Rabbinic Literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Børge Salomonsen
Affiliation:
Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Short Studies
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1966

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

page 164 note 1 We restrict ourselves to giving the titles of the two monographs most commonly referred to: Farmer, W. R., Maccabees, Zealots and Josephus, An Inquiry into Jewish Nationalism in the Greco-Roman Period (New York, 1956)Google Scholar and Hengel, M., Die Zeloten, Untersuchungen zur jüdischen Freiheitsbewegung in der Zeit von Herodes Ibis 70 n.Chr. = Arbeiten zur Geschichte des Spätjudentums und Urchristentums, 1 (Leiden/Köln, 1961).Google Scholar

page 165 note 2 Medico, Del, Deux manuscrits hébreux de la Mer Morte (Paris, 1951)Google Scholar and L'énigme des manuscrits de la Mer Morte (Paris, 1957)Google Scholar; Roth, Cecil, The Listener, 27 June 1957, pp. 1037ff.Google Scholar, cf. Manchester Guardian, 24 May 1957Google Scholar; G. R. Driver, ibid. 20 June 1957.

page 165 note 2 Bell. Jud. 11, 8, 10 and 11, 20, 4 respectively.

page 165 note 3 Cf. Yadin, Y., The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness (Oxford, 1962) (translated from the Hebrew original by Batya, and Rabin, Chaim).Google Scholar

page 165 note 4 Cf. Lietzmanns, in Festschrift für O. Eissfeldt ‘Von Ugarit nach Qumran’ = Beiträge zur alttestamentlichen und altorientalischen Forschung (Berlin, 1958), pp. 184–92.Google Scholar

page 165 note 5 The Fall of Jerusalem and the Christian Church (London, 1951), pp. 101–7 and 154–62.Google Scholar Further in Annual of Leeds Univ. Orient. Soc. 11 (1960/1961), 1125.Google Scholar Cf. Cullmann, O., Der Staat im Neuen Testament (Tübingen, 1956), pp. 515.Google Scholar

page 165 note 6 Perushim, zadokim, kanaim v-notzrim (Tel Aviv, 1948).Google Scholar

page 165 note 7 Cf. Ant. xviii, 1, 1.

page 166 note 1 Unfortunately these treatises are seldom, if ever, completely untendentious. In earlier Jewish literature on the subject, the intent to widen the gap between the Pharisees and the fanatical patriots as much as possible made itself clearly felt; over against this some Christian writers were all too eager to describe the Zealotic movement as the extreme—but almost inevitable—consequence of Pharisaism. The approach to this problem has in recent years undergone significant changes, partly at least owing to the fact that the Zionist movement succeeded in re-establishing the State of Israel. A more positive but by no means uncritical evaluation of the Zealots now prevails among the Jews, and the same applies to some Christian scholars as well (cf. e.g. Brandon in the above-mentioned Annual of Leeds Univ. Orient. Soc. pp. 11 ff.).

page 166 note 2 Realencyclopädie für Bibel und Talmud, 11, 1228 (Strelitz, 1884).Google Scholar Hamburger refers to M. Yad. iv. 8: . It deserves to be mentioned that recent editions read: .

page 166 note 3

page 166 note 4 Lietzmanns, in Jewish Encyclopedia, xii, 639–43 (New York/London, 1906).Google Scholar As to the evacuation of the Sanhedrin, see Hoenig, S. B., The Great Sanhedrin (Philadelphia, 1953), pp. 109–13.Google Scholar

page 166 note 5 Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, x, 630–1 (Philadelphia, 1948).Google Scholar

page 166 note 6 Op. cit. pp. 160–5, 172–5, 178–81.

page 166 note 7 Jerusalem und Rom, Dalp-Taschenbücher, 331 (Bern, 1957), pp. 122. 160.Google Scholar

page 167 note 1 Cf. the afore-mentioned study, Maccabees, Zealots and Josephus.

page 167 note 2 Avi-Yonah, M., Geschichte der Juden im Zeitalter des Talmud = Studia Judaica, 11 (Berlin, 1962)CrossRefGoogle Scholar ( Hebrew, edition: Biyimei Roma u-Bizantion, Jerusalem, 1952 2); cf. e.g. p. 252Google Scholar: ‘Es 1st von Bedeutung, daß nach so vielen Jahrhunderten von Ruhe…sich der zelotische Geist unter den Juden wieder zu regen begann.’

page 167 note 3 Josephus mentions Ben Dinai as one of the leaders of the Zealots, Bell. Jud. 11, 12, 4, cf. Ant. xx, 6, 1 and 8, 5. Ben Dinai is also mentioned twice in the Mishnah: Sotah ix. 9 and Kelim v. 10.

page 167 note 4 The word occurs four times in the Song of Songs; once here, once in iii. 5, once in v. 8, and once in viii. 4.

page 167 note 5 Soncino translation.

page 168 note 1 The article on the Zealots in the above-mentioned Realencyclopädie by Hamburger is thus to be found under the heading ‘Zeloten, Kannaim’.

page 168 note 2 As an example Abhoth d'Rabbi Nathan vi. 9 will do: .

page 168 note 3 So R. Edelmann, D.Ph. (orally).

page 168 note 4 Gaster's, translation, The Dead Sea Scriptures (New York, 1956), p. 75.Google Scholar

page 168 note 5 Habermann's, edition, Megilloth Midbar Yehuda (Jerusalem, 1959), p. 66.Google Scholar

page 168 note 6 An inquiry into the use of the root in the Dead Sea Scrolls does not yield much additional information. The term is not to be found, and the forms of the word which are represented can hardly be taken as technical terms. The meanings attributed to the forms derived from the root may well be explained from the O.T. usage (cf. D.S.D. ii. 15; iv. 4, 10, 17–18; ix. 23; x. 18–21; 1QH ii. 15, 31). Apart from these occurrences the root is found three times in 1QH fragm., but the condition of this text does not allow any conclusions as far as the meaning of the word is concerned.

page 169 note 1 One of Rab's disciples; he taught both in Babylonia and Palestine in the middle of the third century.

page 169 note 2 ‘If he is a scholar, he shall have none awakening (i.e. teaching) among the sages and none responding among his disciples; if a priest, he shall have no son to offer an offering unto the Lord of hosts.’ Here and in the following quotations from the Gemara the Soncino translation is cited.

page 169 note 3 Cf. M. Ker. i. 1 which contains an outline of the 36 cases in which the rabbis left the execution of the sentence to Heaven. This is the case when the Torah uses the formula: .

page 169 note 4 Palestine, first half of the fourth century. R. Dimi (‘der Babylonienfahrer’) travelled several times between Palestine and Babylonia in order to make the Palestinian tradition known to the eastern authorities; his statements may therefore be of old Palestinian origin. It should cause no confusion that persons belonging to two different generations are pictured as engaged in a conversation; the redactors of the Gemara did not arrange the material chronologically, but by collecting traditions which, as regards contents, belonged together.

page 170 note 1 I.e. N = niddah; SH = Shifhah; G = goyyah; A = esheth ish.

page 170 note 2 I.e. N = niddah; SH = Shifhah; G = goyyah; Z = zonah.

page 170 note 3 Op. cit. pp. 23–37, 235–6. Cf. also Derenbourg, J., Essai sur l'Histoire et la Géographie de la Palestine, 1, 84 (Paris, 1867).Google Scholar Here attention should be drawn to Mantel's, H. highly competent work Studies in the History of the Sanhedrin (London, 1961).CrossRefGoogle Scholar As for the court of the Hasmoneans, see pp. 6 and 49 note 274.

page 170 note 4 Bell. Jud. iv, 5, 4.

page 170 note 5 οι δέ ήδη διαμεμισηκότες τό φρονεύειν άνέδην ειρωνεύοντο δικαστήρια καί κρίσεις.

page 170 note 6 Ant. xv, 7. The same kind of question could be asked concerning the nature of the courts responsible for the trial of Jesus and at a later date of his disciples; however, we cannot here enter into this much-debated problem (cf. e.g. Lietzmann, H., Der Prozess Jesu, Sitzungsberichte d. Preuss. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-hist. Kl. (1931), Nr. xiv, pp. 313–22Google Scholar, and Zeitlin, S., Who Crucified Jesus? (New York, 1947 2)).Google Scholar

page 171 note 1 Babylonia; died 309.

page 171 note 2 Particularly M. Sotah ix. 9. It is well known that the rabbinic literature contains anti-eschatological statements, thereby repudiating the Zealots indirectly. Bab. Sanh. 97a, Baraitha, is often adduced in favour of this view: . But according to Daube this saying is of quite another purport: R. Zera who transmitted the tradition did not aim at any eschatological conception as such, but what he actually had in mind was the speculation about the exact date of the ultimate events. But as redemption comm ‘when thoughts are elsewhere’ (Daube's rendering), will calculations only have the effect of delaying the arrival of Messiah ( Daube, D., The Sudden in the Scriptures, Leiden, 1964, p. 27).Google Scholar

page 172 note 1 . Cf. the elaborate discussion in Bab. Sanh. 73a–75a.

page 172 note 2 The Mishnah does not permit homicide in order to prevent idolatry. Notwithstanding the Tosephta states unequivocally: . Turning to the Gemara we then find that intercourse with heathen women is placed on the same footing as idolatry: . On the basis of Tosephta and Gemara one might—theoretically— conclude that intercourse with non-Israelites is included in the provisions laid down in M. Sanh. viii. 7; this argument is, however, too indirect and would only make out a very weak case.

page 172 note 3 .

page 172 note 4 .

page 172 note 5 .

page 172 note 6 Cf. Josephus, , Bell. Jud. 11. 2, 4Google Scholar; Acts xxi. 29 and Billerbeck ad loc. Further, Jeremias, J., Jerusalem zur Zeit Jesu, 11B, p. 73.Google Scholar The inscriptions warning Gentiles against entering the inner courtyard are extant in two copies found in 1871 and 1935 respectively. As for the former, see Dittenberger, , Orientis Craeci inscriptiones selectae, 1, 598 (1903)Google Scholar and Deissmann, , Licht vom Osten (1923 4), pp. 62ff.Google Scholar; as for the latter, cf. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, ed. Hendius, J. J., viii (1937), Nr. 169Google Scholar and Corpus Inscriptionum Judaicarum, 11 (1952), p. 1400.Google Scholar

page 173 note 1 This applies not only to this tradition, but the entire oral law was according to the rabbis of Sinaitic origin.

page 173 note 2 Num. R., Balak § 20, 25 to Num. xxv. 7.

page 174 note 1 The latter has a Midrashic parallel in Num. R., Pinhas § 21, 3 to Num. xxvii. 15ff.

page 174 note 2 A close parallel is found in Bab. Shabb. 21 a.

page 174 note 3 On the principle of Binyan Ab, cf. Bonsirven, J.: Exégèse rabbinique et exégèse paulinienne (Paris, 1939), pp. 100–5.Google Scholar

page 174 note 4 Referring to the incident of Tamar, II Sam. xiii.

page 175 note 1 Gen. xxiv. 3, cf. xxvi. 34; xxvii. 46–xxviii. 1, 8 (xxix. 14); Deut. vii. 3.

page 175 note 2 Ezra ix–x.

page 175 note 3 Quoted after Swete.

page 175 note 4 xx. 4; xxii. 20; xxx. 7, 11.

page 175 note 5 MSS.: .