Theudas

Theudas ( Θευδᾶς ) was a Jewish preacher and contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth (* between 7 and 4 BC ; † around 45 AD ), who rebelled against Roman supremacy and was executed by the Romans.

Live and act

Presumably Theudas acted as a social revolutionary rebel against the Roman supremacy over Judea . Like Judas the Galilean , John the Baptist , Jesus himself and other messianic preachers, he evidently tried to rally the Jewish masses around him in order to bring about a religious and community renewal. He saw himself as a prophet who was called to lead the Jewish people, who at that time suffered under the Roman rule, to new shores , like the Jewish national hero Moses once did . The height of its effectiveness falls in the troubled years after the crucifixion of Jesus, especially in the time of the Roman procurator Cuspius Fadus (44-46 AD).

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus reports that Theudas “while Fadus was governor of Judea” persuaded an “enormous crowd” to follow him “taking all their belongings with them to the Jordan ”, where “by his word of power he raised the floods of the Jordan share and allow his entourage a comfortable passage ”.

One can understand this undertaking as the attempt of Theudas to present himself to his followers as a leader of the format of the legendary Moses, who led the Jewish people out of the Egyptian oppression. Presumably he intended through his action to withdraw a larger crowd from the sphere of influence of the Roman rule both mentally and spatially (through a kind of mass emigration followed by a new people).

Judea , Samaria , Galilee and Perea at the time of Herod , client king from approx. 39 BC. BC - 4 BC Chr.

The procurator Cuspius Fadus must have seen in this project a considerable danger to law and order in Judea, if not even a threat to Roman rule in this region, because he put his cavalry on the march and had the apparently unprepared masses forcibly blown up many followers of Theudas were killed and others taken prisoner. As Flavius Josephus reports, "Theudas himself [...] got into captivity, whereupon he was beheaded and his head was brought to Jerusalem ".

With the display of the head of Theudas in the Judean capital, Cuspius Fadus probably wanted to prove publicly that the Theudas movement had been crushed and that its leader had been executed. That he considered such a display necessary suggests that the Theudas' previous activities in Jerusalem had caused considerable uncertainty. The mention of Theudas in Acts 5,36 EU by Rabbi Gamaliel also testifies to this . Possibly Cuspius Fadus wanted to counteract a mythologization of the dead popular leader with the display of the head.

literature

Lucien Campeau: Theudas le faux prophète Judas le Galiléen. In: Sciences ecclésiastiques 5, 1953, pp. 235-245.
Martin Hengel : The Zealots. EJ Brill, Leiden 1961.
Christoph Riedo-Emmenegger: Prophetic-messianic provocateurs of the Pax Romana. Jesus of Nazareth and other troublemakers in conflict with the Roman Empire. Academic Press Friborg, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen 2005. (= Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus. Studies on the Environment of the New Testament, Volume 56).

Web links

Jona Lendering: Theudas . In: Livius.org (English)
Article in the Jewish Encyclopedia

References and comments

↑ Flavius Josephus : Antiquitates 20, 5, 1. On the other hand, Flavius Josephus wrote about 15 years before the Antiquitates , in his book De bello iudaico (2, 11, 6), that Cuspius Fadus had “the people in peace received ”- and only under his successor Cumanus had unrest started again (2, 12, 1).
↑ cf. Christoph Riedo-Emmenegger: Prophetic-messianic provocateurs of the Pax Romana. Göttingen 2005, p. 249.
↑ The references to historical events in the Lukan double work often do not apply. Four points on this: 1. Acts 4,6 EU and Lk 3,2 EU incorrectly name Annas (6–15 AD) instead of Caiaphas (18–37 AD) as the high priest during Jesus' activity . 2. Lk 2,1-2 EU dates the census too early because a census under Publius Sulpicius Quirinius did not take place until a decade after Herod 's death. In addition, the census did not refer to the entire Roman Empire, but was limited to Syria and Judea . 3. Luke wrongly dates Theudas in Acts 5,36-37 EU by allowing Judas to appear after Theudas. (see Gerd Lüdemann : What do we know about the oldest Christianity? Critique of the Acts of the Apostles. Reader for the workshop on May 17, 2008, pp. 32–33 ( PDF 495 KB; 64 pages at wwwuser.gwdg.de))

personal data
SURNAME	Theudas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Jewish messianic preacher and popular leader
DATE OF BIRTH	around 5 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	at 45

[1] Flavius Josephus : Antiquitates 20, 5, 1. On the other hand, Flavius Josephus wrote about 15 years before the Antiquitates , in his book De bello iudaico (2, 11, 6), that Cuspius Fadus had “the people in peace received ”- and only under his successor Cumanus had unrest started again (2, 12, 1).

[2] . Christoph Riedo-Emmenegger: Prophetic-messianic provocateurs of the Pax Romana. Göttingen 2005, p. 249.

[3] The references to historical events in the Lukan double work often do not apply. Four points on this: 1. Acts 4,6 EU and Lk 3,2 EU incorrectly name Annas (6–15 AD) instead of Caiaphas (18–37 AD) as the high priest during Jesus' activity . 2. Lk 2,1-2 EU dates the census too early because a census under Publius Sulpicius Quirinius did not take place until a decade after Herod 's death. In addition, the census did not refer to the entire Roman Empire, but was limited to Syria and Judea . 3. Luke wrongly dates Theudas in Acts 5,36-37 EU by allowing Judas to appear after Theudas. (see Gerd Lüdemann : What do we know about the oldest Christianity? Critique of the Acts of the Apostles. Reader for the workshop on May 17, 2008, pp. 32–33 ( PDF 495 KB; 64 pages at wwwuser.gwdg.de))