Zealot

feature: Music by
Ofra Haza
"Yerushalaim Shel Zahav"
"Jerusalem of Gold"

A member of an ancient Jewish sect in Judea in the first century who fought to the death against the Romans and who killed or persecuted Jews who collaborated with the Romans. Zealotry (with an upper case "Z") was a movement in first century Judaism, described by Flavius Josephus as one of the "four sects" at this time. The term Zealot, Kanahi (or qana' Hebrew: קנאי plural: kanahim, קנאים); is a term given for a "zealot". It literally means one who is "burning with zeal" on behalf of God. The term is Greek in origin. The lower case form in modern English is used to refer to any form of zeal, especially in cases where activism and ambition in relation to ideology have become excessive, possibly to the point of being harmful to others, oneself, and one's own cause. A zealous person is called a zealot. In non-political or non-religious terms, zeal is an ordinary word and simply means extreme enthusiasm and passion for a particular activity.

Zealotry was originally a political movement in first century Judaism which sought to incite the people of Iudaea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the holy land by force of arms, most notably during the Great Jewish Revolt (AD 66-70).Two of Judas' sons, Jacob and Paul, were involved in a revolt and were executed by Tiberius Alexander, the procurator of Iudaea province from 46 to 48. Zealotry was described by Jewish historian Flavius Josephus as one of the "four sects" at this time.

More...