Teudas

Theudas is also the name of a follower of Paul of Tarsus, who taught Valentinius, for more information, see Theudas (teacher of Valentinius)

Theudas (thyū'dăs) (died c. 46 AD) was a Jewish rebel of the 1st century AD. His name, if a Greek compound, may mean "gift of God", although other scholars believe its etymology is Semitic and might mean “flowing with water”. At some point between 44 and 46 AD, Theudas led his followers in a short-lived revolt.

The revolt

Our principal source for the story is Josephus, who wrote:

It came to pass, while Cuspius Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a certain charlatan, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the Jordan river; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it. Many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit them to make any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out against them. After falling upon them unexpectedly, they slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem. (Jewish Antiquities 20.97-98)

The movement was dispersed, and was never heard of again.

Josephus does not provide a number for Theudas' followers, but the Acts of the Apostles, if it is referring to the same Theudas (see below), reports that they numbered about 400. The ease with which they were overcome suggests that they were unarmed, unlike many other Messianic insurgents of the period.

Some writers are of the opinion that he may have said he was the Messiah.

The Theudas problem

Lihat pula: Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles § Acts 5:33-39: Theudas

In Bible scholarship, the sole reference to Theudas presents a problem of chronology. In Acts of the Apostles, Gamaliel, a member of the sanhedrin, defends the apostles by referring to Theudas:

"Men of Israel, be cautious in deciding what to do with these men. Some time ago, Theudas came forward, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. But he was killed and his whole following was broken up and disappeared. After him came Judas the Galilean at the time of the census; he induced some people to revolt under his leadership, but he too perished and his whole following was scattered." (NEB, Acts 5:36-8)

The difficulty is that the rising of Theudas is here given as before that of Judas of Galilee, which is itself dated to the time of the taxation (c. 6-7 AD). Josephus, on the other hand, says that Theudas was 45 or 46, which is after Gamaliel is speaking, and long after Judas the Galilean.

There are several arguments put forward to solve this problem. The 18th century theologian John Gill wrote "Some think Josephus is mistaken in his chronology, and then all is right." Another argument is that the author of the Book of Acts used Josephus as a source and made a mistake in a reading the text, taking a later reference to the execution of the "sons of Judas the Galilean" after the rebellion of Theudas as saying that the rebellion of Judas was later; however there is disagreement as to whether Luke used Josephus. Other explanations are that he was referring to a different revolt by another Theudas, or that he mistakenly transposed the two names.

Some arguments that Josephus and Gamaliel refer to different men named Theudas are:

1. Gamaliel ascribes only 400 men to Theudas, Josephus uses the terms "a great part of the people" and "many" Josephus recounts a massacre of over 20,000 people in his next paragraph, so a band of only 400 would probably not considered significant enough and would fall in "ten thousand" that he did not elaborate in Antiquities
2. The terminology for the figure is somewhat different: Gamaliel says Theudas was 'claiming to be somebody', Josephus uses the terms 'magician' and 'prophet'. Also, Gamaliel says that Theudas's followers 'rallied to him' (a more political sounding term); Josephus says Theudas's followers took their effects and were migrating to the river Jordan. Moreover, Gamaliel says that Theudas was simply killed and "all his followers dispersed"; Josephus says Theudas was captured and then beheaded, and the head then taken to Jerusalem, while many of the followers were killed by the Roman troop of horsemen, and that many of them were likewise captured and arrested.
3. Origen referred to a Theudas active before the birth of Jesus in Contra Celsum. It is possible that this is simply a referral to Acts, but Origen did mention in the same chapter about another rebellion, Dositheus the Samaritan, that Gamaliel didn't refer.
4. The name 'Theudas' does show up in Jerusalem ossuaries close in time, e.g. Inscription 1255, and shows up in the Papyrii as hypocoristic forms (i.e. "pet" names, 'nicknames') for many Greek theophoric names (e.g. Theodotus, Theodorus, Theodotion, etc.), so it could refer to any number of people at the time. At the time there was a prevalence for having both a Greek and a Hebrew name, with the Greek name having the same or very similar meaning as the Hebrew. This pattern shows up in the Jerusalem ossuaries and the 'Goliath' family in Jericho [e.g. 'Theodorus' (greek) for 'Nathanel' (hebrew)]. With this in mind, 'Theudas' could be Greek for a wide range of Hebrew names: Jonathan, Nathanael, Mattathias, Hananias, Jehohanan, etc. In one case, the synagogue ruler in Ophel was listed under his alternate Greek name "Theodotus".

Sources

• Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.97-98
• Acts of the Apostles 5:36

External links

• A response to the Theudas problem
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Theudas