Torrey Seland, «Saul of Tarsus and Early Zealotism. Reading Gal 1,13-14 in Light of Philo’s Writings», Vol. 83 (2002) 449-471
One of the most consistent features in the portraits of Saul of Tarsus in the Acts of the Apostles and in the letters accredited to Paul, is the fervent zeal of his youth. The zeal of the young Saul has been dealt with in several studies, drawing on the issue of zealotry in Palestine, but the conclusions reached are rather diverse. The present study suggests that the often overlooked phenomenon of zealotry in the writings of Philo of Alexandria should also be considered. The material from Philo does not support the view that the early zealots formed any consistent movement or party, but that they were vigilant individuals who took the Law in their own hands when observing cases of gross Torah transgressions.
Maccabean times many Jews fostered the ideal of "zeal" and individuals undertook to be, or were thought to be, "zealots" on the model of Phinehas and Elijah12. Such admiration for violent zeal was presumably also influential in shaping the resistance to Roman government, but there is no clear evidence, according to Smith, that they formed a definite party before during the War13. This view of the early zealots as being violent individuals has been strongly supported by Morin, and is also argued by others14.
3. The Zealots as bandits in the years of 66-70; the Horsley paradigm
R.H. Horsley finds the zealots to be a recognizable party only during the years of the great War of 66-70 C.E.15. Furthermore, the various designations used by Josephus, as ‘robbers’, ‘Sicarii’ and ‘Zealots’, do not denote members of one and the same movement, but are to be read as designations of various groups and coalitions. An organized movement of religiously motivated national resistance, operative since 6 C.E., never existed. Josephus uses the term ‘Zealots’ to refer to a party that did not evolve until the middle of the War of 66-70 C.E.; they had nothing directly to do with the so-called Fourth Philosophy (Ant 18,23-25), Judas the Galilean or the Sicarii16.