Judas the Galilean

Judas the Galilean opposed Roman taxation when Judea came under direct Roman administration. Gamaliel later referred to his uprising in the book of Acts.

When the Romans organized a census in Judea in AD 6, Judas the Galilean became a prominent voice against it. Josephus calls him a man from Gamala in Gaulanitis and associates him with a Pharisee named Saddok. They argued that accepting the Roman assessment threatened the freedom of the Jewish people and their loyalty to God.

Josephus connects Judas with a movement that resisted foreign rule. He presents the movement as an important source of later unrest, although his judgments should be read as those of an ancient historian writing after the Jewish revolt. In Acts, Gamaliel recalls Judas and says that his followers were scattered after his death. The details of Judas’s final years are uncertain.

Judas illustrates the religious and political resistance provoked by direct Roman rule. His story helps explain why taxation could become a question of freedom and loyalty, not merely money.

• Opposed the Roman census of AD 6.
• Worked with Saddok, identified by Josephus as a Pharisee.
• Inspired a movement resisting Roman authority.
• Was later mentioned by Gamaliel before the Sanhedrin.

Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 1; Book 20, chapter 5; The Jewish War, Book 2; Acts 5:37.

Acts indicates that Judas died and his followers dispersed. The date, circumstances, and burial place are uncertain.

In Acts 5, Gamaliel cites Judas as an example of a leader whose movement did not endure after his death. The reference places the early Christian movement against a background of recent political unrest.