Theudas

The principal source for the story of Theudas' revolt 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 take 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.{{cite book|author=Flavius Josephus|title=The Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus: Containing four books of the Antiquities of the Jews. With the life of Josephus|url=https://archive.org/details/genuineworksoffl03jose|year=1824|publisher=W. Borradaile|pages=[https://archive.org/details/genuineworksoffl03jose/page/177 177]–}} (Jewish Antiquities [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0146%3Abook%3D20%3Asection%3D97 20.97-98])

Josephus does not provide a number for Theudas's followers, but the movement was dispersed and never heard of again.

Religious scholars defend the apparent historical inaccuracy of Acts 5:36–37 by claiming that Rabbi Gamaliel refers to another Theudas who led a band of 400 about 40 years earlier; although uncorroborated, this would explain why Acts says that the revolt of Theudas preceded that of Judas of Galilee.{{cite encyclopedia | author = W. J. Heard | editor = Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight and I. Howard Marshall | encyclopedia = Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels | title = Revolutionary Movements, 3.1.2: Theudas | year = 1992 | publisher = InterVarsity Press | location = Downers Grove, Ill. | isbn = 0-8308-1777-8}}

{{see also|Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles#Acts 5:33-39: Theudas}}

The sole reference to Theudas presents a problem of chronology if one assumes that the Acts of the Apostles and Josephus are speaking of the same person.{{cite book|author=Charles H. Talbert|title=Reading Lucke-Acts in Its Mediterranean Milieu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9CKE1F_uK8C&pg=PA200|date=1 January 2003|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-12964-2|pages=200–}} In Acts, Gamaliel, a member of the Sanhedrin, defends the apostles by referring to Theudas:

{{blockquote|Men of Israel, be cautious in deciding what to do with these men. Some time ago, Theudas came forward, claiming to be somebody, and many men, about four hundred, joined him. But he was killed and his whole following was broken up and disappeared. After he 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. (Acts 5:36-7 NEB)}}

Gamaliel, speaking before the year 37, refers to an incident that preceded the revolt of Judas of Galilee at the time of the Census of Quirinius decades before, in 6 CE. Josephus makes clear that the revolt of his Theudas took place {{circa|45}}, years after Gamaliel addressed the Sanhedrin and an entire generation after Judas the Galilean.Louis H. Feldman, Jewish Life and Thought among Greeks and Romans: Primary Readings (A&C Black, 1996) page 335.Talbert, Charles H. Reading Luke-Acts in Its Mediterranean Milieu Brill pg 200Mohd Elfie Nieshaem Juferi, {{cite web|title=Gamaliel And The Revolt Of Theudas|url=https://bismikaallahuma.org/bible/gamaliel-and-the-revolt-of-theudas/|website=bismikaallahuma.org|date=15 October 2005 |access-date=October 15, 2005}}

It has been proposed that the writer of Acts used Josephus as a source, and made a mistake in 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 it is a minority view, since most scholars agree that Luke and Josephus used separate, independent sources.{{cite book|author=Barbara Shellard|title=New Light on Luke: Its Purpose, Sources and Literary Context|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r2Y8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|date=9 July 2004|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-0-567-51485-1|pages=32–}}{{cite book|author=Frederick Fyvie Bruce|title=The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2lN0ibbLOHEC&pg=PA44|date=1 December 1990|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-0966-7|pages=44–}} It has also been suggested that the reference in Acts is to a different revolt by another, unknown Theudas,Colin J. Hemer, Conrad H. Gempf, The book of Acts in the setting of Hellenistic history (Mohr Siebeck, 1989), pages 162-3.Ronald F. Youngblood, Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Thomas F. Nelson, 2014) page 1128. because Josephus states that there were numerous uprisings, saying there were "ten thousand disorders", but he gives details on only four and Theudas was not a unique name.{{cite book|author=David J. Williams|title=Acts (Understanding the Bible Commentary Series)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3wz00ot74IC&pg=PT109|date=1 August 2011|publisher=Baker Books|isbn=978-1-4412-3745-3|pages=109–}} According to ancient historian and New Testament scholar Paul Barnett "It seems unlikely that Luke would have made an error about an infamous contemporary".{{cite book|author=Paul Barnett|title=The Birth of Christianity: The First Twenty Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEfBfYC5NU4C&pg=PA199|date=29 March 2005|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-2781-4|pages=199–}} It is also possible that Josephus himself made a mistake, the Pulpit Commentary states: "Josephus may have misplaced the adventure of Theudas by some accidental error. Considering the vast number of Jewish insurrections from the death of Herod the Great to the destruction of Jerusalem, such a mistake is not very improbable."Exell, Joseph S.; Spence-Jones, Henry Donald Maurice (Editors). [http://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/acts/5.htm On "Acts 5".] In: The Pulpit Commentary. 23 volumes. First publication: 1890. Electronic Database. Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010 by Biblesoft, Inc.

• List of people who were beheaded

• Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities [http://pace.cns.yorku.ca/York/york/showText?book=20&chapter=5&textChunk=nieseSection&chunkId=97&text=anti&version=whiston 20.97-98]
• Acts of the Apostles 5:36

• [http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qtheudy.html A response to the Theudas problem]
• [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=188&letter=T&search=Theudas Jewish Encyclopedia: Theudas]

{{New Testament people}}

Category:1st-century Jews

Category:1st-century people

Category:1st-century executions

Category:Year of birth unknown

Category:40s deaths

Category:Executed revolutionaries

Category:Jewish messiah claimants

Category:People executed by decapitation

Category:People executed by the Roman Empire

Category:People in Acts of the Apostles

Category:Census of Quirinius