440 - Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular Movements at the Time of Jesus

Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular Movements at the Time of Jesus
By Richard A. Horsley and John S. Hanson
Minneapolis, Winston Press, 1985. 271 pp. $28.85.

This interesting book fuses sociological insights with a historical investigation into the social, political, and economic conditions of' Palestine up to the Jewish revolt of 66 C.E.. While working carefully within the narrow confines of the extant sources, consisting mainly of Josephus, Richard Horsley and John Hanson have compellingly reconstructed the conditions in Palestine that gave rise to so many prepolitical

441 - Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular Movements at the Time of Jesus

movements and which ultimately culminated in the political revolt of 66. The authors employ an analytical model of social conflict derived primarily from the study of social banditry. Their goal is to redress the relative lack of scholarly attention paid to the Jewish peasantry, "the original source of historical change and its ramifications." The ensuing historical summary of the period from the Israelite kings and prophets to the onslaught of Hellenistic and Roman imperialism underscores the dissonating impact of foreign rulers when contrasted to the original constitution of the Jewish people as a "free peasantry" in direct covenantal relation to God alone. A persistent memory of this past, the authors argue, served as a constant point of reference for the oppressed Jewish peasants. Therefore, the multifarious first-century popular movements centering around messianic kings and prophetic figures, as well as endemic social banditry, were primarily different forms of peasant response to socio-economic oppression by the native aristocracy in collaboration with the Roman occupation power. They were not radically new though, for these movements found precedence and legitimacy in the concepts of messianic kingship and popular prophethood enshrined in the Hebrew Bible. In this respect, the authors demonstrate the inadequacy of a purely history-of-ideas approach, whose preoccupation with the nature of Jesus' role in Jewish thought makes it blind to the impact of contemporary socio-economic conditions.

The last part of the book questions the traditional scholarly assumptions concerning the groups that precipitated the revolt. Judas the Galilean (c. 6 C.E.), leader of the Fourth Philosophy, according to Josephus, did not start a rebellion. He merely advocated a policy of non-cooperation with the Romans and their supporters with regard to taxation. The Sicarii (daggermen) were urban intellectual terrorists who preyed on pro-Roman Jews and are not to be confused with the Zealots, a group comprised of bandits and peasants, which did not exist until after the revolt had begun, contrary to the supposition of a historian such as S.G.F. Brandon who regards the Zealots as a longstanding opposition group active as early as the time of Jesus.

Due perhaps to the limited nature of our sources and the interpretative model adopted by the authors, the analysis sometimes appears more typological than historical. This is especially disturbing when it results in an undifferentiated peasantry being pitted against an equally undifferentiated ruling elite whose broad boundaries encompass Herodians, landed gentry, priests, and pro-Roman Jews. Similarly, one may question the appropriateness of applying a model of class conflict to a preindustrial society. I also find unpersuasive the authors' argument that the Zealots, far from being a group that contributed to the outbreak of the Jewish War, were refugees fleeing from the advancing Roman legions in 66. Is it likely that a group of refugee peasants cum bandits would develop a definite group identity and a "conscious political strategy" in so short a time? In any case, it remains to be explained why

442 - Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs: Popular Movements at the Time of Jesus

and how such a motley group of people, upon entrance into Jerusalem, turned so quickly into the radically egalitarian group described in a way reminiscent of the Communards of Paris in the 1870s.

While the book's clean prose and meticulous scholarship commend it to both specialists and non-specialists alike, it is especially suited to be used in an introductory course on Christian origins, as the authors probably intended. When used in conjunction with a close reading of the primary material, especially Josephus' Jewish War, the general interpretative scheme of the work will be of great help in integrating the diverse sources into a comprehensible synthetic picture of first century Palestinian society. Bandits offers much more than what its subtitle promises-to help contextualize Jesus and his teaching-it also confronts its readers with a fresh hermeneutical perspective with which to understand historical events in general. The public has read many works on this subject that dwell upon the influence of great men and ideas. In this book, the voiceless in history are finally given an opportunity to speak.

Richard Lim

Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey