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.
tw=n patri/wn e)qw=n39, an expression which is found in several other Jewish works40. We shall return to these issues below in our exposition of Gal 1,13-14.
Hence we now turn to the question of the zeal of the young Saul of Tarsus. For the sake of brevity and concentration, we will stick to Gal 1,13-14, focusing especially the characterizations of Saul/Paul and his actions presented there. The other passages related to his zeal will be drawn upon when relevant. Let us have a closer reading at three particular characterizations of Paul in Gal 1,13-14, and have a fresh look at them in light of how Philo understands the similar aspects in Spec. 1,54-57 and 2,252-253.
2. perissote/rwj zhlwth_j u(pa/rxwn
When Paul describes himself here as zhlwth/j, he uses a characterization that is rather close to Phil 3,6 where he states that he persecuted the church kata_ zh=loj, a self-characterization corroborated by Acts 22,3. The term zhlwth/j is most often translated as "zealous", but grammatically it is a noun, and could as well be translated "zealot"41. Anyway, Paul here explicitly describes his violent actions against the Christians as closely related to his zeal. Let us return to how Philo describes the violent zealots of Spec.1,54-57 and 2,252-3.
The persons to take action against the transgressors are described in Spec. 1,55 thus: "And it is well that all who have a zeal for virtue (a#pasi toi=j zh=lon e!xousin a)reth=j) should be permitted to exact the penalties offhand and with no delay." Then, having stated that they should not bring the offender before any jury, etc., Philo characterizes them thus: They should "give full scope to the feelings which possess them, that hatred of evil and love of God which urge them to inflict punishment without mercy on the impious." This characterization receives a further specification in 1,56-57, where the Phinehas episode is used as a legitimating example.
The affective and violent nature of this zh=loj is indicated by