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.
III. Saul as a zealotic persecutor; some plausible conclusions
Considering Paul’s activities as a persecutor in light of the material of Philo worked out above, and the history of the violent and somewhat "revolutionary" actions and groups present in Palestine in the decades up to and during the Great War, we might draw several plausible conclusions.
First, the material concerned does not support the view that Paul is to be considered a member of a group or movement to be called the Zealots. The evidence from Philo does not point to the existence of any such groups, but informs us about individual zealotic persons, ready to take actions against overt transgressors of the Torah, especially blasphemy, idolatry, false prophets seducing people into apostasy (Spec. 1,315-318)80, and perjury. Such persons could be present in courts; but they were not to be identified as court personnel, but could be present everywhere. Philo’s descriptions of such persons seem to indicate that they did not represent any definable or consistent group-formation, but point to persons taking zealous actions on the spot because of violations of the Torah. Furthermore, since here a special understanding and interpretation of the Torah is applied, this phenomenon should not be characterized as a movement, but rather as a tendency or trajectory of zealotic interpretation, present as a latent possibility of legitimation. Such interpretation was contemporized and realized in certain circumstances of gross Torah transgressions both in the Diaspora and in Palestine. This interpretation makes sense of the Philonic texts, but it is also stimulating for understanding the material related to Palestine.
Secondly, the material of Philo suggest that persons committing serious crimes as idolatry, apostasy, seduction, and perjury could be attacked by violent ‘zealots’. Furthermore, such zealots were vigilant against persons considered to be attacking the Torah, the constitution so to speak, of the Jewish communities. How Paul considered the early Christians is not as clear as one might want it to be, but something can be said. By calling himself a ‘zealot’ (Gal 1,13.23, cf. Phil 3,6), Paul saw himself as acting out the model of Phinehas, purging (see Philo’s Mosis 1,303: e)kkaqai/rousi, cf. Num 25,13; Ps 106,30-31; Sir 45,23) the defilement of the nation by punishing the supposed sinners. Hence Paul probably saw the Christians as dangerous and subverting, and his