Acts 5:37

Acts 5:37. After this man arose. These words determine pretty closely the date of the failure of the pretensions of Theudas. The attempted rising of Judas of Galilee, related in this verse, was a well-known one, and happened in the reign of Augustus about A.D. 6 or 7 that is, about twenty-six years before the arrest of the apostles. This rising is stated to have taken place after that of Theudas; and as both are related as events which happened not long ago (see note on Acts 5:36), in the memory of some still living, we must fix the date of the attempt of Theudas not very long before that of Judas of Galilee. Now, the period of the death of Herod the Great, which happened a few months after the Bethlehem massacre related in Mark it, when, as Josephus states, the land was overrun with insurgents led by various fanatics, one of whom we have suggested was Theudas, in all respects fits in with the history.

Judas of Galilee. A well-known Jewish enthusiast, styled by Josephus the author of a fourth Jewish sect, though his followers professed the opinions held generally by the Pharisees. The great feature of his teaching was that it was unlawful to pay tribute to Caesar, as God was the only Ruler of the nation. His followers were dispersed and himself slain, but his opinions were revived by the fierce faction of the Zealots, which arose in the last days of Jerusalem; two of his sons were subsequently crucified, and a third was also put to death by the Roman authorities, as dangerous rebels, before the outbreak of the Jewish war.

In the days of the taxing. Better translated enrolment. Not that alluded to in Luke 2:2, and which took place at the birth of Christ, and probably was merely a census of the population. This taxing or enrolment was made after the dethronement of Archelaus, when Judea was converted into a Roman province, and the enrolment of persons and property was made with a view to taxation. It was in consequence of this taxing that Judas of Galilee revolted.