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King James Version (KJV)
“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody
Scripture focus
For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
Acts 5:36 — KJV
Theudas. Possibly a contraction of the Greek name Theodorus, “gift of God.”
The only known non-Biblical reference to a man of this name comes from Josephus. He tells of an insurrection led by a Theudas who, claiming to be a prophet, persuaded “a great part of the people” to follow him. He promised to divide the Jordan and give them an easy passage. The procurator, Cuspius Fadus (A.D. 44 or 45), quickly suppressed the rising, captured and executed its leader, and sent his head to Jerusalem (Antiquities xx. 5.1).
Now, according to Gamaliel, who is quoted by Luke, Theudas came before Judas of Galilee (v. 37), who rebelled “in the days of the taxing,” that is, in A.D. 6 or 7. It is not possible, therefore, to make the accounts of Luke and Josephus refer to the same event. Few scholars would attribute error to Josephus at this point, and there is no valid reason to accuse Luke of a factual error here. Luke, quoting Gamaliel, speaks of 400 men joining themselves to Theudas, whereas Josephus distinctly mentions that “a great part of the people” followed the false prophet. Some have seen in this a suggestion that the two writers refer to different events.
By SdaBc
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