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The''' Zealots''' were fanatical, militant [[Jew]]s who opposed [[Roman]] rule in the first century A.D.  Zealots used military force to fight against the Romans and the [[Jews]] who complied with them.  According to [[Luke]] 6:15, the Disciple [[Simon the Apostle|Simon]] was a member of the Zealots.<ref>http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%206:15,%20Matthew%209:%209-13</ref>   

The''' Zealots''' were fanatical, militant [[Jew]]s who opposed [[Roman]] rule in the first century A.D.  Zealots used military force to fight against the Romans and the [[Jews]] who complied with them.  According to [[Luke]] 6:15, the Disciple [[Simon the Apostle|Simon]] was a member of the Zealots.<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%206:15 Luke 6:15]</ref>   

The group's activities mostly ceased after the Romans captured the Jewish hill-top fortress [[Masada]] in A.D. 73, after a two-month siege.  According to [[Jewish]] historian [[Josephus]], all but two of the over one thousand zealots killed one another rather than submit to the Romans.<ref>http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyAndTheology/Discipleship/vonBuseck_MasadaPartOne.aspx</ref>

The group's activities mostly ceased after the Romans captured the Jewish hill-top fortress [[Masada]] in A.D. 73, after a two-month siege.  According to [[Jewish]] historian [[Josephus]], all but two of the over one thousand zealots killed one another rather than submit to the Romans.<ref>[http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyAndTheology/Discipleship/vonBuseck_MasadaPartOne.aspx von Buseck, Masada, Part One]</ref>

Nowadays, the word zealot is applied to anyone with fanatical religious convictions.

Nowadays, the word zealot is applied to anyone with fanatical religious convictions.