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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

EGYPTIAN, The

Unidentified antagonist of Rome who led a revolt into the wilderness with a host of barbarous assassins (the Sicarii). After an uproar at the Jerusalem temple, the tribune Claudius Lysias challenged the apostle Paul, asking if he were the Egyptian insurrectionist (Acts 21:38). According to Josephus, the Egyptian led a Jewish rebellion that was suppressed by the procurator Felix. Accounts vary as to the number of assassins involved, but all point to a revolt led by an Egyptian who apparently escaped.