I hate new testament

Antiochus Epiphanes

The Syrian monarch who attempted to force the Jews of Palestine to adopt Greek culture, leading to the Maccabean revolt in 167 B.C.E.

Antipas

Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great. Antipas ruled the land of Galilee as a client-king to Rome during Jesus' ministry and is said in the Gospels to have executed John the Baptist.

Covenant

A solemn agreement between human beings or between God and a human being in which mutual commitments are made.

Dead Sea Scrolls

(Old Testament) a collection of written scrolls (containing nearly all of the Old Testament) found in a cave near the Dead Sea in the late 1940s

Diaspora

A dispersion of people from their homeland

Essenes

A group of pious, ultra conservative Jews who left the Temple of Jerusalem and began a community by the Dead Sea known as Qumran. The one Jewish group not mentioned in the New Testament. Ironically, they are also the group about which we are best informed.

Fourth Philosophy

A group of Jews that Josephus mentions but leaves unnamed, characterized by their insistence on violent opposition to the foreign domination of the Promised Land.

Hanina ben Dosa

A well-known Galilean rabbi of the first century, who was reputed to have done miracles comparable to those of Jesus.

Hellenization

The adoption of Greek ways and speech as happened in the case of Jews living in the Diaspora

Herod the Great

A wicked, ambitious king, who took over the government of Palestine with the support of the Romans. He was an Edomite, but he portrayed himself as a Jew returned from exile. He ordered the killing of all newborn male children in an effort to slay the Messiah.

Pontius Pilate

The Roman governor of Judea. Although he found Jesus guilty of nothing, he sentenced him to death by crucifixion.

Pharisees

a member of an ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law, and commonly held to have pretensions to superior sanctity.

Holy of Holies

The sanctuary inside the tabernacle in the Temple of Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.

Honi the "circledrawer"

Honi was a Galilean teacher who died about one hundred years before Jesus. He was given his nickname because of a tradition that he prayed to God for much-needed rain and drew a circle around himself on the ground, declaring that he would not leave it until God granted his request

idol

An image used as an object of worship

Josephus

A first-century Jewish historian, appointed court historian by the Roman emperor Vespasian, whose works The Jewish War and The Antiquities of the Jews are principal resources for information about life in first-century Palestine.

Judaism

A religion with a belief in one god. It originated with Abraham and the Hebrew people. Yahweh was responsible for the world and everything within it. They preserved their early history in the Old Testament.

Zadok

A descendant of Aaron, he was a priest at David's court; he supported Solomon's succession, so his descendants had rights to the chief priestly duties in the temple. This man was from an ancient family that traced its line back hundreds of years to a priest.

Judas Maccabeus

Led a Jewish family in revolting against the Greek Empire, resulting in the Jews taking back control of The Temple for some time.

Jewish Law

The complete body of rules and practices that Jews are bound to follow, including biblical commandments, commandments instituted by the rabbis, and binding customs.

Levites

Members of the tribe of Levi, who would be the priests for the rest of Israel.

Maccabeans

The family of Jewish priests that began the revolt against Syria in 167 B.C.E. and that ruled Israel prior to the Roman conquest of 63 B.C.E.

Hasmoneans

An alternative name for the Maccabeans, the family of Jewish priests that began the revolt against Syria in 167 B.C.E. and that ruled Israel prior to the Roman conquest of 63 B.C.E.

Mishnah and Talmud

attempts to understand individual Mitzvot by recording all opinions of Rabbis

Palestine

Also called Holy Land. Biblical name, Canaan. an ancient country in SW Asia, on the E coast of the Mediterranean.

Pentateuch

A Greek word meaning "five books," referring to the first five books of the Old Testament.

Sadducees

A group of powerful and often wealthy Jews who were connected to the Temple priests and often disagreed with the Pharisees.

Torah

The first five books of Jewish Scripture, which they believe are by Moses, are called this

Pontius Pilate

The Roman governor of Judea. Although he found Jesus guilty of nothing, he sentenced him to death by crucifixion.

priests, Jewish

Jews descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses, whose job it was to perform the sacrifices and other group duties, on a rotating basis, in the temple of Jerusalem

Qumran

An ancient Essene monastery on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. Near it were found the ancient Dead Sea scrolls.

Septuagint

Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible

Sicarii

"daggers"; designates a group of 1st C radical Jews responsible for the assassination of Jewish aristocrats thought to be collaborating with the Romans; many scholars consider them to be a part of the Fourth Philosophy

Synagogue

The building where a Jewish assembly or congregation meets for religious worship and instruction.

Temple, Jewish

impressively large and ornate place of worship for the Jews, located in Jerusalem and considered by some to be the most magnificently constructed holy place in the empire, prior to its destruction in 70 C.E.

Titus, emperor

The Roman general who was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE; Titus was the son of Vespasian and succeeded him as emperor in 79 CE.

Vespasian, emperor

Roman general who led the assault on the Jews during the Jewish uprising in Palestine in 66 c.e., who then came to be proclaimed emperor in 69 c.e.