Exam #1 - Intertestment history

The silent years

Malachi - Matthew … no prophetic voice

Length of Inter-testament period

400 years

Josephus

background info comes from him

Mishna

codified law

Jewish historical and literary sources

Josephus, Mishna, Dead Sea Scrolls

Importance of historical background in inter-testamental period

grounds NT in historic reality, provides external verification, helps us understand Greco-Roman context, basis for proper interpretation

OT Pre-exilic history

destruction/deportation of N kingdom Israel by Assyrians

destruction/deportation of S kingdom Judah by Babylonians

70 years Babylonian captivity

Israel deportation

722 BC … beginning of Samaritans “left over” people in the land

Judah deportation

final deportation in 586 BC

Expatriation

Babylon - remove and assimilate culturally (Daniel 1:4), deportation

Repatriation

Persia - limited autonomy as a client state, restoration of religious and social practices (Ezra and Zerubbabel)

Decree of Cyrus

Daniel 9; Ezra 1:2-4

Hellenistic period

period of Greek culture

Alexander the Great

educated under Aristotle, unified Greek city-states, military strategy = speed kills!

Battle of Issus

Persia’s last stand against Alex the Great, Greeks are outnumbered but win b/c of smart strategies … turning pt of Persian influence to the Greeks

Jews under the Ptolemies

life was good! Alexandria was to excel Athens as the cultural center of the world, desires to Hellenize the world, birthplace of Hellenism as a cultural ideal

Creation of the Septuagint

many Greek speaking Jews didn’t know Hebrew — needed a translation

Battle of Paneion (Panium)

turning point battle, tipping point where Ptolemy power went down and Seleucid power went up… near Caesarea Philippi

Jews under the Seleucids

awful

Rise of Antiochus IV Epiphanes

was held as hostage in Rome for 14 years b/c of father’s failed military adventure

Cause of the Maccabean Revolt

turned Israel into a buffer state btwn powerful nations, enforced Hellenism, strived to eradicate Judaism … no Sabbath, no temple service/sacrifices, no kosher diet, destruction of Torah scrolls and religious doc, no Jewish names

Nature of Maccabean Revolt

Guerilla warfare, begins ni small village called Modi’n when priestly family rebels

Establishment of Hanukkah (Feast of the Dedication)

limited consecration oil, miracle of the 8 days of burning menorah to rededicate the Temple

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

175 - 163 BC

Hasmonean Period

143 - 63 BC reassertion of Jewish autonomy, rise of the priest-kings, becomes corrupt

Hasmonean Priest-King

in absence of revelatory direction, the decision is made to set up government with one person - High Priest - Military Commander - Civil Governor - rolled into one person until instructed otherwise

Emergence of competing Jewish religious philosophies

Hasidim and Hellenists

Hasidim

“Holy Ones” strict adherence to religious laws and regulations, eventually lead to the Pharisees and Scribes

Hellenists

ehtnic identification with allowance for cultural assimilation and integration of non-Jewish ideas and traditions, eventually lead to Sadducees

Herod the Great (47 - 4 BC)

administrator of Galilee - young mbut proves to be an able and clever administrator, eliminates perceived threats against Roman influence, always trying to keep Rome on his good side … marries Hasmonean princess to legitimize and solidify position

Consolidation of Herod’s kingdom

begins to eliminate enemies and perceived threats more aggressively

Domestic tensions in Herodian kingdom

Herod changed wills multiple times, major issue of succession, ten wives and dozens of children competing for power

Ethnarch

refers generally to political leadership over a common ethnic group or homogenous kingdom

Tetrarch

Philip the Tetrarch

Herod Archelaus

ethnarch and tetrarch of Judea and Samaria, bad ruler with violent suppression of insurrections so eventually banished to Gaul

Herod Antipas

Ethnarch of Galilee and Perea, arrests and kills J. Baptist, interviews Jesus at His trial