Intertestamental Period

Intertestamental Period

Table of Contents

Introduction3

Alexander The Great and Hellenisation3

The Roman Presence4

The Herods5

Pharisees and Sadducees6

Synagogues8

Messianic Expectations9

The Qumran Community10

Conclusion12

Endnotes13

Intertestamental Period

Introduction

In order to have a better understanding of the Gospels, one has to have more than knowledge of the Old Testament record alone. In addition, there needs to be some understanding of the four hundred years that elapsed from the writings of the prophet Malachi to the coming of Jesus Christ, the duration known as the intertestamental period. During this period important historical events occurred, and a considerable amount of extra-biblical literature was written, both of which had a significant effect on the Mediterranean world and consequently influenced the religious thinking, customs, government, and lifestyle of those living in the first century era.

Alexander The Great and Hellenisation

Alexander the Great was born of royal lineage around the year 356 B.C. At the age of 14 he studied under the philosopher Aristotle who had a profound influence upon him; instructing him not only in philosophy but also in politics. After the assassination of his father in 336 B.C. Alexander was made the new Macedonian king. Between the years 334 B.C. and 331 He led his army eastward into victory over the Persian empire conquering them in three major battles. In 327 B.C. Alexander reached India and eventually died in Babylon in 323 B.C. Alexander promoted Greek culture everywhere he conquered. When his armies took Palestine from the Persians in 332 B.C., they required the Jews to adopt Greek language and customs. One of the most notable effects that Hellenism was to have upon the Jews was the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into the Greek language ( the Septuagint LXX).(1) By the time of Christ it had become the most common translation of the Old Testament. Drane observes that many Greeks and Romans became attracted to Judaism because the Old Testament Scriptures were now in their own language.

After Alexander's death his field marshals struggled for dominion of the lands they had conquered. These leaders and their successors (the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria) warred among themselves until the Roman conquest began in 197 B.C. 11 After the death of Antiochus of the Seleucid Empire in 187 B.C, he was succeeded by his son Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) in 175 B.C. In pursuing his desire to establish Hellenism, Antiochus prohibited the Jews from practising their worship and laws, and ordered them to conform to the worship of Zeus. The climax of his campaign was to establish a pagan alter in the place of the alter in the Jerusalem temple in 167 B.C. 12 1 Maccabees 1:54, records this event, and Jesus refers to it by using a phrase that comes from the LXX version of Daniel 12:11 "The abomination of desolation" (Mark 13:14), to explain a future desecration of a similar kind. Bruce points out that many Jews inevitably refused to comply with the wishes of Antiochus and as a result suffered martyrdom. Other Jews took up direct resistance, finding leaders ...