Connecting Malachi to Matthew - NPHonline.nph.net/media/SampleFiles/PDF/1500763.pdf · Between the...

Connecting Malachi to Matthew

Mark E. Braun

Cover illustrations: Lars Justinen; GoodSalt, Inc.Art Director: Karen KnutsonDesign Team: Diane Cook, Pamela Dunn, Lynda Williams

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the ESV® Bible(The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publish-ing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All Apocrypha quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Apocrypha:The Lutheran Edition with Notes, copyright © 2012 by Concordia Publishing House.Used by permission. All rights reserved.

“Between the Testaments: From Malachi to Christ” on page 6 © 1989 ReproducibleMaps, Charts, Timelines, and Illustrations, published by Gospel Light. All rightsreserved.

All rights reserved. This publication may not be copied, photocopied, reproduced,translated, or converted to any electronic or machine-readable form in whole or inpart, except for brief quotations, without prior written approval from the publisher.

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Published 2016Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 978-0-8100-2756-5ISBN 978-0-8100-2757-2 (e-book)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ONEThe Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

TWOThe Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

THREEThe Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

THE STORY

What does your Bible contain between the end of the OldTestament and the beginning of the New? Nothing? A page ortwo of blank lines in which to record the names of your parents,grandparents, siblings, children, and grandchildren, along with thedates of their births, baptisms, and marriages?

If you own the Concordia Self-Study Bible or The Lutheran StudyBible, you will find brief introductory articles summarizing whathappened between the Testaments.

The following time line presents in some detail the eventsbetween the Testaments. Keep in mind that we may not alwaysknow the exact year when an event took place, so the referenceto a year may be different in one place than another. At the closeof the Old Testament, only a remnant from the tribe of Judahremained in Palestine, which had been reduced to an insignificantprovince of the vast Persian Empire. Two of the last historicalbooks of the Old Testament—Ezra and Nehemiah—togetherwith the final three prophetic books—Haggai, Zechariah, andMalachi—provide us with some information about the Jews’return to the land and their efforts to reestablish their lives. Ini-tial enthusiasm to rebuild their city and temple was dampenedby opposition from neighboring peoples. These resettlers fell intosome of the same sins their ancestors had committed, sins whichhad led to the captivity in the first place. Some Judean returneesintermarried with the local people and endangered the transmis-sion of their faith, but other Jews pledged instead to meettogether to encourage one another to keep the law of God(Malachi 3:16).

5

6

Time Between the Testaments

Between the Testaments: From Malachi to Christ

Malachi c. 430 B.C.

410

400

390

380

370

360

350

340

330

320

310

300

290

280

270

260

250

240

230

220

210

200

190

180

170

160

150

140

130

120

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

10

20

30 A.D.

THE PERSIAN PERIOD450–330 B.C.

For about 200 years after Nehe miah’stime the Persians controlled Judah, butthe Jews were allowed to carry on theirreligious observances and were notinterfered with. During this time Judahwas ruled by high priests who wereresponsible to the Jewish government.

THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD330–166 B.C.

In 333 B.C. the Persian armies sta-tioned in Macedonia were defeated byAlexander the Great. He was con-vinced that Greek culture was the oneforce that could unify the world.Alexander permitted the Jews toobserve their laws and even grantedthem exemption from tribute or taxduring their Sabbath years. When hebuilt Alexandria in Egypt, he encour-aged Jews to live there and gave themsome of the same privileges he gavehis Greek subjects. The Greek con-quest prepared the way for the trans-lation of the OT into Greek(Sept ua gint version) c. 250 B.C.

THE HASMONEAN PERIOD166–63 B.C.

When this historical period began, theJews were being greatly oppressed. ThePtolemies had been tolerant of theJews and their religious practices butthe Seleucid rulers were determined toforce Hellenism on them. Copies ofthe Scriptures were ordered destroyedand laws were enforced with extremecruelty. The oppressed Jews revolted,led by Judas the Maccabee.

THE ROMAN PERIOD 63 B.C. . . .

In the year 63 B.C. Pompey, theRoman general, captured Jerusalem,and the provinces of Palestine becamesubject to Rome. The local govern-ment was entrusted part of the timeto princes and the rest of the time toprocurators who were appointed bythe emperors. Herod the Great wasruler of all Palestine at the time ofChrist’s birth.

334–323 Alexander the Great conquers the East

330–328 Alexander’s years of power

320 Ptolemy (I) Soter conquersJerusalem

311 Seleucus conquers Babylon; Seleuciddynasty begins

226 Antiochus III (the Great) of Syriaoverpowers Palestine

223–187 Antiochus becomes Seleucid ruler of Syria

198 Antiochus defeats Egypt and gainscontrol of Palestine

175–164 Antiochus (IV) Epiphanesrules Syria; Judaism is prohibited

167 Mattathias and his sons rebel againstAntiochus; Maccabean revolt begins

166–160 Judas Maccabeus’s leadership

160–143 Jonathan is high priest

142 Tower of Jerusalem cleansed

142–134 Simon becomes high priest;establishes Hasmonean dynasty

134–104 John Hyrcanus enlarges theindependent Jewish state

103 Aristobulus’s rule

102–76 Alexander Janneus’s rule

75–67 Rule of Salome Alexandra withHyrcanus II as high priest

66–63 Battle between Aristobulus II andHyrcanus II

63 Pompey invades Palestine; Roman rulebegins

63–40 Hyrcanus II rules but is subject to Rome

40–37 Parthians conquer Jerusalem

37 Jerusalem besieged for six months

32 Herod defeated

19 Herod’s temple begun

16 Herod visits Agrippa

4 Herod dies; Archelaus succeeds

Rule of Alexander the Great

Rule of the

Ptolemies of Egypt

Ruleof the

Seleucidsof Syria

HasmoneanDynasty

Herod the Great rules

as king; subject

to Rome

More than 1500 years earlier, the Lord had made three promisesto Abram: (1) I will make you into a great nation; (2) I will give yourdesendants this land; and (3) All nations will be blessed through you(Genesis 12:2,3,7). Martin Luther once remarked that the progressand good fortune of God’s entire people rested on these promises. Infact, “Whatever will be achieved in the church until the end of theworld and whatever has been achieved in it until now, has beenachieved and will be achieved by virtue of this promise, which enduresand is in force to this day” (Luther’s Works, AE 2:265).

But as the Old Testament drew to a close, the future lookedgrim for these three promises. The once-great nation under KingDavid and King Solomon was reduced to a few thousand people.Ten of Israel’s twelve tribes had been exiled from the land wherethey were intermixed with other conquered peoples and eventuallylost their identity. The boundaries of the Promised Land—oncestretching from the Mediterranean Sea on the west to beyond theJordan River in the east, south to the Gulf of Aqaba and north tothe headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers—were nowreduced to those of a puny province, perhaps only 20 miles longand wide around Jerusalem.

How could this diminished people ever become a blessing to themany other nations of the world? The Old Testament ends not witha bang but with a whimper.

Under the PersiansThe Persian Empire continued its rule over Judea beyond the

end of the Old Testament and remained the dominant politicalforce in the ancient Near East for another 75 years. Nonbiblicalhistory records the battles of some of Persia’s greatest rulers: forexample, Xerxes I, Artaxerxes I, Artaxerxes II, and so on. Little isknown about the life of the people of Judah during this time.Egypt rebelled against Persian rule during the fourth century B.C.,leading to a series of military clashes between Persian and Egyptianarmies. Meanwhile, to the west, city-states in Greece were growingin power.

7

THE STORY

Jews formed other communities outside Palestine, one of whichwas situated on the island of Elephantine in the Nile River, nearpresent-day Aswan. This group violated the Law of Moses by con-structing its own temple. About 410 B.C., an angry Egyptian mob,worshipers of the god Khnum, destroyed this temple, and the Ele-phantine Jews appealed for help to the high priest of Jerusalem andthe governors of Jerusalem and Samaria. The group at Elephantineworshiped Yahu, perhaps an alternate name for Yahweh, but theirletters indicate that they also worshiped other local gods.

Under the GreeksGreat change came to everyone living in this region with the

arrival of Alexander the Great and his Greek army. In about331 B.C., Alexander came to Palestine. Most cities in Syria andPalestine had already submitted to Alexander, but Tyre and Gazaalong the Mediterranean coast tried to resist the Greek conqueror.Alexander surrounded Tyre and captured it after a seven-monthsiege; he then moved south along the coast, took control of Gaza,and marched on Egypt. From there, he turned toward Jerusalem.

The Jewish historian Josephus (whose name will become familiarto us throughout this history) tells an intriguing story about Alexan-der’s entrance into Jerusalem. The high priest Jaddua was so frightenedat Alexander’s coming that he urged people to decorate Jerusalem withwreathes and to dress in white to greet him. Jaddua himself led a pro-cession of priests to welcome the Greek conqueror and to escort himinto the city, where Jaddua showed Alexander the prediction in thebook of Daniel that a Greek ruler would overtake the Persian Empire(Daniel 2:38-45; 7:15-27). Such a greeting no doubt appealed toAlexander’s ego, and, in turn, Alexander granted the Jews in Judea theright to follow their own laws and to be exempted from paying tributeto him. Alexander further invited Jews to enlist in his army and prom-ised that they could retain their own customs (Antiquities 11:324-339).

Although many historians doubt the reliability of this story, itseems accurate that Alexander took control of Jerusalem withouta fight and that he granted Judeans some religious freedoms.

8


Alexander himself remained on the scene only a short time, buthis impact on the region and on world history was profound. Greekart and architecture, the theater, the Greek city structure, market-places and thoroughfares, and temples depicting the many Greekgods were imported wherever Alexander conquered. The Greekssought not only military victory, political expansion, and economicgain but were also intent on transmitting their way of life to the non-Greek “barbarians.” During the century following Alexander’s deathin 323 B.C., Greek cities were founded along the Mediterranean coastin Egypt, Syria, and Judea. These cities advanced Greek life throughjoint commercial, cultural, and athletic endeavors. Max Dimont, inhis book Jews, God and History, compares the conquering Greeks to a“hoop skirt” into which they tried to fit their conquered peoples inthe Near East (77).

This process, called Hellenization, was not a sudden imposi-tion of Greek culture on native peoples but a centuries-longendeavor. The Greeks did not typically force their way of life onothers, but it was often the native peoples themselves—particularlythose of the upper classes—who sought to improve their status bylearning the Greek language and adopting Greek customs. Non-Greek-speaking peoples incorporated whatever elements of the cul-ture they considered useful to them or adapted elements to suittheir purposes. Local and Greek ways of life often functioned sideby side, and in time it became difficult to tell what was borrowedand what was original.

The Jews were no exception. However, Jewish insistence on theworship of only one God—only their God—together with theunique features of Jewish religious practice, put faithful Jews on moreof a collision course with the Greeks than was true of most otherconquered peoples. The apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees says thatsome Jewish men even “removed the marks of circumcision” fromtheir bodies (1 Maccabees 1:15). Since “Greek males tended to exer-cise in the nude at gymnasiums, Jewish males would thereby exposetheir circumcision, which Greeks thought a barbaric custom. SomeJewish men underwent a painful operation [called an epispasm] tosurgically remove the signs of circumcision” (The Apocrypha: TheLutheran Edition with Notes, p. 160, note).

9

THE STORY

Under the PtolemiesAlexander, one of the world’s great military leaders, reportedly

lamented before his death at age 33 that he had “no more worlds toconquer.” But apparently he had no plan for governing his vast con-quests. For the next two decades, several of Alexander’s generals, hisDiadochoi, or “successors,” fought to control his empire. An agreementin 301 B.C. gave Syria to his general Seleucus and granted anotherof his generals, Ptolemy I, rule over southern Palestine and Egypt.With that, for the next century, the Jews were under control of thePtolemaic Empire.

In general, the Ptolemies are remembered as “tolerant” rulers.They seem to have followed a live-and-let-live philosophy in theirrule. As long as the Jews in Palestine paid their taxes, the Ptolemiesmostly left them alone, even granting them some self-governmentand cultural and religious freedom.

Ptolemy I (Soter) gained control of Jerusalem by deceptivelyentering the city on a Sabbath Day, pretending he had come to offera sacrifice at the temple; and unsuspecting Jews refused to fight todefend themselves. Ptolemy I took many captives from Jerusalem andsurrounding areas to settle in Egypt. Yet he also promised them manyof the privileges that the citizens of Alexandria already enjoyed, caus-ing other Jews to move willingly to Egypt not only in response toPtolemy’s promises of freedom but also for Egypt’s good farmingland (Antiquities 12:2-9).

During the rule of Ptolemy II (Philadelphus), a significant eventoccurred, as told in the tale, The Letter of Aristeas. In this tale,Demetrius of Phaleron, librarian of the great collection of volumesat Alexandria, informed the book-loving Philadelphus that the lawsof the Jews deserved inclusion in the king’s rapidly growing collec-tion, but this would necessitate translation of the Hebrew Scripturesinto Greek. The king eagerly approved this effort and ordered all thenecessary preparations. Aristeas took the opportunity to strike a bar-gain with Philadelphus. In exchange for the translation, the kingwould release more than 100,000 Jews still enslaved by Ptolemy I.The king consented to this request and sent extravagant gifts for thehigh priest in Jerusalem (Antiquities 12:14-111).

10


11

THE STORY

Eleazar, the Jewish high priest, is described as selecting 72men—6 from each of Israel’s 12 tribes, fluent in Greek andHebrew—and arranging for their travel to Alexandria. This appearsto be an unlikely feature of the story, since the Assyrians had removed10 of Israel’s 12 tribes from the land more than four centuries earlier.It is also unlikely that 36 pairs of translators, each pair working inde-pendently of all the others, would complete the translation of theentire Old Testament into Greek in only 72 days—and that their 36translations would all agree completely! (By contrast, Luther’s trans-lation of the Old Testament into German took him and his associatesmore than a dozen years to complete, and they continued revisingtheir work for the rest of Luther’s life.)

Despite such unlikely details, however, the story survived and thename Septuagint (meaning “seventy”), abbreviated LXX, is still usedto refer to the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures.

In fact, between about 250 B.C. and 100 B.C., all the books ofthe Hebrew Scriptures, as well as many nonbiblical Jewish writings,were translated into Greek. This process was fueled by a growingdemand for the Scriptures in Greek from Jews who had moved toother parts of the Mediterranean world and from interested non-Jews who did not know Hebrew. Rather than having been com-pleted in one grand event on an island near Alexandria, it is morelikely that the translation of the Old Testament into Greek tookplace in many small steps, at various times and places. JaroslavPelikan, in his book Whose Bible Is It?, writes, “Whatever the precisedetails of its composition or its standing within the Jewish com-munity,” the Septuagint made the Hebrew Scriptures “part ofworld literature” so that “anyone who read the Odyssey could nowread the Book of Exodus” (59).

The availability of the Hebrew Scriptures in Greek, combinedwith the emergence of the synagogue as an alternative to temple wor-ship, made the Jews’ faith and worship of their one God accessiblefar beyond Palestine and to many people other than Jews. The syna-gogues and their Greek translations of Scripture also provided aready-made launching point for Saul of Tarsus—Saint Paul—tobring the message about Jesus of Nazareth to many places in theMediterranean world.

12


Under the SeleucidsPtolemaic rule in Egypt and the surrounding region continued

until the time the Romans entered the picture—notably Julius Cae-sar, Mark Antony, and Octavian. For some time, however, Seleucid

Ptolemy I (305–282) Berenice I

Ptolemy II (284–246) Arsinoe I

Ptolemy IV (222–204)

Arsinoe III

Lysimachus Arsinoe II

Ptolomy, the son Ptolemy III (246–222)Berenice II

Antiochus III of Syria

Cleopatra IPtolemy V (204–180)

Ptolemy VIII (145–116)

Ptolemy VI (180–145)

Cleopatra IIPtolemy VII (145–144)

Cleopatra III

Cleopatra IV Ptolemy IX (117–108,

88–80)

Cleopatra Selene

Ptolemy X (107–88)

Berenice IIIPtolemy XI

Ptolemy XII (80–58, 55–51)

Cleopatra V

Arsinoe IV Berenice IV (58–55)

Ptolemy XIII Ptolemy XIV

Julius Caesar

Cleopatra VII (51–30)

Marcus Antonius

Ptolemy XV Alexander Helios

PtolemyPhiladelphus

CleopatraSelene

The Ptolemies

13

THE STORY

rulers had desired control over southern Syria and Judea, and in aseries of battles known as the Syrian Wars, they tried but failed togain that control. They almost succeeded in this endeavor at Raphiain 217 B.C. under their ambitious new ruler, Antiochus III. Finally,in 198 B.C., they were successful, and with that victory the SeleucidEmpire stretched south across Palestine to the borders of Egypt. Forthe next 125 years, Seleucids either governed Judea outright or exer-cised influence there.

Initially, Jews in Palestine welcomed this shift in power. By somereports they even opened the gates of Jerusalem to welcome Anti-ochus III, though other accounts suggest that the city saw some fight-ing. Antiochus III rewarded Jerusalem by granting its citizens theright to practice their religion as they wished and by remitting taxesfor a time to allow them to repair damage done to their city (Antiq-uities 12:138-153).

Following Antiochus III came Seleucus IV, and after him cameAntiochus IV, who is regarded by nearly all accounts as the chief vil-lain of the entire Intertestamental Period. Antiochus IV took on theadditional name Epiphanes, implying that he believed himself to be amanifestation of the gods. Some, however, like the Greek historianPolybius, called him Epimanes, or “crazy man.”

The year Antiochus IV came to power (175 B.C.) saw a momen-tous change in the office of high priest in Jerusalem. A man namedJason purchased the office from Antiochus, promising him 360 tal-ents of silver (which some estimate to be about 27,000 pounds)immediately and then more after that if Antiochus would grant himpermission both to build a gymnasium in Jerusalem where Greek-style athletic events could be held and to enroll Jerusalem’s peopleas citizens of Antioch (2 Maccabees 4:7-10). Strapped for cash,Antiochus must have found this offer attractive. To him, the highpriesthood was a political office, and since at the time it involvedboth religious and civil functions, it is understandable he would haveseen it as such. But to pious Jews, the priesthood was of divine origin,and they saw Antiochus’ sale of the office to the highest bidder as asin. His action broke a centuries-long line of hereditary priests andput the highest-ranking Jewish religious official in direct employ ofthe Greek ruler.

14


The Seleucids

Philip I Philadelphus (95–84/83)

Demetrius III Eucaerus (97/96–88/87)

Antiochus XII Dionysus (87/86–83/82)

Seleucus VI Epiphanes (96–94)

Philip II Philoromaeus

(67–66)

Antiochus XIII Asiaticus (69–64)

Antiochus XI Epiphanes (96–92)

Antiochus X Eusebes (95–88)

Seleucus V (129–123)

Antiochus VIII Gryphus (121–96)

Antiochus IX Cyziceaus (115–95)

Demetrius II Nicator

(145–138, 129–125)

Demetrius I Soter

(161–150)

Seleucus IV Philopator (187–175)

Antiochus VII Sidetes

(138–129)

Antiochus VI Dionysus

(145–141/140)

Alexander I Ballas

(152–145)

Antiochus V Eupator

(164–162)

Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175–164)

Antiochus III the Great (222–187)

Seleucus III Keraunos

(226 / 225–222)

Seleucus II Callinicus (246–226 / 225)

Antiochus I I Theos (261–246)

Antiochus I Soter (281–261)

Seleucus I Nicator (311–281)

15

THE STORY

Three years later, another Jewish man, Menelaus, outbid Jasonfor the priesthood. To pay for his offer, Menelaus stole and then soldtemple worship utensils as the temple itself fell into the hands ofother Jews eager to embrace the Greek way of life. They even intro-duced the worship of Greek gods in the Jerusalem temple (2 Mac-cabees 4:23-25; Antiquities 12:237-241).

It does not appear that Antiochus set out with a deliberate policyof forcing Greek cultural and religious changes onto Judea, at leastnot early in his reign. He was more preoccupied, as are most rulers,with consolidating his power and resources to extend his kingdom.In 169 B.C. he invaded Egypt, seeking not so much to conquer theland as to influence the choice of an Egyptian ruler favorable to him.Since his first campaign into Egypt was only partly successful, heinvaded Egypt again the following year. But Roman troops hadremained in the area, and at his second invasion, Rome intervenedand demanded that Antiochus withdraw.

In Jerusalem, meanwhile, rumors spread that Antiochus had diedin battle. This prompted Jason, the ousted high priest, to try to regainhis former position, so he attacked Jerusalem. But Antiochus wasvery much alive. When he heard of Jason’s attack, Antiochus assumedthe entire city had joined Jason in revolt against him, so Antiochusstormed Jerusalem with own troops. He reportedly slaughtered40,000 Jews and enslaved another 40,000 (2 Maccabees 5:5-14;Antiquities 12:245-247). These figures seem exaggerated, however,since it is doubtful Jerusalem itself had that many residents. InJerusalem at the Time of Jesus, Joachim Jeremias estimates that duringthe time of the New Testament, the population of Jerusalem wasonly about 30,000 residents, although it swelled to about three timesthat size during festival times (83).

Antiochus then imposed a series of measures designed to crushJewish resistance and to impose Greek worship on Jerusalem. Thesemeasures suspended daily sacrifices and introduced the worship ofpagan gods into the temple, which included the sacrifice of a pig tothe Greek god Zeus. The sanctuary itself was renamed the Templeof Olympian Zeus, and temple prostitution began. Jews were forcedto eat the meat of unclean sacrifices during the celebration of Anti-ochus’ birthday and were compelled to join in celebrating the Greek

16


The Context of the Maccabean Revolt, ca. 167 B.C.

god Dionysus (2 Maccabees 5:15–6:9), all while the books of Scrip-ture were desecrated (1 Maccabees 1:56). In an especially viciousaction, Antiochus’ soldiers “put to death the women who had theirchildren circumcised and their families and those who circumcisedthem; and they hung the infants from their mothers’ necks” (1 Mac-cabees 1:60,61; see also 2 Maccabees 6:10; Antiquities 12:246-256).

Such violent measures were inconsistent with the generally moretolerant policies of Greek rulers. Historians debate what led Anti-ochus to take this cruel action. He began as an able ruler and gaveno initial indication that he considered it his particular mission toHellenize the Jews, whether they wanted Hellenizing or not. Buttwice rebuffed in his attempts to expand his kingdom toward Egypt,resentful of Roman power interfering in his backyard, and feelingundermined, if not double-crossed, by Jewish leaders in Jerusalem,Antiochus lashed back. Others suggest that Jerusalem had been atrouble spot for some time and that Antiochus, accurately or mis-takenly, regarded the Jewish religion, with its insistence on only oneGod and its various beliefs and practices distasteful to the Greeks,as central to the problem.

Another possibility, strongly suggested by events reported in2 Maccabees, was that many Jews were impressed with theirprospects if they conformed more to Greek customs. The war thattook place was then not so much an uprising against tyrannicalSeleucids but an internal revolt of Jewish anti-Hellenizers againstJewish pro-Hellenizers.

Under the MaccabeesWhat is certain is that Antiochus’ oppressive measures provoked

a forceful response from the Jewish people. Although there may havebeen other resistance efforts against Antiochus, historians have focusedon the revolt of the Maccabees. In Modein, a city midway betweenJerusalem and the Mediterranean coast, a priest from the Hasmoneanfamily, Mattathias, was ordered to offer a sacrifice to Zeus, but herefused to do so. When Seleucid soldiers then ordered a second priestto perform the sacrifice instead, Mattathias murdered the second

17

THE STORY

priest and Antiochus’ soldiers with him. Then Mattathias and his sonsretreated to the hill country north of Jerusalem. They won others totheir cause and called themselves the “righteous ones,” or Hasideans(1 Maccabees 2:1-41; 2 Maccabees 5:27; Antiquities 12:265-277).

Mattathias died soon after, but his oldest son, Judas, continuedthe revolt. He won initial victories over Seleucid forces and regainedcontrol of the temple, allowing the priests to purify it for worship(1 Maccabees 3:10–4:35). This purification of the temple and itsrededication to the worship of Israel’s God is what Jewish peoplecelebrate every December as Hanukkah (1 Maccabees 4:36-59; Antiq-uities 12:316-325). Judas and his brothers were given the nicknameMaccabee, meaning “hammer.”

Antiochus withdrew his oppressive religious decrees, and withJewish control of the temple restored and its worship reinstituted(2 Maccabees 9:13-18), many in Judea felt their mission was accom-plished. But these initial victories enflamed the Maccabees and theirsupporters with the desire to form an independent Jewish nation—a bold dream considering Judah had not enjoyed political independ-ence since the rise of the Babylonians and had not been the dominantforce in the region since the reigns of David and Solomon.

Until his death in 161 B.C., Judas led the movement (1 Mac-cabees 3:1–9:22; 2 Maccabees 8:1–15:36), followed by his brothersJonathan (161–142 B.C.) and Simon (142–134 B.C.). Most of theMaccabees’ victories can be explained by ordinary military factors—possession of equal or greater troop strengths, use of surprise tactics,greater knowledge of the local terrain, stronger will to win their free-dom, and development of a trained army. But the Maccabees alsopossessed a strong religious fervor. Paul Johnson, in A History of theJews, calls the Maccabees “brave, desperate, fanatical, strong-minded,and violent men” who saw themselves as “reliving the book ofJoshua, reconquering the Promised Land from the pagans. With theLord at their elbow they lived by the sword and died by the sword ina spirit of ruthless piety” (106,107).

Some supporters broke with the Maccabees over whether Jewsought to fight to defend themselves on the Sabbath. The Maccabeesconsidered this a fruitless debate: “If we all do as our brothers havedone and refuse to fight with the Gentiles for our lives and our ordi-

18


nances,” Mattathias and his friends said, “they will quickly destroy usfrom the earth.” Instead, they resolved, “Let us fight against every manwho comes to attack us on the Sabbath day” (1 Maccabees 2:39-41).This disagreement over resistance on the Sabbath provided the firststirrings of two of the groups prominent during the life of Jesus: The“righteous ones” (Hasideans), scrupulous in their obedience to Jewishlaws, became the Pharisees; the Maccabean rebels, eager to take moreviolent actions in support of a larger cause, were antecedents to thefirst-century Zealots.

Jonathan took leadership of the movement for the next 18 years(1 Maccabees 9:23–12:53), and in 152 B.C. he also became highpriest (1 Maccabees 10:18-24). The Hasmoneans were a priestlyfamily, yet Jonathan gained office not because of his family back-ground but because he commanded an army. Although he held thepriesthood for the last ten years of his life, he is not reported ashaving conducted a single priestly act (Antiquities 13:5-57).Throughout Israel’s history, functions of the political ruler and thepriesthood had been kept strictly separate. Saul had forfeited hiskingship by performing Samuel’s priestly duties (1 Samuel 13:1-15),and Azariah (also called Uzziah) was struck with leprosy after barg-ing into the temple against the objections of his advisors (2 Kings15:1-7; 2 Chronicles 26:16-21). Jonathan’s accession to the highpriesthood made him friends with the Seleucid king but may haveprovoked the formation of a separatist group of priests who movedto an isolated location along the western shore of the Dead Sea atQumran. In passing, during his presentation of the rule ofJonathan, Josephus remarks on the existence of three philosophies,or schools of thought, among the Jews at the time—Pharisees, Sad-ducees, and Essenes—and offers brief descriptions of each (Antiq-uities 13:171-173).

Jonathan was successful in battle and acquired honors for himself(1 Maccabees 10:67-89; 11:20-74; 12:24-38) but was eventuallymurdered by a political rival (1 Maccabees 12:39-48; Antiquities13:187-195). After his death in 142 B.C., another son of Mattathias,Simon, led the movement for eight additional years (1 Maccabees13:1–16:17). Simon negotiated with the Seleucid ruler Demetrius IIand won extensive promises of Judean freedom. For that reason, the

19

THE STORY

author of 1 Maccabees announces that in the first year of Simon’sreign, “the yoke of the Gentiles was removed from Israel” (1 Mac-cabees 13:41,42; see also Antiquities 13:213-215). Simon expelledthe Seleucid troops from Asaramel, the central citadel of Jerusalem,thereby effectively removing the symbol of Seleucid rule from thecountry (1 Maccabees 14:27b-49).

Simon’s death in 134 B.C. marked the end of an extraordinary30-year rule of the three brothers who had transformed Judah froma temple state into a semi-independent nation and had greatlyexpanded its land holdings and military power. The book of 1 Mac-cabees ends with Simon’s death, as if to say that the next generationsof rulers, though members of the Hasmonean family, were no longer“Maccabees”—they did not hold the revolutionary ideals that Judas,Jonathan, and Simon had held.

The Hasmoneans

Mattathias

Judas Maccabeus (166–160)

Jonathan (160–143)

Simon (143–134)

Judas John Hyrcanus (134–104)

Antigonus

Aristobulus I (104–103)

Alexander Jannaeus (103–76)Alexandra

Alexandra Salome (76–67)

Hyrcanus II (63–40)

Aristobulus II (67–63)

Alexandra Alexander Antigonus II (40–37)

Aristobulus III

Mariamne I

Antipater (Idumean)

Herod (37–4 B.C.)

Alexander Aristobulus IV

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John Hyrcanus (134–104 B.C.) expanded family control overJudea, gained greater power over Shechem and Samaria, and conqueredIdumea, forcing its inhabitants to convert to Judaism. After the Seleu-cid ruler Antiochus VII died in 129 B.C., Hyrcanus destroyed theunlawful Samaritan temple and forced its worshipers to obey Jewishlaws, especially reinstating circumcision (Antiquities 13:254-258).

Josephus provides insight into the relationship between Hyrcanusand both the Pharisees and Sadducees. At first Hyrcanus was a dis-ciple of the Pharisees. They held him in high regard until a Phariseenamed Eleazar challenged Hyrcanus publicly: If he wished to be trulyrighteous, he must give up his office as high priest and content him-self with political rule in Judea. Hyrcanus became furious withEleazar and the Pharisees and switched his allegiance to the Sad-ducees, who were often viewed as the party of the wealthy minorityin Jerusalem (Antiquities 13:288-298). Thus, more than a centurybefore the birth of Jesus, both the Pharisees and the Sadducees wereattempting to exert political influence in Judea.

The succession of Hasmonean rulers after Hyrcanus—AristobulusI (104–103 B.C.), Alexander Jannaeus (103–76 B.C.), Alexandra Salome(76–67 B.C.), Aristobulus II (67–63 B.C.), and Hyrcanus II (63–40 B.C.)—became almost as “Greek” as the Greek rulers that the pre-vious generation of Maccabees had fought to displace. Their affectionfor all things Greek was evident even in the names they chose for theirchildren. Aristobulus I was the first of the Hasmoneans to take the title“king” for himself. Josephus praises Aristobulus for conquering theregion of Iturea, requiring its inhabitants to live in harmony with Jewishlaws and even imposing circumcision, yet Josephus reproaches Aristo-bulus as “a lover of the Greeks” (Antiquities 13:318,319).

After Aristobulus’ reign of only a single year, his brother Alexan-der Jannaeus married Aristobulus’ widow, who conferred on him herfirst husband’s throne. As had become common practice, Alexanderalso took the office of high priest. On one occasion, as he tried toconduct his priestly duties, crowds in Jerusalem pelted him with fruit.In retaliation, Alexander killed thousands of Jerusalemites for thisand other acts of opposition. He once asked the Sanhedrin,Jerusalem’s ruling body, what he should do, and Sanhedrin membersshouted back at Alexander, “Die!” Jannaeus later ordered eight hun-

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THE STORY

dred of his fiercest opponents crucified and their wives and childrenslaughtered while he and his concubines publicly feasted (Antiquities13:372-397). Throughout his rule, Jannaeus encountered politicalopposition from the Pharisees, which led him on his deathbed toadvise his wife, Alexandra Salome, to make peace with them (Antiq-uities 13:398-406). Her rule of nine years was dominated by thePharisees (Antiquities 13:405-415).

With each successive Maccabean/Hasmonean ruler, more of theland of Palestine was brought under Hasmonean control. The revoltbegan under Mattathias west of Jerusalem; Judas took control ofJerusalem’s temple and city areas; Jonathan, then Simon, then Hyr-canus, and then Jannaeus each extended their rule. As the map onpage 24 indicates, by 76 B.C. the area under Maccabean controlincluded almost as much of Palestine as had been ruled over by Davidand Solomon during the “golden age” of the united Israelite monar-chy nine centuries earlier.

Under the RomansFrom 164 B.C. to 63 B.C., Greek rulers never completely left

Palestine but retained some power alongside the Maccabean rebels,resulting in an ongoing struggle for control. Rome also played a sig-

22


Maccabean Control of Judea

nificant role in the governance of the region. In 190 B.C., Romanforces defeated Antiochus III at the battle of Magnesia and figuredin Antiochus IV’s abortive attack on Egypt in 169 B.C.

At the time of Judas Maccabeus, Greek rulers and Maccabeaninsurgents both paid attention to Rome’s growing power. Judas sent adelegation to Rome “to establish friendship and alliance and to freethemselves from the yoke [of the Greeks]; for they saw that the king-dom of the Greeks was completely enslaving Israel” (1 Maccabees8:17b,18). Thus the Maccabees had not won control of Judea by theirefforts alone but had sought and presumably received Rome’s assis-tance. The Roman Senate agreed to a treaty with the Maccabean party,a portion of which obligated Romans and Maccabees to offer supportif either were attacked (1 Maccabees 8:22-30). Later, as Simon’saccomplishments and honors grew, the Romans took the initiative torenew their alliance with the Maccabees (1 Maccabees 14:16-19).

In 63 B.C., two would-be Hasmonean rulers, Hyrcanus IIand Aristobulus II, vied for control of Judea. Aristobulus mighthave taken uncontested command, but Hyrcanus enjoyed thefriendship of a prominent, wealthy Idumean named Antipater, whourged Hyrcanus to oppose Aristobulus. Antipater then persuadedHyrcanus to leave Jerusalem to seek the support of Aretas, king ofPetra, in Idumean territory. Aretas attacked Aristobulus, and Aris-tobulus fled to Jerusalem. Hyrcanus then attacked and sieged thetemple (Antiquities 14:8-21).

This infighting could have gone on for some time were it notfor the Roman general Pompey, already in Syria to the north fightingagainst the Armenians. Pompey sent his lieutenant to investigate theHyrcanus vs. Aristobulus battle. Then, instead of agreeing to supporteither side, Pompey’s troops sieged Jerusalem and took control of itfor Rome. Priests continued their worship duties in the temple asthe fighting raged around them, and some priests were killed. Pompeyentered the Most Holy Place of the temple but to his surprise, foundnothing in it, no images at all. The next day Pompey refrained fromlooting the temple but ordered the remaining priests to repurify it,and temple worship was resumed (Antiquities 14:22-78).

In some ways, Roman rule over conquered peoples was moderate.The Romans respected local, religious, and social institutions and

23

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24


Palestine Under the Maccabees

even allowed a certain amount of local government. True, Rome putdown uprisings quickly and forcefully, but most peoples around theMediterranean Sea prospered under Roman rule and considered itbetter than whatever alternative they might have been forced toaccept. The six million or so Jews living outside Palestine seldomgave Roman authorities trouble, and even the majority of Jews inPalestine did not see Rome as an enemy of their religion.

However, a minority of Jews in Palestine felt they could nolonger accommodate these conquerors from the west and were willingto risk whatever penalties they may face for defiance against Rome.It must have come as a terrible blow to independent-minded Judeansto see the taste of freedom they had enjoyed under the Maccabeesnow shattered. Judah once again was reduced to the status of a minorprovince under foreign domination. From the time of Pompeythrough the end of the first century A.D., Palestine remained a “clientstate” of the Roman Empire, and although Rome did not yet countPalestine and other client states as parts of their empire, they stillexerted influence in these regions.

Most advantageous for Rome’s purposes was to secure a localruler to govern an area with Rome’s best interests in mind, and itfound the ideal client kings in Antipater and, after him, his sonHerod the Great. Antipater has been characterized by some as “oneof history’s most unsavory characters” and “a sycophant andbootlicker” who would serve “any Roman he thought would win.”Both Antipater and Hyrcanus were granted places in the new Romangovernment structure. Hyrcanus is often depicted as serving inAntipater’s shadow, while Antipater is shown as a clever politicianand formidable ruler. Together they provided needed assistance toJulius Caesar in his invasion of Egypt, and both were rewarded withRoman citizenship. Josephus writes that Antipater was treated asif he were king and “absolute lord” of the land (Wars 1:203-208).As reward for his loyalty to Julius Caesar, Antipater was able toappoint his son Herod as tetrarch over Galilee and his other sonPhasael over Jerusalem and Judea. Both sons were capable adminis-trators, but Herod soon outshone his older brother.

Rivals poisoned Antipater about 43 B.C. (by one source, it wasdone by loving family members while he was feasting with his con-

25

THE STORY

26


The Extent of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire

cubines), and his sons initially supported Cassius against MarkAntony and Octavian. However, similar to his father in playing thepolitical game, in 40 B.C. Herod visited Rome. While he was there,Mark Antony persuaded the Roman senate to confirm Herod asking over Palestine, which included Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Petrea,and Idumea (Wars 1:277-285). But it took another three years, to37 B.C., for Herod to secure his throne with Roman military back-ing (Wars 1:286-353). In 31 B.C., Octavian defeated the armies ofMark Antony and Cleopatra (the last of the Ptolemaic rulers ofEgypt), which removed both Herod’s chief enemy and his mostloyal ally from the picture. Herod quickly sailed to Rhodes andapproached Octavian, admitting he had supported the wrong manin Antony but promising his full support to Octavian. RecognizingHerod’s value to him, Octavian accepted Herod’s offer.

Early in his rule, Herod faced some opposition from membersof the Hasmonean family, who still enjoyed a measure of loyaltyamong the people, and Herod was forced to keep a watchful eye onremaining Hasmonean family members. Soon he arranged to havethe last of the Hasmonean officeholders, another Aristobulus,drowned in a swimming pool (Antiquities 15:50-61), a crime forwhich Herod was never punished. During the two decades from31 B.C. to 11 B.C., Herod’s reign over Judea was largely successful.He was an able, though ruthless, administrator, and he gave Romeno reason to regret their appointment of him as king of the Jews.He consistently upheld the interests of Rome at home and abroad,and he found no contradiction between Rome’s interests and thoseof his kingdom and subjects. Rome did not yet collect taxes directlyfrom the Jews in Herod’s kingdom, but Herod made generous giftsto Octavian and to various cities and officials throughout the empire.

Others called him Herod the Great, but Jews would never haveagreed. He was the archmurderer of his time, slaughtering 45 mem-bers of the Jewish Sanhedrin and reducing that once-independentjudicial body to little more than a rubber stamp. Josephus describesHerod’s personal and political atrocities in considerable detail (Antiq-uities 14:168-184,302,303,324-329). Octavian was famouslyreported as having said that he would rather have been Herod’s hog(hus) than his son (huios). Out of deference to Jewish dietary laws,

27

THE STORY

Herod would not kill his hogs. He later suffered a breach with Octa-vian. Herod also murdered several of his own wives, including hisfavorite wife, Mariamne, allegedly for committing adultery. Towardthe end of his rule, Herod even ordered some of his own sons exe-cuted—probably with good reason—for an alleged conspiracy tomurder him and usurp his throne.

Little wonder, then, that Herod reacted as the gospel ofMatthew reports he did against what he viewed as yet another threatto his rule—this time from an unknown but prophesied king to beborn in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-12). His subsequent slaughter ofthe baby boys in Bethlehem was not preserved by Josephus or anyother nonbiblical author, so some secular historians question the reli-ability of Matthew’s account. Yet, given the many cruel acts Herodinflicted on his enemies and even his own family members, it is rea-sonable to conclude that he would have lost little sleep over murder-ing a few babies in Bethlehem.

Herod is still renowned for his many impressive building proj-ects, including construction of a new city and seaport at Caesarea,construction of administrative palaces at Herodium and Cypros inthe Jordan Valley, refurbishment of the military fortress at Masada,reconstruction of the old city of Samaria into Sebaste, and—thecrown jewel of all his building projects—the expansion and adorn-ment of the temple in Jerusalem. It had been almost five hundredyears since returning exiles from Babylon had rebuilt Solomon’stemple. Herod built an enormous platform and enclosure, and thenhe constructed a configuration of courtyards and colonnades sur-rounding the main temple area. The entire complex is still oftencalled Herod’s temple because, for all practical purposes, he formedan entirely new structure around the existing temple. Throughoutthis long construction period, the temple was remodeled only by sec-tion and never closed to worshipers (Antiquities 15:380-425). Heroderected other temples or public buildings in Athens, Sparta, Rhodes,and throughout great cities of the Greek world.

As he grew older, Herod became alarmed that no one wouldmourn his death. This led him to give orders that other distin-guished men should be killed at the time of his death so that dis-plays of grief would take place. Mercifully, these executions were

28


never carried out (Antiquities 17:168-181), and Herod died in thefortress he built at Herodium. He died in 4 B.C., in great physicalagony and with no love from family or nation (Antiquities 15:218-266; 17:146-167).

Following his death, several of Herod’s sons journeyed to Rometo claim his throne, but another delegation from Palestine alsoappeared before Augustus to plead for direct Roman rule. Romeselected Herod’s son Archaelaus as ethnarch to govern Judea, madeArchaelaus’ half-brother Herod Antipas governor of Galilee andPerea, and installed yet another half-brother Philip as tetrarchover territories north and east of Galilee. All three owed alle -giance to Octavian and his wife, Livia, (Wars 2:93-100; Antiquities17:317-321). By A.D. 6, however, Rome banished Archaelaus formisrule and made Judea a Roman province. Then Rome initiated acensus on Judea for taxation purposes. It had not directly taxed theJews during Herod’s reign as client king, but after A.D. 6, Romeitself collected taxes in Judea, presumably putting a greater tax bur-den on the people. This provoked Jewish riots and an ongoing rev-olutionary movement against Rome.

It was this turn of events that put the ruling circumstances inplace that are evident during the lifetime of Jesus, especially at histrials. The Roman governor in Judea at that time was, of course, Pon-tius Pilate, but members of Herod’s family also possessed limitedjurisdiction over Galilee and areas east of the Jordan River. Reluc-tantly, Pilate began to hear testimony against Jesus, but at first men-tion of Jesus’ activity in Galilee, Pilate sought to shift responsibilityto Herod (Luke 23:6-12). Pilate’s effort failed, however, when Jesusrefused to answer any of Herod’s questions, and Herod, disap-pointed, sent him back to Pilate.

In all, 14 Roman administrators governed Judea—called prefects from A.D. 6 to 41 and procurators from A.D. 44 to 66.During the three-year interlude, 41-44, Herod Agrippa I ruled asking over the entire region. These prefects were loosely controlledby Roman legates from the province of Syria, and these prefectsand procurators maintained official residences at Caesarea onthe Mediterranean coast but often found it necessary to visitJerusalem during the Jews’ annual festivals because of the possibility

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THE STORY

Date Events Herods Governors Emperorsof Judea1

B.C.A.D.

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

100

Jesus Born 4 B.C. (?)

John the BaptistJesus’ MinistryPentecostPaul’s Conversion

Paul–1st Journey

2nd Journey

3rd JourneyArrest, Voyage to Rome, & Martyrdom

Destruction ofJerusalem

Herod the Great 37–4 B.C.

Archaelaus 4 B.C.–A.D. 6

Herod Antipas

4 B.C.–A.D. 39

Philip the Tetrarch

4 B.C.–A.D. 34

Herod Agrippa I

37–44

Herod Agrippa II

50–53

Coponius 6–9

Marcus Ambivius

9–12Annius Rufus

12–15Valerius Gratus

15–26

Pontius Pilate26–36

Marcellus 36–37Marullus 37–41

Cuspius Fadus44–46

Tiberius Alex.46–48

Cumanus 48–52Felix

52–60Festus 60–62Albinus62–64

Gessius Florus64–66

Augustus27 B.C.–A.D. 14

Tiberius 14–37

Caligula 37–41

Claudius 41–54

Nero 54–68

Galba, Otho, & Vitellius

68–69Vespasian

69–79Titus

79–81

Domitian 81–96

Nerva 96

Trajan 98–117

Bible Events and First-Century Rulers

30


of violence erupting. The Roman prefects and procurators seem tohave remained largely ignorant of local traditions and customs—something that the Herods at least could have been expectedto understand.

Pilate governed Judea for a decade, from A.D. 26 to 36. TheAlexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo quoted a letter from KingAgrippa I in which Agrippa described Pilate as harsh, greedy, andcruel (Legatio 38:302). Josephus recounts two episodes in whichPilate mishandled incidents of Jewish unrest. In the first, Pilatemoved his troops from Caesarea to winter quarters in Jerusalembut during the night brought into the city busts of the emperorattached to military standards, to which Jews objected as a violationof their law against making any graven images. When Pilate rejectedtheir pleas to have the images removed, Jewish protesters sur-rounded Pilate’s palace for five days and nights, then bared theirnecks and showed their willingness to die rather than transgresstheir religious laws. Pilate was forced to remove the images fromJerusalem (Antiquities 18:55-59; Wars 2:169-174).

In the second episode, Pilate spent money from the temple treas-ury to construct an aqueduct to bring water into Jerusalem. Althoughwater was used in connection with the many sacrifices performed atthe temple and although Sanhedrin leaders apparently granted Pilateat least some approval for the project, Jews again protested Pilate’saction. This time, however, Pilate ordered his soldiers to mingle amongthe protesting crowds; at his signal, soldiers clubbed and stabbed manyprotesters to death (Antiquities 18:60-62; Wars 2:175-177). Luke men-tions an incident in which Pilate mixed the blood of some Galileanswith their sacrifices (Luke 13:1), which may refer to this second inci-dent in Josephus or may refer to yet another act of blundered leader-ship by Pilate.

Historian Paul Maier has suggested that the Sanhedrin tookadvantage of these two bungled incidents to persuade Pilate toorder Jesus to be crucified, though Pilate had repeatedly insistedthat Jesus was innocent ( John 18:38–19:16). Although he retainedhis position over Judea for a decade, longer than almost any of theother Roman prefects and procurators assigned there, Pilate wasremoved from his post for the excessive cruelty he exercised in

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THE STORY

breaking up a seemingly harmless crowd in Samaritan territory(Antiquities 18:85-89).

As one reviews events that occurred during the IntertestamentalPeriod and the changes these events brought to Judea and surround-ing areas, one is reminded of Paul’s words in his letter to the Gala-tians: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son”(Galatians 4:4). No doubt Paul was referring to the expanding bodyof Old Testament prophecies that pointed ahead to Christ, but onecan also see how events that occurred from Malachi to Matthew hada profound effect on Jewish life and provided favorable circumstancesfor the launching of Christianity from Judea into the larger Mediter-ranean world.

Alexander’s conquests and the sweep of Greek language and ideasmeant that the many Jewish people who left Palestine and settled inother parts of the Mediterranean world could still read the HebrewScriptures—available in Greek translation. The Scriptures in Greek,regularly read in synagogues throughout the Mediterranean world,made the promises of the Messiah accessible, not only to those trans-planted Jews but also to the Gentiles. Some of these synagogues laterbecame natural starting points for Paul to bring the message thatIsrael’s Messiah had come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Finally,various groups that had developed in response to the challenge ofHellenism reacted in various ways to the teachings of Jesus, yet thesegroups all considered Jesus dangerous to their own interests.

Events that occurred between the Testaments also explain thepresence of the Romans in the land. Many Jews in Palestine saw theRomans as an unwanted, dreaded presence in their land, yet theRomans also provided certain benefits for Jews in Palestine and, later,for Christians in other parts of the Roman world. In particular, therule of Augustus inaugurated an age of widespread political peace,which made travel safe for the apostles. Paul himself was a Romancitizen, and on several occasions Paul appealed to the rights and ben-efits of Roman citizenship for his own protection.

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