The Middle East In The Days Of Jesus

The Middle East in the 1The Middle East in the 1stst CenturyCentury

The Land of PalestineThe Land of Palestine

• Palestine: 45 miles wide 145 miles long

• Five geographical regions: coastal plans, foothills, hill country of Judea, Judean wilderness, Jordan valley.

• Roman administrative districts: Galilee, Samaria, Judea, Decapolis, Dead sea

Palestine’s role in world historyPalestine’s role in world history

History of Israel from 559 B.C. to History of Israel from 559 B.C. to 70 A.D.70 A.D.

• Cyrus the Persian (559 B.C)

• Rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple (515 B.C.)

• Jewish expectation during and after the rebuilding of the temple.

Cyrus the Great

Turning points from the Persians to Turning points from the Persians to the Greeksthe Greeks

• Battle of Thermopylae

• Philip of Macedon unites the Greek city-states

• “Once you have made the Persian subject to your rule, there is nothing left for you but to become a god.” Isocrates

• Philip was assassinated two years later.

• Philip is succeeded by his son Alexander


• Alexander the Great.• Born in 356 B.C.• Taught by Aristotle• Inspired by Achilles

(Illiad)• Ruled from 331-323 B.C.• Jews dispersed

throughout the world• Alexandria (important

Christian center in 2nd century A.D.)

Alexander the Great

Image from Alexander’s tomb

Results of Alexander’s conquestResults of Alexander’s conquest

• (1) Improved standard of living and an urban rather than rural focus.

• (2) Hellenization spread along with imperialism.– Major libraries were founded (Alexandria)– Major universities (Tarsus)– Greek dress (sometimes illicit) and entertainment.– Sports were worshiped and sacrifices were neglected.

• (3) Spread of Greek language (lingua franca) – Hebrew Bible is translated into Greek (LXX)

Alexander’s generals:Alexander’s generals:

• Antigonus Cyclops: Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine

• Ptolemy: Egypt and North Africa

• Seleucus Nicator: Mesopotamia and eastward to India


• Antigonus lost power to Seleucus and this brought about two major powers at the time with only a small piece of land separating them…Palestine.

• Eventually Antiochus III defeated his Ptolemaic rival (198 B.C.) who was defeated by Scipio of Rome. Thus the territory passed into Roman control.


• The Romans allowed Antiochus IV Epiphanes to rule the now conquered Seleucid Empire in 175 B.C.

• Antiochus believed in Hellenization.

• Conflict with pious Jews (Hasidim)

Antiochus IV Epiphanes, 175-164 BC

Antiochus IVAntiochus IV

• After a military campaign in Egypt a false rumor was spread that Antiochus was dead.

• There was public rejoicing in Jerusalem.• Angered Antiochus enters the Temple and

carries off millions of dollars worth of religious objects.

• He made Judaism illegal.• Renames the Temple for Zeus Olympius• Burns copies of the Torah and sacrifices a pig

on the altar in Jerusalem. • Abomination that causes Desolation (Dan 11:31)


• The Hasmonean Period (166-63 B.C.)

• Power shifted from Mattathias to his son Judas

• Judas is nicknamed (Maccabeus- the hammerer)

• Judas defeated the Syrians at Emmaus and Beth-Zur and rededicated the Temple in 164 B.C.

• This Date became known as the feast of dedication (aka Hanukkah).

• Judas was succeeded by his brother Jonathan

Mattathias kills the priest of Antiochus


• Jonathan took over the priesthood

• The Dead sea community went to Qumran

• Jonathan was betrayed and killed by the Syrian general Trypho

• Simon followed Jonathan and took the priesthood

• John Hyrcanus I followed after his Dad Simon

Qumran near the dead sea

John Hyrcanus I coin: half palm branch flanked by Hebrew inscription


• The next several years were marked by turbulence in Israel. Hyrcanus’ son Aristobulus took over briefly and was surpassed by his brother Alexander Jannaeus, who was a terrible leader who hacked off the Pharisees (a prominent political force of the day).

• After Alexander’s death, his wife Alexandra took over only to leave the empire to her two sons, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II. Aristobulus was able to wrestle his way to the leadership position; however, all of the political turmoil captured the attention of the Romans.

The Hasmonean DynastyThe Hasmonean DynastyMattathias

Judas Jonathan Simon

John Hyrcanus

Alexander Jannaeus Alexandra(Wife of A.J.)

Hyrcanus II Aristobulus II

Antigonus vs. Antipater

Mattathias

Judas Jonathan Simon

John Hyrcanus

Alexander Jannaeus Alexandra(Wife of A.J.)

Hyrcanus II Aristobulus II

Antigonus vs. Antipater

Herod the Great


• Roman general Pompey invades Jerusalem (63 B.C).

• Herod the Great becomes king: (37- 4 B.C.)

• Paranoid about potential coups

• Several of his sons and his wife Mariamne were executed.

Cesarean ruins built by Herod

Herod the Great

• Augustus remarked that he would rather be Herod’s pig (which a Jew would not kill) rather than his son (whom Herod would kill).

• Herod’s sons Archelaus, Philip and Antipas split the kingdom among themselves and ruled in the place of their father.

• Archelaus ruled over the area that included Bethlehem (Mt 2:22-23) and his territory was finally given to Agrippa I who divided out the rule to 6 procurators (Pontius Pilate was the fifth).


• Antipas beheaded John the Baptist; furthermore, Jesus appeared before him before he was crucified (Lk 23:6-12).

• Herod Agrippa I and II took over after this, and their rule is mentioned in Acts 12:21-23 and Acts 25:13-26:32.

• Unrest increased in Palestine until A.D. 70

Herodian DynastyHerodian DynastyHerod the Great(Palestine 37-4 B.C.)

Archelaus(Judea & Samaria)4 B.C.-A.D. 6

Aristobulus

AntipasGalilee & Perea4 B.C. – A.D. 39

Replaced by Roman Procurators

PilateA.D. 26-36

FelixA.D. 52-59

FestusA.D. 59-61

Herod Agrippa IA.D. 41-44

Herod Agrippa IIA.D. 49-92

philipPhilip(Outside Israel)4 B.C. –A.D. 34

Pilate’s blundersPilate’s blunders

• (1) He installed military standards and shields in Jerusalem with imperial images that broke the 2nd commandment.

• (2) took funds from the temple treasury to build an aqueduct.

• (3) He put down an uprising of Samaritans.

• (Josephus, Antiquities 18.3.1-2; 18.4.1-2)

After Felix and FestusAfter Felix and Festus

• Albinus (62-64 A.D.) and Gessius Florus (64-66 A.D.)

• Taxation increased and many farmers lost their land.

• Rich landlords hired employees for irregular work at low wages.

• Indebtedness created foreclosures and jail in some cases in the debtors prison.


• A.D. 70 Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed.

• Jewish fortress Masada fell in A.D. 73

Jerusalem set on fire by Titus

JudaismJudaism

SourcesSources

• Josephus

• Apocrypha

• Pseudepigrapha

• Rabbinic literature

MishnahMishnah

• A collection of the oral Jewish laws that circulated over the centuries.

• Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi (A.D. 200)• Major divisions

– Zeraim (seeds)– Moed (set feasts)– Nashim (women)– Nezikin (damages)– Kodashim (hallowed things)– Tohoroth (cleannesses)

• Supplementary tractates add later = Tosefta (addition)

Forms of oral traditionForms of oral tradition

• halakah (legal material)• haggadah (story or narrative)• Additional commentary was latter added to the

Mishnah and the Tosefta called Gemara (completion).

• All of this material was codified in the 4th century A.D. It became known as the Talmud (studying)

• Two sets of the Talmud (Palestinian and Babylonian)

Midrash (searching out)Midrash (searching out)

• Jewish commentaries on the Old Testament.

TargumsTargums

• Comes from an Akkadian word for “interpretation”.

• Written in Aramaic

• Paraphrases of the Old Testament with additional commentary.

DSSDSS

• Date between 200 B.C. and A.D. 70

• Ancient Hebrew copies of the Bible

• Probably associated with the Essenes

General characteristics of pre-A.D. General characteristics of pre-A.D. 70 Judaism70 Judaism

• (1) an interest in angelology and demonology (probably due to Persian influence)

• (2) Personification of wisdom with quasi-divine qualities• (3) increasingly positive view of human nature that was dominated

by two natures, one good and one bad.• (4) Prayer and good works were seen as a substitute for animal

sacrifice.• (5) Massive interest in apocalyptic literature• (6) Synagogue Worship (it also functioned as a court to solve civic

disputes for the Jews)• (7) Scribes took on a prominent role in society (most of which

were Pharisees)• (8) Sanhedrin was the Jewish supreme court. (composed of 71

members led by the High Priest.)• (9) Judaism became a religious option for the Gentiles.

3 badges and 3 symbols that said 3 badges and 3 symbols that said you were a Jew.you were a Jew.

• Badges:– Upheld dietary laws– Observed Sabbath– Circumcised

• Symbols:– Temple (political, religious, and economic)– Land– Torah

Major Annual Jewish FestivalsMajor Annual Jewish FestivalsRosh Hashanah(New Year)

1 Tishri(Sept-Oct)

Yom Kippur(Day of Atonement)

10 Tishri(Sept- Oct

Sukkoth(Tabernacles)

15-22 Tishri(Sept-Oct)

Hanukkah(Dedication)

25 Chislev(Nov-Dec)

Purim 14 Adar(Feb-Mar)

Pesach(Passover & Unleavened Bread)

14 Nisan15-21 Nisan(Mar- Apr)

Pentecost 6 Sivan(May-Jun)

Jewish SectsJewish Sects• Pharisees: separated ones; influential in John

Hyrcanus’ day; 2 schools of interp (1) Hillel, (2) Shammai; legalistic; believed in angels, spirits, life after death, the Messiah, and immortality of the soul.

• Sadducees: priestly aristocracy; liberal

• Essenes: anti-temple and anti-priesthood

• Zealots: used violence to achieve agenda

• Herodians: political party

• Therapeutae: contemplative mystics

• Am ha-Aretz: “people of the land”

• Samaritans: half-breed Jews; had their own temple

The Middle East In The Days Of Jesus

Education

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