Introduction:
There
was a rebuilding of the Jerusalem
temple in Jewish history and this is known as the Second Temple Judaism or Period.
This period range from between 857 BCE to 70 AD.[1]
During this period the Jews were under different rulers and they had undergone
some good and bad experience under these rulers. Moreover, the Jewish
literature during this period has a great role in the history of literature. We
will look at the history of the Jews and their literature during the second
temple Judaism/ Period in the following.
1.
Jewish History of the Second Temple Judaism/ Period:
The history of
the Jews during the second temple Judaism or Period will be discussed under
various rulers. Under the rulers like the Persians, the Greeks, the Hasmoneans,
the Romans, the Jews were facing some good experience and at the same time hard
and bad experience as well. We will look at the history of the Jews under these
different rulers.
1.1.
The Jews under the Persian Rule:
After
the deportation of the Jews, the life of the Jews was a difficult one because
the wrecked houses had to be laboriously built, fields ruined by the ravages of
war had to be recultivated.[2] In
the seventh month after their return, the Jews began rebuilding the temple
which was completely destroyed by the Babylonians. Their determination to
preserve the purity of their race and religion created difficulties for them
with their neighbours, the Samaritans, Arabians, Ammonites, and others. This
resulted in opposition to the building of the temple and thus the building of
the temple halted in 537 B.C.E. The Jews spent the next 15 years in
agricultural efforts and in the rebuilding of their homes.[3]
The great religious enthusiasm that the repatriates had upon their first return
to Judea began to wane. God then caused two prophets, Haggai & Zechariah to
prophesy and galvanize the people into action, arousing from their sinful
lethargy and indifference.[4] It
was some 18 years later, the second year of Darius (522-486 BCE) that the
effort to build the temple resumed (Ezra 5:1-6:15). The leaders of the
rebuilding efforts were Zerubbabel the civil leader, and Joshua the high
priest. The book of Ezra relates that the temple was completed in the sixth
year of King Darius, thus inaugurating the era known as the second temple
period.[5]
1.2.
The Jews under the Hellenistic Period:
In
333 BCE Alexander led a Greek army against the Persian Empire and defeated king
Darius III at Issus. He defeated King Darius for a final time at Gaugamela in
330 BCE and took over the vast empire. This period is the time when aspects of
Greek culture and knowledge of the Greek language became widespread and dominant.
The new cultural and political reality left a heavy imprint on Jewish history
for the next several centuries.[6]
After the dead of Alexander in 323 BCE, his empire was divided among his
successor. One of these, named Seleucus, governed Asia Minor and Syria.
Another, named Ptolemy, governed Egypt. The Jews enjoyed the same rights of
autonomy which they had under the
Persians and were allowed to live in peace and practice their religious and
cultural traditions. The government concerned itself only with the collection
of taxes and did not interfere in internal affairs. The high priests were
permitted to administer local affairs as they had done under the Persian rule.[7]
One Seleucid ruler Antiochus III was liked very much by the Jews because they
enjoyed many privileges and favors which included the free exercise of their
faith with its customs and freedom from taxes. Antiochus III prevailed upon
thousands of Jews to settle in the cities built by him.[8]
The Jews under Antiochus IV again faced hard and difficult times again. Heavy
tax burdens were placed on the Jews, thousands of citizens were killed, women
and children were sold as slaves. Indecent orgies polluted the sacred courts of
the temple, profane foreign cults were substituted for the time honored temple
ritual. This outrages the religious sensibilities of the Jews. A spirit of
heroism seized many Jews. They preferred to be killed rather than betray their
faith and violate their conscience.[9]
The Jews experienced some good experience and even experienced difficult times
during the Hellenistic rule.
1.3. The Hasmonean Rule:
After
the death of Simon, his son John Hyrcanus became the Jewish leader. He was a
cruel and self centered leader who became aligned with wealthy Jews and he died
in 106 BCE. The reign of Alexandra was one that promoted peace and prosperity.
She was the first woman to rule over the Jews after her husband Alexander
Jannaeus died. She was able to restore peace and the Jewish ceremonies which
had been neglected were restored, compulsory education for all Jewish children.
She ruled for 9 years with great success and earned the love and affection of
her subjects.[10]
The impact of Hasmonean rule in Palestine transcends the brief period of Jewish
independence, and its social, cultural and religious consequences were of
primary importance. While the territorial conquests were torn away from Judea
by the Romans, the dominant ethnic and cultural community of the land remained
the Jews people, and this was destined to be the case for at least two more
centuries.[11]
During the course of more than a century, the Hasmonean played a central role
in the life of the Jews and of Judaism. It was the courage of Judas Maccabees
and his companions that saved monotheism for Judaism and for humanity. The development
of distinct Jewish groups, or Judaism, in the second temple period occured
partly in response to some of the later Hasmoneans.[12]
1.4. The Roman Rule: The Roman period
of Jewish history begins with 63 BCE. The history of Jews under Rome may be divided
into five parts: (i) The Idumean dynasty, (ii) the first procurators, (iii) the
reign of Agrippa I, (iv) the later procurators, and (v) the Jewish revolt.[13]
At the time of Idumean dynasty the
Jews were granted many privileges. The Jews had some good and bad experience under
Herod. He did many services for the Jews. He remitted taxes during the times of
famine, his building projects brought prestige and employment, the new temple
became a major site of pilgrimage, he lived as a Jew and defended Jewish
worship outside Palestine. The economic situation he created in Judea during
his reign was beneficial to Jews as a whole. [14]
He gave the Jews a strong and efficient administration. Many new buildings were
constructed and others were rebuilt. However, the last 10 years of his reign
saw cruelty and hatred. One such cruelty was the killing of innocent babes at
Bethlehem.[15]After
the death of Herod, his kingdom was divided among his three sons under whom the
Jews had tough times. The condition of the Jews during the time of the procurators and Agrippa had some ups and downs but when it comes to the second
series of procurators, there were turmoil and stress.[16] There
was a gruesome massacre of the Jews who rioted because a Roman soldier had
defiled the temple. From AD 44-66, the Jews were in a perpetual state of rage
and were preparing themselves for a great conflict with Rome. The Jewish Revolt against Rome broke out
where the Romans sent Vespasian to crush the rebellion in Judah. Within a year
most of the strongholds of Palestine had fallen. After five months Jerusalem
fell, the temple and the city were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of Jews
were either killed or made prisoners.[17]
2.
Literature of the Second Temple Judaism/ Period
Jewish
literature plays a significant role to understand the New Testament. Through
this literature we come to know about the society, culture, which helps in the
reading of the New Testament. We will look at some of the literature which were
written and used during the Second Temple Period.
2.1. Apocrypha: The term Apocrypha is applied to a set of writings which are in
the Catholic canon but not in the Jewish or Protestant canons.[18]
The Apocrypha has two senses that can be distinguished. Firstly, Under the
Catholic Deuterocanonical Books, there are books which include: Tobit, Judith
(comes after Nehemiah), 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees (comes after Esther), Wisdom
(comes after Song of Solomon), Ecclesiasticus or Sirach (comes after Wisdom),
Baruch (comes after Lamentation). In addition to these 7 books another 6
additional sections of Esther scattered throughout the Catholic Old Testament
and 3 extra compositions of Daniel: The Prayer of Azariah and the Song of Three
Young Men, and Bel and the Dragon.[19]
Secondly, there are some works which are in Greek Bibles but not in the Hebrew
Bible. They are 3-4 Macabees, 1 Esdras, Psalms of Solomon, Odes (collection of
hymns drawn mostly from the Bible).[20] They
cover the period from 300 BCE- 100 BCE.[21]
2.2.
Pseudepigrapha: These writings originated between 200
BCE and 200 AD. Catholic refer to these books as apocrypha and the the Jews
& Protestants refer to them as pseudepigrapha.[22]
Pseudepigrapha literally means bearing false inscription. Gowan defines
Pseudepigrapha as ‘Jewish religious writings dating between 200 BCE and 150 AD
which were excluded from both Hebrew and Christian Canons’.[23] Prof.Torrey
objected the use of terms ‘apocryphal’ & ‘pseudepigrapha’ and proposed ‘the
outside books’. There has been a set of
Jewish texts that people have regarded as the Pseudepigrapha. These are the
texts included in the great collection compiled by R.H.Charles. His collection
includes the following: books that are ascribed to the Apocalypses includes 1
Enoch, The Testaments of the XII Patriarchs, The Sibylline Oracles, The
Assumption of Moses, 2 Enoch, 2 Baruch, 3 Baruch, 4 Ezra. Besides apocalypses
there are books ascribed to famous Biblical characters and thus labelled as
“legendary”. The following books are included in this category- The Book of
Jubilees, The letter of Aristeas, The Books of Adam and Eve, The Martyrdom of
Isaiah. There were also the books called The Psalms of Solomon, 4 Macabees,
Pirke Aboth, The Story of Ahikar, The fragments of Zadokite work.[24]
2.3.
Dead Sea Scrolls: The term Dead Sea Scrolls is a
generic term for various documents found since 1947. There have been over
40,000 fragments found in 11 different caves between 200 BCE and 70 AD. The
Qumran manuscripts and materials are of leather, papyrus and copper.[25] It
is believed by the scholars that these scrolls have been written during the
Second Temple period. The scrolls written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic not only
gives us information about the Second Temple period but also have widen our
understanding of the period as a whole. Prior to the finding of the Dead Sea
scrolls no writings dating to the Second Temple period found in Israel.[26]
There are 11 caves out of which the caves richest in written material were cave
1, 4 and 11, with cave 1 over seventy manuscripts and caves 11 thirty one
texts. Cave 4 contained the largest number of texts but almost all are in a
rather poor state of preservation. Other caves contained fewer texts, with cave
9 holding only one small papyrus fragment and cave 10 a single jar fragment.[27]
Cave 1 has yielded 7 original manuscripts and 70 others fragments. The document
found were Book of Isaiah, Commentary on the Book of habakkuk, Rule of the
Community, Secterian collection of Psalms, war scroll. Other documents found
were Genesis, Apocalypse of Lamech, fragments of Old Testament books like
commentaries on Micah, Zephaniah and Psalms.[28]
Cave 4 has over 400 manuscripts out of which one-third are biblical. These
documents include all the canonical books except Esther. A large portion of
manuscripts from this cave was in Hebrew and Aramaic which belonged to
apocryphal and pseudepigraphal like Tobit, Jubilees, Psalms of Joshua, the
testament of Naphthali, sources of later testament of the twelve Patriarch and
Enoch. There were also documents on Rule of the Community, Damsacus Document. Cave
11 contains Psalm scroll which has many of 150 Psalms and Leviticus in Paleo
Hebrew Script and has about one sixth of the book.[29].
2.3.
Joshephus: Josephus received an excellent education
in traditional Jewish learning and at the tender age of 14, he was already
consulted by the chief priest and other leaders for interpretations of Jewish
law. He spent three years gaining firsthand experience of the three leading
sects of Jews- Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes. He also gained a good
knowledge of Greek literature.[30]
His fascinating literary output consists of four works: the Jewish War, the
Jewish Antiquities, the Life, and Against Apion.[31] Firstly, in the Jewish War literature,
Josephus first wrote the work in the native language of his country (Aramaic)
for the Jews of Mesopotamia and later translated into Greek. For his writings
he call on several sources like his experience, notes, reports, commentaries of
Vespasian and Titus. War begins with a survey covering Jewish history from the
time of the Meccabees revolt to the period before the war with Rome. There is
also a series of passages which Josephus indicates the tragedy of the revolt
came through the plan of God.[32] Secondly, in the Jewish Antiquities,
Josephus covers the history of his people from the very beginning to the eve of
the first revolt against the Romans. Some of his works includes story from the
rise of the Hasmoneans to the time of Antipater and his son Herod, history of
Roman rulers in Judea before the revolt, paragraph about Jesus.[33] Thirdly, the ‘Life” was written
primarily to give his version of what he did in Galilee at the very beginning
of the revolt. A few details about his life precede and follow this account.
His report about his activities in the ‘Life’ does not tally well with his
description of the same period in the war. Finally,
Against Apion is a defence of the Jews, their history and their theocratic
constitution. He responds to various charges against the Jews. He also opposed
several writers who had written negative accounts of the Exodus from
Egypt. ‘Against Apion’ also includes a description of the Mosaic
constitution.[34]
2.4.
Philo of Alexandria: Philo is an important witness of
Greek speaking Judaism in the Second Temple period. He was a member of most
prominent family of the Jewish community of Alexandria. As member of this
family, Philo received both Greek and a Jewish education.[35]
His many writings on the books of Moses are divided into 3 categories. The
first, Questions, contains questions
and answers that give the interpretation of the text. The second category is
called Allegorical Laws, where he
presents allegorical interpretations of passages from Genesis. The third
category is called Expositions where Philo offers a more systematic study of
the legislation and first organizes pentateucal law under the rubrics of the Ten
Commandments. He also present studies of the special laws in each heading.[36]
Another important work of Philo is on the Life
of Moses and On the Contemplative
Life. Philo considered the Law of Moses to be absolutely authoritative and
the repository of all wisdom, if one read it properly. Philo’s understanding of
the creation was dualistic one, divided into intelligible and sensible words.
His view of humans was similar which consist of soul and body.[37]
2.6.
Elephantine Papyri:
The
earliest Jewish text outside the Hebrew Bible comes from the island of
Elephantine in Egypt. The island is located opposite to the ancient city of
Syrene. There was a Jewish military colony who served the Persian
administration as guards. The Elephantine texts date from the fifth and early
fourth century BCE. The papyri from the Jewish military colony are written in
Aramaic. The major discoveries were made early in the 20th century
by German archaeological expedition (1906-1908) on the west side of the mound,
and French expedition (1906-1911) on the east side of the mound.[38]
The text can be divided into four groups as the Jedaniah Archive, the Mibtahiah
Archive, the Ananiah Archive, and the Miscellenous Contracts. Firstly, Jedaniah
Archive is one which gives materials about the group and its history. Secondly,
Mibtahiah Archive which contains 11 documents allows one to follow episodes in
the life of a well-to-do family for three generations. Thirdly, the 13 documents
of the Ananiah Archive fall between 456 and 402 BCE and are also legal in
character. Finally, Miscellenous Contracts contains 6 documents that spans
almost the entire fifth century BCE. Another discovery was a partial copy of
the work called Ahiqar which has traditionally been placed by scholars in the
category of pseudepigrapha. [39]
Conclusion:
The Jewish
history, throughout, is the period where the Jews were in the hands of foreign
rulers specially during the times of the Second Temple Judaism or Period. As
said earlier, the Jews were facing hard and difficult times under different
rulers such as the Persian, the Hellenistic, the Hasmoneans, and the Romans.
However, they also experienced good and pleasant times as well. Throughout the
history, specially during the second Temple Period, the Jews were under foreign
rules. The Jewish literature of the second Temple Judaism is very important in
understanding the events and history of the times. The Apocrypha and
Pseudepigrapha gives us wide knowledge of the New Testament background. Various
writings of the Second Temple like the Dead Sea Scrolls, the writings and works
of Josephus and Philo of Elexandria, and the Elephantine Papyri gives us a lot
of important and valuable documents in knowing and understanding the past
events. These literature gives us a wide knowledge on the history of the Jews
and their society. They also helps us in the study of the New Testament which
we should treasure it for many times to come.
--------------------------------------------------------
Bibliography:
Charlesworth, James H. “The New
Perspective on Second Temple Judaism and Christian
Origins.” In The
Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Vol 1. Edited by James H. Charlesworth. Texas:
Baylor University Press, 2006.
Evans, Craig A. and Stanley E. Porter, eds. Dictionary of New Testament
Backgroud.
Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2000.
Gowan, Donald E. Bridge Between the
Testaments: A Reappraisal of Judaism from the Exile
to the Birth of
Christianity. Pennsylvania: Pickwick: 1980.
Grabbe, Lester L. An Introduction to
First Century Judaism: Jewish Religion and History in
the Second
Temple Period. Edinburg: T & T Clark, 1996.
Stone, Michael E., ed. Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period.
Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1984.
Surburg, Raymond F. Introduction to the Intertestamental Period.
Missouri: Concordia
Publishing House, 1975.
VanderKam, James C. An Introduction to
Early Judaism. Michigan: William B. Eerdmans
Publishing
Company, 2001.
[1]
Lester L. Grabbe, An Introduction to
First Century Judaism: Jewish Religion and History in the Second Temple Period
(Edinburg: T & T Clark, 1996), 1.
[2] Raymond F. Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period (Missouri: Concordia
Publishing House, 1975), 12-13.
[5] James C.
VanderKam, An Introduction to Early
Judaism (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001), 2-3.
[7]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 22-23.
[8]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 27.
[9]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 30-31.
[10]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 42-43.
[11]
Michael E. Stone, ed., Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period
(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), 16.
[12]
Craig A. Evans and Stanley E.
Porter, eds., Dictionary of New Testament
Background (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 441.
[13]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 45.
[15]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 47.
[16]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 48-50.
[17]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 52.
[18]
Grabbe, An Introduction to First Century
Judaism, 24.
[21]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 92.
[22]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 124.
[23]
Donald E. Gowan, Bridge Between the
Testaments: A Reappraisal of Judaism from the Exile to the Birth of
Christianity ( Pennsylvania: Pickwick: 1980), 307.
[25]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 81.
[26]
James H. Charlesworth, “The New Perspective on Second Temple Judaism and
Christian Origins,” in The Bible and the
Dead Sea Scrolls, Vol 1, edited by James H. Charlesworth (Texas: Baylor
University Press, 2006), xxvii.
[28]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 81.
[29]
Surburg, Introduction to the Intertestamental Period, 82-83.
[30]
Evans and Porter, eds., Dictionary of New Testament Background,
590.
[35]
Evans and Porter, Dictionary of New
Testament Background, 789.
You meant 587 not 857 BCE in your opening paragraph
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