.jpg)
History of Israel from Babylonian Exile to the Roman Conquest (New Testament Background, part 2)
(a) From the Exile to Alexander the Great
Babylon was conquered by the Persians in 521 BCE, and thereafter Jews were permitted to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city. The temple was rebuilt from 520 to 515 BCE. Jerusalem was subject to the Persian satrap at Samaria, but later the Persian king permitted Nehemiah to become the satrap of the province of Jerusalem. Nehemiah completed the construction of the wall. Ezra came to the city in 400 BCE and introduced a new law, which had been authorized by the Persian state. This law was not identical with the Pentateuch. Jerusalem was also recognized as a temple state. Moreover, Greek influence increased during this period.
(b) Palestine under the Hellenistic Rulers
Palestine came under the rule of Alexander the Great after the battle at Issus in 333 BCE. Samaria resisted Alexander’s general, but they destroyed Samaria, and the expelled Jews rebuilt the city of Shechem, thus laying the foundation for the Samaritan schism. After Alexander’s death, Palestine came under the rule of the Ptolemies of Egypt as part of southern Syria, and later it fell under the rule of the Seleucid kings in 198 BCE. In this war, Jerusalem supported Seleucid king Antiochus III, and in turn, Antiochus renewed all the privileges of Jerusalem and granted new favors. Moreover, Palestine was not fully subject to the Ptolemies, and a large part of the country remained under princes, the temple, and the wealthy Thobiads of Transjordan (the Thobiads were a wealthy Hellenized Jewish family who had close associations with high priestly families in Jerusalem through marriage and financial transactions). Seleucid rule did not bring any basic change in this, but the power shifted from the Ptolemies party to the Seleucid party in Jerusalem. Greek cities were established in the east and west of Palestine during the time of Alexander, the Ptolemies, and the Seleucids. These Hellenized cities brought Hellenized elements into these regions.
(c) The Maccabean Revolt
The Seleucid party in Jerusalem was led by high priest Simon and the older sons of Tobiad Joseph. It is noticeable that the wealthy Hellenized Jews were behind when Antiochus guaranteed "the laws of the fathers." This circle of new religious groups must have had opposition from traditional groups who held to the old forms of religion and culture. This could have been one of the reasons behind the revolt. Moreover, the political fighting in leading high priestly families, the humiliation of the Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, and the spread of apocalypticism were other factors that prevailed before the revolt.
Onias III, who belonged to the Sadokite family, was the successor of high priest Simon after his death. He supported the pro-Egyptian party and the youngest son of Tobiad Joseph, and later he supported the older sons of Tobiad, who had connections with the pro-Seleucid Simon. The assassination of King Seleucus IV in 175 BCE gave the Tobiad and their Hellenistic party the opportunity to expel Onias and appoint his brother Jason as high priest. Jason purchased the office from Antiochus IV. Jason had permission from the king to Hellenize the Jewish state. After the expulsion of Jason, Menelaus became the high priest in 172 BCE with the support of the reformers. Menelaus also paid money to the king for the office. This corruption of the office became the cause of opposition from the pious Jews, the Hasidim, who formed a new political movement.
Returning after his campaign in Egypt in 163-168 BCE, Antiochus came to Jerusalem and took the temple finances. After the king left the city, the infuriated people, especially the traditional party, locked Menelaus and the partisans of the reform group. Humiliated by the Romans in Egypt, Antiochus captured Jerusalem and murdered or expelled the Jews, making Jerusalem a katoikia—a city in which soldiers, veterans, and other colonists formed a citizenry. Hellenistic gods were brought into the temple. In 167 BCE, Antiochus legitimized the new Hellenistic cult and prohibited the Jewish religious practices. He persecuted the faithful Jews. Many Jews and Hellenized Jewish aristocrats in Jerusalem compromised with this new Hellenistic cult, but another group of pious Jews fled to the mountains of Judea and started a guerrilla war under the Maccabees against Hellenism.
The guerrillas under Judas were successful in four years of war. Thus, the Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem persuaded Antiochus, and Antiochus repealed his edicts against the Jews. Judas conquered Jerusalem shortly after this. Antiochus died in 163 BCE, and his deputy Lysias was not able to intervene in Jerusalem because of succession problems in Antioch. Judas used this opportunity to consolidate his power. He made an agreement with the new king, and Jerusalem returned to the traditional Jewish cult. Menelaus was executed, and Alcimus, a Zadokite, became the high priest, but Judas did not recognize him because of his affinity with Hellenism.
Demetrius I, successor of Antiochus V, turned against Judas and supported Alcimus against him. At last, Judas died in a battle in 160 BCE. Afterward, the Syrian commander agreed to appoint Jonathan, Judas’ brother, as judge in the town of Michmash, with the condition of his non-interference in the affairs of Jerusalem. Thus, the Syrians became the rulers, but religious freedom was granted. Jonathan successfully used the internal difficulties of the Syrian empire to achieve political independence. He supported Alexander Balas in his attempt against King Demetrius I and received the office of high priesthood as a reward. Finally, Balas appointed Jonathan as governor of Judea.
(d) The Time of the Hasmoneans
Jonathan supported Diodotus Trypho in his attempt against Demetrius II to gain the throne for the son of Alexander Balas. In turn, Trypho confirmed Jonathan’s office and appointed his brother as strategos of the coastal district of Palestine. But Trypho captured and executed Simon, the brother of Jonathan. Simon made a treaty with Demetrius II against Trypho, where Demetrius II accepted Simon as an independent ruler. Simon conquered Jaffa and Gezer and established diplomatic ties with Rome and Sparta. Simon was confirmed as high priest by Jewish leaders.
Simon did not take the title of king, but his authority was based on military power, and he alone had the right to be clothed in purple and wear a gold buckle. Priests and others who disobeyed Simon were treated with severe punishment. Several Hasidim members, namely the Essenes and Pharisees, were not ready to accept Simon’s priesthood because he was not a Zadokite. Thus, the Essenes exiled to the desert on the shores of the Dead Sea.
Simon’s sons, Judas and John Hyrcanus, successfully prevented the attempt of Antiochus VII Sidetes, the Seleucid king, to capture Gezer and Jaffa. Ptolemy, Simon’s son-in-law, killed Simon, his wife, and two of his sons, but John Hyrcanus escaped. John was recognized as the successor of Simon. Meanwhile, Antiochus tried to capture Judea, but John made a settlement with Antiochus. Later, Antiochus was killed in a battle against the Parthians, which marked the end of Syrian interference in Judea.
John Hyrcanus conquered most of Palestine in the following decades. The rest of the area was conquered by Aristobulus and Alexander Janneus. The inhabitants of the conquered Greek cities were forced to accept Judaism, emigrate, or become subjects of Hasmonean rule. Although the process of Hellenization came to an end during their rule, Hellenistic elements and influences continuously existed there.
The Hasmoneans used religion as a tool to make all inhabitants of Judea loyal to Jerusalem, where the ruler was high priest. The religious policies of the Hasmoneans were not acceptable to many, especially the Pharisees, and this led to open conflict. The civil war, instigated by the Pharisees, started in 94 BCE and continued for six years. It ended with the intervention of Syrian king Demetrius III. Janneus had the final victory and crucified 800 leaders of the rebels. But the Pharisees became the ruling party during the reign of Janneus’ widow, Alexandra. After the death of Alexandra, her sons Hyrcanus and Aristobulus began fighting each other, and this internal struggle led them to approach Roman general Pompey, who finally conquered Jerusalem.
(e) The Jewish Diaspora
The Jewish Diaspora began with the Babylonian exile. Though Jews were permitted to return to Jerusalem, only a small portion of the Jews took this opportunity. Thus, a large number of Jews remained in Babylon. Jews lived in many cities of the East, such as Edessa, Nisibis, Adiabene, and Dura Europos. Seleucia on the Tigris and Babylon were the cities with large Jewish populations during the Hellenistic period. Hellenization also affected the diaspora Jews. Jews in Babylon had strong connections with Jews in Palestine. The Hillel school in Babylon had influence on Jews in Jerusalem. Rabbis of Jamnia accepted the Babylonian text of the Hebrew Bible in their attempt to reorganize Judaism after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Later, the Babylonian Talmud was accepted as authoritative.
There were large Jewish colonies in Egypt during the time of the Persians. A group of Jews came to Egypt after the conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon. Many Jews settled in Alexandria as early as the 3rd century BCE. The Alexandrian diaspora strengthened during the Ptolemaic period. Jews even came to Egypt during the time of the Seleucids, indicating that Jews in Egypt enjoyed favor throughout most of the Hellenistic period. Moreover, the language of the Alexandrian diaspora was Greek. The Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in Alexandria. Further, Jewish diaspora communities were found in Aegean islands such as Crete and Cyprus, Antioch, Apamea, Damascus, and many parts of Syria.
The diaspora in Asia Minor was significant. Antiochus III settled two thousand Jewish families in western Asia Minor. Jewish communities existed in all districts of southern and western Asia Minor at the beginning of the Roman period. Moreover, Jewish communities were found in Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, and Argos. Jewish communities were also found in Italy and Sicily in the west. Rome became the center of Jews in the imperial period, as evidenced by the discovery of thirteen synagogues in the city through excavation.
Jews in and outside of Palestine were affected by Hellenization. Jews in Palestine spoke Aramaic and kept Hebrew as a liturgical language, but Jews in the diaspora spoke Greek, except those in Babylon, who used Greek for liturgical functions and literature. The Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek. Koester says, "As Greek became the language of the Bible, of liturgy, preaching, and literature, so did Hellenistic concepts and ideas invade Jewish thinking and bring fundamental changes in the tradition and reception of Israel’s literary inheritance. Theological statements became philosophy." The Bible began to be interpreted allegorically, as it contained philosophical and religious insights, and the symbols were reinterpreted. Stoic formulations were used in the translated Jewish prayers. This Hellenization of the Old Testament was a starting point for Christian missionary activities later.
The Jews in the diaspora organized as Greek associations. These associations consisted of resident aliens who had permission to practice their religion and profession. Jews adhered to Greek and Roman laws in their legal and business contracts. Thus, diaspora Jews might have replaced the authority of the temple and its theocracy with Greek democratic principles. Though Jews in the diaspora paid their temple tax, the Jerusalem temple did not have authority over them.
The Jews could practice their religious customs when the authorities granted them certain privileges, such as the Sabbath, the right to assemble, and the right to send money to Jerusalem. However, Jews in the diaspora had full citizenship only in exceptional cases, and they were never officially exempted from participating in the public state cult, although they had the freedom to practice their religion. Authorities usually ignored Jews who failed to participate in such public practices of the state cult, except when there were anti-Jewish movements among the city's inhabitants.
Jews in the diaspora faced persecution and problems due to anti-Semitic actions. Anti-Judaism originated in the diaspora because of the coexistence of different cultural and religious traditions and the competition among these traditions. The anti-Jewish polemic accused Jews of their strange rites, such as circumcision, the Sabbath, and their refusal to worship idols. Two other factors contributed to the anti-Jewish movement: Jews insisted on their special rights, and the Hasmoneans forcefully converted many people to Judaism. Religious pluralism was one of the foundations of Hellenism, and Jews wanted to take advantage of this pluralism without fully practicing the city’s way of life. Thus, the situation of the Jews in the diaspora was precarious.