Encountering the New Testament #3: Middle East in the Days of Jesus

This is the third article write-up in the new blog series Encountering the New Testament.

Chapter Summary

  1. The personal aim of the New Testament can be seen in how its 27 books consist of 24 personal letters and three personalised accounts of the life and work of Christ.
  2. Viewed north to south, Palestine consists of five regions:
    1. The coastal plains
    2. The foothills
    3. A central mountain range
    4. The wilderness & Jordan Valley
    5. The eastern mountain range
  3. Palestine had several administrative districts in Jesus’ day:
    1. Galilee
    2. Samaria
    3. Judea
    4. Philip’s territory
    5. the Decapolis
    6. Perea
  4. Herod’s descendants who ruled Palestine from 4 BC to AD 66 were Archelaus, Philip, Antipas, Herod Agrippa I, and Herod Agrippa II.
  5. Jerusalem was destroyed systematically by the Romans from AD 66 to 70.
  6. The Jews considered Jesus a threat because he made controversial claims about himself and took liberties with Jewish customs.
  7. The most significant unifying factors for the Jews were their relationship to God and their sense of uniqueness in world history.
  8. Other factors that unified the Jews were:
    1. the idea that God had placed them in Palestine forever
    2. the messianic fervour of the time
    3. the synagogue
    4. the Torah and tradition, which included Sabbath keeping and circumcision
    5. the temple
    6. the priesthood; and
    7. the festivals
  9. The best known religious group in Jesus’ day was the Pharisees, who had two major schools of thought:
    1. the followers of Hillel
    2. the followers of Shammai
  10. Other groups of this period include the Sadducees, the Essenes, the Zealots, the Samaritans, the Herodians, and the Am ha-Aretz.
  11. The Apocrypha includes more than a dozen non canonical books written between 200 BC and AD 100.
  12. Rabbinic materials were developed over a period of 600 years and were collected in the form of the Talmud, of which the Mishnah is the core.

Study Questions

1. What were the main theological beliefs of the Pharisees?

The main theological beliefs of the Pharisees were based on the Old Testament and their own oral traditions, both of which were considered of equal authority. They believed in God, angels and spirits, providence, prayer, the necessity of faith and good works, the last judgement, coming Messiah and immortality of the soul.

2. What factors unified Judaism in Jesus’ day?

Judaism was unified by their agreement that God had chosen them and made them unique amongst the nations of the world. Their destiny to be His people, living in the Promise Land of Israel. The Jews had a unique theological position of future saviour of the world (Messiah), and their religious teachings were very focused on everyday living, revolving around the synagogue, temple and festivals. Supporting their teachings and religious body of knowledge was the Torah, Sabbath and Levite priesthood. In the time of Jesus, it is also fair to state that the occupation by Rome also was a unifying factor for local Jews, although the priesthood maintained an unease truce with the ruling “Kings” that were appointed and sanctioned by the Roman empire.

3. What is the Apocrypha?

The apocrypha is the collection of Jewish writings written over a period of 300 years, beginning in 200 BC. In total there are 14 books although between the different groups within Judaism, there are some minor differences on which books are included. It was thought that the Essenes had their own secret records and stories – the Dead Sea Scrolls are thought to be one example of apocrypha.

4. Why did the Jewish War of AD 66-70 take place?

Tensions had been building in the Roman province of Palestine. Over the preceding 20 years, consecutive Roman rulers had created conditions where tensions were running high. The source of the problems stem from the religious differences between the Romans who were inherently polytheistic whereas the Jews were monotheistic. The demands of the Romans on the Jews in terms of making sacrifices to the Roman Emperor from the temple were difficult terms that if breached were tantamount to rebellion. The spark that lit the fire came with a synagogue was desecrated by some Greeks in early 66 AD. The riots that ensued spread to Jerusalem and then the Roman retaliation led to 3600 deaths. This was the last straw for the oppressed local population and over the next three years, the Jews fought a losing battle against the might of Rome.

5. Why was the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 significant for Christianity?

The destruction of Jerusalem was significant for Christianity because it weakened the central temple-based system of Judaism. Further, without a Jerusalem centre for Christianity, the teachings of Jesus could be taken to heart, without Jerusalem bias and indeed, the Gospel could more easily spread to Gentiles. These reasons also ignore the prophetic words of Jesus that the temple would be destroyed. In this way, the destruction helped to confirm the legitimacy of Jesus and His words of prophecy uttered some 40 year’s earlier.

6. What are the major geographical regions of Palestine?

The area of Palestine/today’s Israel is grouped into the following regions:

  1. The coastal plains
  2. The foothills
  3. A central mountain range
  4. The wilderness & Jordan Valley
  5. The eastern mountain range

7. Who were the Hasmoneans, and why were they important?

The Hasmonean dynasty refers to the family/dynasty who ruled Judea since the mid second century before Christ (140 ~ 116 BC) until 37 BC when the Herodian dynasty supplanted them. The founding member was Simon Maccabaeus and the foundations were sown two decades earlier in the Maccabean Revolt. The dynasty was able to withstand the invasion by the Roman Republic in 63 BC although the third generation of rulers – great-grandsons Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II became pawns in the proxy war between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. The Hasmonean dynasty provided a local leadership structure which the Romans exploited via the establishment of the Herodian dynasty as a successor state; Herod the Great tried to boost his legitimacy by marrying Mariamne, a Hasmonean princess.

The Hasmonean dynasty contributed two important things to the Jewish sense of nationalism and their religious scholarship. Indeed, a lot of the unrest and skirmishes throughout the first and second century could point back to the former dynasty as the root of their cause for independence. The two apocrypha books 1st and 2nd Maccabees were written during the early years of the Hasmonean dynasty. The Greek and Hellenisation effects that intertwined with the Hasmonean dynasty also saw the Septuagint written, and as part of that effort, the stable canon of the Old Testament locked down.

8. What were the strengths and weaknesses of Herod the Great?

Herod the Great is generally regarded as a cruel and rather mad; these attributes being character weaknesses. He reigned as tyrant client king over Judea, whilst submitting to the overall rule and will of the Roman Senate. the strengths he possessed included an upbringing in Judaism, and his acts to rebuild the temple and walls of Jerusalem. Whilst Herod identified himself as being a Jew publicly, the family decadence ultimately undermined this reputation. Even the interest and expense of building projects like the Temple Mount, Caesarea harbour and fortresses in Masada, Herodium and elsewhere was not necessarily a strength since the financing of these projects came from a heavy tax placed on the local population.

One of Herod’s weaknesses which the Bible makes reference to was his fear of being supplanted. In the early years of this rule, Herod was particularly vulnerable since the Roman civil war between Mark Antony and Ptolemy forced him to take sides. So, even long before the wise men presented themselves before him with the story of a newborn King of the Jews from Bethlehem, Herod was already concerned about challengers to his throne. According to the Bible, this triggered the Massacre of the Innocents, and in this way, Herod’s character weakness enables us to strengthen the historicity of the event.

9. How was the land of Palestine divided after Herod the Great, and what was the rule of his sons like?

When Herod the Great died, it was around 1 BC, although in our calendar system of dating, Jesus was born around 4 BC, and not in 1 BC/1 AD. The entire land within Herod’s jurisdiction was split into four:

  1. Archelaus – Judea
  2. Herod Antipas – Galilee & Peraea
  3. Philip – north & east of Jodran river
  4. Salome I – cities of Jabneh, Ashdod & Phasaelis

Archelaus had a reputation of being cruel; he had 3000 murdered in retaliation to accusations that his grief on the loss of his father was faked. Antipas had a dishonourable mention in the Bible as being the Herod who not only questioned Jesus before his crucifixion, but also had John the Baptist executed. Little is known about the rule of Philip although his marriage to one Salome is thought to be a possible form of marriage within the Herodian family…

10. What are the distinctive features of “apocalyptic” writings?

Apocalyptic writings describe or prophesy the future ending of the world. As prophetic visions of the future, examples from the Bible include Daniel (chapters 7 – 12), Ezekiel, Isaiah (40 -55), Haggai, Zechariah and the single New Testament writing of this style: Revelation.

As a genre of writing style, apocalyptic writing was popularised and developed during the period of the Hasmonean dynasty.