The Jewish World
Why study the Jewish World of Jesus' day? Because Jesus was born into a Jewish family and lived his life mainly among Jews--plus the faith of the NT (Christianity) is rooted in the Jewish faith--therefore, knowledge of the Old Testament and the Jewish world of the first century is vital to understanding the NT.
Contents
- Old Testament history
- Jewish history between the OT and the NT (known as the Intertestamental Period)
- Jewish history during the NT Period
- Critical thinking: Jesus lived at the perfect time: He could not have been born 50 years later
- 4 different Jewish religious groups
1. Old Testament (OT) History
If you want to read an overview of the history of the OT: click here. Do not be overwhelmed: just scan over it: the parts you need to know for this course are underlined and in boldface.
The OT faith included:
- Two Cornerstones: the Covenant with Abraham and the Law with Moses. [We will discuss this more once we get to Paul's theology.]
- Physical structures: The Tabernacle and the Temples (there were two)
- Synagogues
The Covenant: around 1950 BC; established the People of God
God and Abraham entered into a covenant that created the People of God, known as the Jews in the OT. You can read the Covenant here in verses 1-11.
A covenant, like any contract, is between two parties. In this case, the following promises were made:
- God:
- Will make Abraham’s descendants into a large nation.
- Will give Abraham’s descendants the land where Abraham lived to be theirs forever (today called Israel).
- Abraham:
- all male descendants will be circumcised at 8 days of age.
This Covenant is the basis of Judaism, also known as the OT faith. Jesus, as a Jew, was circumcised at 8 days of age. Please note that Jews use the OT as their holy book, although they do not call it the Old Testament. Instead, Jews call it the Tanak or Tanakh.
The Law: either 1450 BC or 1250 BC (scholars have divided opinions); told the People of God how to live.
The OT story link described how the Jews escaped from Egypt and began to cross the desert: at that point, God gave them the Law (through Moses). In this way, God told the Jews how to live and “run” their Jewish faith. In the OT, this is found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. You can think of the Law as a nation-building tool for the Jews. They escaped from Egypt but had no rules to govern themselves or even instructions on how to please God. God put all those rules and instructions into the Law.
Many people think the Law only contains the 10 Commandments, but, in addition to the 10 Commandments, it also contained the following:
- When to sacrifice
- What to sacrifice
- How to build the Tabernacle
- Describes the different religious festivals (but not Hanukah; more on that below)
- Which foods to eat
- How to live together and treat each other
- Plus much, much more: 613 laws in all!
The Covenant and the Law
Put these two together, and you have the complete Jewish religious system as found in the OT and used up to the days of Jesus (and used by Jews today). You can think of these two parts this way:
- Covenant: established the people of God (this means it started the People of God, or the Jews of the Old Testament, and described who they were, God's people)
- Law: told the People of God how to live
Please note: This becomes the basis of the Christian faith. (Much more on this in the discussion of the book of Acts and Paul's theology.)
The Tabernacle
In the Law of Moses, God told the Jews to build a large tent called a Tabernacle, where the priests could offer sacrifices. As they traveled through the desert, they set it up each time they camped and packed it up when they moved. After they conquered Israel, they set up the Tabernacle in Shiloh. Once the First Temple was built (around 950 BC), they no longer used the Tabernacle. It was moved several times, but, after the time of Solomon, no one knows what happened to it. This is just a guess, but since the Temple took the place of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle most likely fell in disrepair and eventually was forgotten and its parts used for other purposes. For a picture of a life-size model of the Tabernacle and the fence, go here.
The Temples
This gets a little bit confusing because there were two different Temples at the same spot at two different times.
- The first Temple was built around 950 BC when Solomon was king, and it replaced the Tabernacle. It is known as the First Temple, and it was destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians when they took most of the Jews back to Babylonia as captives.
- A replacement Temple was completed around 519 BC after the Jews were allowed to return home by the Persians. It is known as the Second Temple; this is the Temple that Jesus visited. It was destroyed in AD 70 by the Romans and has not been rebuilt. You can see a picture of a model that is in Jerusalem here.
Synagogues
Remember back to the OT story: The Babylonians defeated the southern kingdom of Judah in 586 BC, and the First Temple was destroyed. Most of the Jews were taken to Babylonia to live as prisoners. While there, the Jews wanted to continue to worship God, but they had a problem: the Temple had been destroyed. Therefore, they decided to develop alternative places to worship: Synagogues. Synagogues can be compared with churches in that there was not one synagogue but many synagogues.
This worked so well for the Jews that, after they returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple in 519 BC, they also continued meeting in synagogues. By the time of Jesus, the Jews worshipped in the Temple (which was the Second Temple) or in synagogues. But they only offered sacrifices in the Temple.
2. Jewish History between the OT and NT
Timeline (all dates are approximate)
- 540 BC: The Persians controlled the land of Isreal.
- 323 BC: Alexander the Great died. He conquered Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, Israel, Egypt, and as far east as present-day Pakistan.
- 323 BC: Alexander’s empire was divided amongst his generals; Egypt took control of Israel.
- 200 BC: The Seleucid Empire took control of Israel from Egypt. This empire was based in present-day Iran.
- 167 BC: The Jews rebelled against the Seleucids and regained parts of Israel, including Jerusalem. The Jews gained more land over the next fifty years and formed the kingdom of Israel. They controlled the land for a little over 100 years.
- 63 BC: The Roman Empire took over Israel. No battles were fought. The Roman Empire dominated the region, and the Jews simply surrendered.
- 40 BC: The Roman Empire made Herod the Great king of Israel. He was neither a real Jew nor a real king.
- Not a real Jew: His family were Idumeans who lived south of Israel. (This is the same as Edom mentioned in the OT.) As a group, they converted to Judaism 100 years earlier either by being forced by the Jews (who were powerful then) or for political reasons.
- Not a real king: Herod’s father, Antipater, with 3000 soldiers under his command, rescued Julius Caesar while fighting a battle in Egypt. Caesar was surrounded, and Antipater saved him. Caesar made him a citizen of Rome. In 40 BC, the Romans made his son, Herod, king of Israel. This is the same Herod who tried to kill the baby Jesus.
- 4 BC: Herod the Great died.
3. Jewish (History during the NT period)
Timeline
- 4 BC: Herod the Great died. The kingdom of the Jews was divided and given to Herod’s three sons:
- The northern region, north of Nazareth, went to Herod Philip.
- The middle region, north of Jerusalem but where Nazareth was located, went to Herod Agrippa.
- The southern region, where Jerusalem and Bethlehem were located, went to Herod Archelaus.
- Remember from the lesson about Pax Romana that some of the Jews were happy the Romans were in control because of Pax Romana. Other Jews didn’t care about Pax Romana but instead were more concerned with the promises of the Covenant, especially the part about the Jews controlling the land forever. Therefore, some of the Jews began to wait for God to raise up a military leader, like Moses or David, to lead them in battle against the Romans and regain the land.
- AD 6: Archelaus was removed due to complaints from the Jews: he was cruel (he killed over 3000 Jews) and entered into a marriage that went against the Law of Moses. He was sent to France and died in AD 18.
- From AD 6 until after Jesus: The Romans did not choose another of Herod’s descendants to control southern Jerusalem but instead sent Roman governors.
- 26-36 (Jesus ministered for 3 years within this period): The Roman governor in charge of southern Israel was Pilate.
- 66: Some of the Jews attempted to end Roman rule by killing many Roman soldiers. The Jews fought other battles and took back the land of Israel. For in-depth information, go here.
- 66-70: The Romans counter-attacked. The Romans lost one battle but won the war.
- 70: The Romans captured Jerusalem. They then sacked the city and burnt the Second Temple. It has not been rebuilt.
4. Critical thinking: Jesus lived at the perfect time: He could not have been born 50 years later
The last date on the timeline, 70, indicates that Israel was under hostile occupation by the Romans. Therefore, if Jesus had lived 50 years later, he would have been thirty years old in the year 80, when Israel was still under Roman “martial law,” and he would not have been able to travel around freely and gain followers.
5. 4 Different Jewish Religious Groups mentioned in the New Testament
- Pharisees
- Sadducees
- Herodians
- Zealots
The simplest way to divide these four groups is into two categories: what did they think about the Romans, and what did they think about new ideas that developed in the period between the OT and Jesus?
| Jewish Group | Liked Romans? | Liked new ideas? |
|---|---|---|
| Pharisees | no | yes |
| Sadducees | yes | no |
| Herodians | yes | * |
| Zealots | no | * |
* = These groups didn't care about the new ideas
Liked Romans?
Remember back to the discussion of Pax Romana. Some of the people the Romans conquered wanted the Romans to be in charge because they ended wars, brought peace, and made travel and commerce much easier. Within Judaism, the Sadducees and the Herodians wanted the Romans to be in charge. Both those groups peacefully accept the Romans because the Romans brought Pax Romana.
On the other hand, the Pharisees did want to see the Covenant fulfilled and the land returned to the Jews, and so did not want the Romans to be in control.
Also, the Zealots hated the Romans. They were enthusiastic and zealous for the land God promised them in the Covenant; they were extreme Jewish nationalists. Some scholars believe the Zealots led the revolt against the Romans in 66 and led the subsequent battles with the Romans until the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70.
- One of Jesus’ followers was a Zealot: Simon the Zealot, listed in Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13.
- A smaller group of Zealots were the Sicarii. They were known as assassins and mainly targeted Jews who worked for the Romans, such as Jewish tax collectors.
- Judas, the Apostle who betrayed Jesus, might have been a Sicarii. Judas was also known as Judas Iscariot, and some scholars believe that "Iscariot" is a form of "Sicarii":
- S i c a r i i
- I s c a r i o t
Like New Ideas?
Around 450 years exists between the last book of the OT (Malachi) and Jesus. During that period, different ideas developed within Judaism. Some Jews accepted them, and others did not. The Herodians were more interested in the Romans remaining in power. The Zealots, on the other hand, were more interested in getting the land of Israel back from the Romans. Therefore, neither group was concerned about the new ideas. But the Pharisees and the Sadducees were very interested in the religious aspect of Judaism.
For example, the OT does not clearly indicate what happens to someone after they die. During the Intertestamental period (the period between the OT and NT), the idea developed that people can go to heaven and live with God. [Note: Jesus taught this, and so it is true.] The Pharisees accepted new ideas and, so. accepted this idea. The Sadducees only accepting the authority of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT that contained the Law of Moses) and so did not accept this idea because the Pentateuch does not teach about life after death. You can see an example of this in one conversation between Jesus and some Sadducees in Luke 20:27: “Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question.”
Questions with answers
Timeline
| Year | Event |
| 63 B.C. | Romans conquer Israel. |
| 27 B.C. | Pax Romana began and lasted until 180. |
| All dates after this are A.D. ["c." means "about"] | |
| 64 | Fire in Rome and Christians persecuted by Emperor Nero; Peter crucified upside down and Paul beheaded. |
| 66 | The Jews in Israel rebelled against the Romans and won |
| 70 | Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by Romans (it has not been rebuilt). |
| 95 | Persecution by Emperor Domitian; Apostle John exiled on the island of Patmos, where he wrote Revelation. |
| 96 | Emperor Domitian died; Apostle John probably moved to Ephesus. |
| c.100 | Apostle John died; he was the last Apostle to die. |
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