NT301/501 Content and Setting of the Gospel Tradition (Formerly D2041/3041 New Testament Survey A) Lesson One - BACKGROUND: HISTORY, CULTURE, POLITICS

Introduction

To understand the New Testament well a knowledge of the 'background' is essential. In the first lesson of this subject the 'background' issues of history, culture and politics will be addressed. Then, next lesson, we will consider something of the New Testament's geographical, literary and religious roots in Judaism.

History

Intertestamental Period

Alexander's Empire

Depending on your background, you may never have thought about the date of the last book we find in the Old Testament and its relation to the beginning of the New Testament. The period between the Old and New Testaments is commonly called the "Intertestamental Period". While this time may be represented in your Bible by one or two blank sheets of paper, in the progress of history it represents as much as 400 years.

However you look at it, 400 years is a long time for the Bible to be quiet - especially when it is in the middle of its own story! It is right back to around 1600 from our present time and one fifth of the way back to the days when Jesus walked on the earth! A lot could, and did, take place in those years.

It is not easy to condense that kind of history into a few paragraphs. In your notes here you will find an overview of this period but you must supplement it by reading the additional material provided on the CD and your textbooks.

I suggest that you construct a 'timeline' on which you include the significant historical dates and facts as a way of keeping information in sequence.

[Remember that dates before the time of Christ (B. C.) work back towards 0 ]!

It was in 538 B.C. that Emperor Cyrus of PERSIA opened the door for the return of the Jews from the Exile in Babylon. This is referred to in 2 Chronicles 36: 22-23 (= Ezra 1: 1-3a). The books of Ezra and Nehemiah (and their 'post-exilic' counterparts among the prophets - Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi) deal with the events immediately following this decree. This marks the end of the Old Testament story.

This Persian Empire lasted until 332 B.C. when it was defeated by Alexander the Great of GREECE. This was part of an 11 year empire building programme! In that short time the Greek Empire was extended all the way to the Indus River in modern day Pakistan.

Illustration : Alexander the Great

Map : Alexander's Empire

Source: Bible Map Transparencies, (set 2 - Palestine New Testament) Abingdon.

However, in 323 B.C. the great Alexander died, aged 32. His vast Empire began to crumble soon after his death. It was divided up among four of his generals with the two having relevance to New Testament history being Seleucus (who picked up Babylonia and into Syria to the north and east of Israel/Palestine*) and Ptolemy (who picked up Egypt to the south of Israel/Palestine). They and their descendants - the Seleucids and the Ptolemies - entered into a lengthy and continual power struggle for control over Israel/Palestine. The Seleucids tended to be intolerant towards any influence other than a Greek one, while the Ptolemies were more mild and tolerant of the people of Israel/Palestine pursuing their own cultural and religious expression.

* While most scholars of the Ancient Near East area and time, non-Jewish and Jewish alike, refer to the area we sometimes call the Holy Land as 'Palestine', there are some who find this term offensive. I will probably end up using both 'Palestine' and 'Israel' from time to time - and it is certainly not my intention to be offensive!

Map : The Kingdom of the Seleucids

Source: Interdisciplinary Atlas of the Bible, Giacomo Perego, Transl. by Stewart Foster (London; St Pauls Publishing, 1999) p65.

Until 198 BC the Jews were generally ruled by the Ptolemies of Egypt, but their defeat by the Seleucids of Syria (under Antiochus III) meant that Jerusalem and Judea were taken over by the Seleucids as part of their prize.

However, the Seleucid territories were vulnerable in the west from a growing Roman empire. An urgent need for money to pay reparations resulted from a defeat in battle by the Romans (Battle of Magnesia, 190 BC). This financial need was exploited by ambitious Jews who wanted to increase their power and influence.

Although the highest Jewish authority was traditionally the hereditary high priest (a descendant of the family of Zadok, the high priest in Solomon's temple) the Seleucids began to regard the high priesthood as a political office under their appointment. Jason (a Greek form of 'Joshua'), the brother of the high priest, Onias III, offered the Syrian Emperor, Antiochus IV a bribe to be made high priest in his brother's stead. This was accepted.

Photo : Coin of the coronation of Antiochus IV

Source: Interdisciplinary Atlas of the Bible, Giacomo Perego, Transl. by Stewart Foster (London; St Pauls Publishing, 1999) p69.

Jason wanted to turn Jerusalem into a Greek city - he was a Hellenizer. He built a gymnasium with an adjoining race track, where in Greek fashion the young men exercised in the nude. Unfortunately the symbol of circumcision became an embarrassment to some who then wanted to remove this surgically. Track races were opened with invocations to pagan deities (even attended by Jewish priests). Greek theatres were established, Greek dress adopted and Greek names given to children.

Unfortunately, once a precedent has been set it can be used again. In 171 BC Menelaus, not a member of the family of Zadok, offered a greater bribe to the Syrians, and as a result replaced Jason as high priest. Menelaus continued and extended the policy of hellenization which inevitably aroused opposition from many more orthodox Jews.

In 168 B.C., Antiochus IV (to which the the title "Epiphanes", which means "God manifest", had been added) attacked Egypt. He was defeated, but while the Syrians were occupied in battle followers of Jason took the opportunity to overthrow Menelaus. Antiochus IV saw this as rebellion against his rule and on his way home from Egypt he attacked Jerusalem - demolishing its walls, looting the Temple treasury and killing many Jewish people. He continued to enforce his rule by abolishing the Temple constitution, banning distinctive practices of the Jewish religion, enforcing heathen worship and assimilation: it became a capital offence to practise circumcision, observe Jewish festivals or posses copies of the Old Testament. Pagan sacrifices were made compulsory, an altar to the Greek god Zeus erected in the Temple, 'unclean' animals sacrificed on the altar and sacred prostitution carried out in the Temple precincts.

Maccabean Revolt

Many Jews refused to submit to these decrees and some were prepared to die for their faith. In 167 BC an elderly priest in the village of Modein, Mattathias, (of the Hasmonean family) refused to offer a pagan sacrifice and killed another Jew who did make such an offering and the royal agent who was present. Mattathias and his 5 sons and their families then fled to the mountains.

This revolt became a vigorous guerrilla war spread over a number of years (167 B.C. - 134 B.C.) and is now known as the Maccabean Rebellion. 'Maccabees' was a Greek name given to the family that was at the forefront of this revolt. Mattathias initiated the rebellion and then under the leadership of his sons Judas ("Maccabeus" a nickname meaning "the Hammer") and Simon, the Maccabeans eventually gained victory and independence for Judea.

This war was not simple - although a guerilla war against the Syrians, it also became a civil war between pro-hellenistic and anti-Hellenistic Jews. By 164 BC the Maccabees had regained religious freedom for the Jews, re-dedicated the Temple (now celebrated in Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights held near Christmas time), and expelled Syrian troops from the Jerusalem citadel.

Some of the Jews continued to fight on, believing that only full independence would guarantee their religious freedom and the fifth son of Mattathias, Simon, became the high priest, civil governor and military leader of Judea in 152 B.C. (Judas had died earlier) .

Simon was, however, murdered by his son-in-law. This opened the way up for his son, John Hyrcanus I, to establish himself as leader in 134 B.C. He, too, was high priest and head-of-state and under his leadership The Hasmonean Dynasty was formed. The Hasmoneans, using this model of high priest and political ruler being the same person, ruled for 100 years. Not since Solomon (some 800 years earlier) had the Jewish people known such independence and power.

Hasmonean Rule

During the reign of John Hyrcanus Judea's power increased and it overran Idumea, Samaria and part of Galilee. The Idumaeans, who were derived from the descendants of Esau, were forcibly converted and circumcised.

John Hyrcanus was succeeded as ruler by his sons Aristobulus I (104-103 BC) and Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BC), one of who took the title "King". Alexander Jannaeus lost the respect of many pious Jews as he aped the ways of minor Hellenistic rulers, exhausted the national wealth and only displayed interest in personal power and military conquest.

On the death of Alexander Jannaeus his wife, Salome Alexandra, became civil ruler (Her elder son, Hyrcanus II, an unambitious man, became high priest and her younger son, Aristobulus II, was given a military command). In Jewish literature the 9 years of her reign appear as a "golden age" but her death resulted in civil war between her 2 sons.

The increasing turbulence was exploited by others and in 63 B.C. ROME (by now the dominant power in the world) intervened. Pompey took possession of Jerusalem and Israel became a part of the Roman Empire.

Herod the Great

The dominant figure during this next era of Roman rule was undoubtedly Herod the Great who was king of Palestine from 37 B.C. - 4 B.C. He actually married a descendant of Hyrcanus! (he also divorced her when it was convenient). Herod is a fascinating man with a complicated history. Read the following extract from Russell

At his death, Palestine was divided with three of his sons getting an area to govern. We will return to these men later. It was during the reign of Herod the Great that Jesus was born.

CULTURE:

The Impact of Hellenism

Alexander the Great did not just set out to conquer the world. So convinced was he that the Greek (or 'Hellenistic' - the two words mean the same thing!) way of life represented the pinnacle of civilisation - no one could possibly do it better - that he sought to pass on a culture as well. In doing this he exerted a direct influence on the way people spoke and thought. He linked in with their hopes and fears, their aspirations and achievements in life - and reshaped them.

And it was this latter goal of passing on a way of life that became so significant. The Greek influence actually lingered on for 500 years after Alexander's empire began to disintegrate. In fact, historians consider that one of the major reasons why the Roman Empire achieved such a quick and stable unity was that most of the people they conquered already had a cultural unity (and anyone who didn't was a barbarian, by definition). The most obvious expression of this unity was seen in the fact that everyone in the Mediterranean world spoke Greek. So, even when Rome was in charge, Greek remained the lingua franca (the spoken, or common, language) of the people.

One person put it this way - "Greeks themselves captive took their victors captive".

We see the power of this Greek cultural influence when we realise that mighty Rome itself was not exempt from being Hellenised!

But what are some specific examples of this "Hellenising.?

I include on the next page an extract from the Apocrypha for you to read. The Apocrypha is a selection of twelve books that have not found their way into the Protestant Bible but which still deal with the fortunes of the Jewish people in biblical (and intertestamental) times. Included in it are two historical books called 1 and 2 Maccabees. They detail (and glorify!) the exploits of the Maccabean family.

Do you remember how Antiochus Epiphanes had this desire to thoroughly 'Hellenise' Israel/Palestine? Click here for an excerpt from the book that is one of our primary sources for understanding this period - 2 Maccabees. Read through 2 Maccabees 4: 7-17 , noting particularly any references to 'Hellenistic' issues (i.e. the Greek way of life and culture).

In his book entitled New Testament Foundations, Ralph Martin has a section in which he writes about the impact of Hellenism. He interacts with this very same passage from 2 Maccabees which you have just read. He draws his own conclusions on pages 54-55. I have included them below. Read through them and compare your response with his.

These terms "Greek way of life," "hellenization," with which the RSV renders the Greek of 2 Maccabees 4:10, 13, are expanded on to indicate in a concrete situation what happened when a ruler decided to import essentially Greek practices and impose them on his subjects. The passage in 2 Maccabees 4:1-17 gives a list of features, five in number.
1. The gymnasium served both as a training-ground for athletic fitness and a social centre, catering to the need for comradeship and sportsmanlike competition. The gymnasium played a vital part in expressing the Greek outlook on life. It included a frank, uninhibited acceptance of the naked human body, in contrast to the Hebrew association of nakedness with shame and guilt -a n idea that is attested throughout the Bible from Genesis 3:7 to Revelation 3:18. Moreover, Jews in the gymnasium could not disguise their circumcision, the mark of their ancestral faith, unless they chose to do so by a reverse surgical operation to make themselves appear uncircumcised, thus "repudiating the holy covenant" (1 Macc. 1:15), as many did.
2. As meeting points for social contact the gymnasiums functioned as headquarters for guilds of young men, youths who had arrived at manhood, 18 years of age in Athens. During the year in which young men were so ranked, they wore a distinctive uniform - broad-brimmed hat (2 Macc. 4:12), a cloak, and high-laced boots. These garments became marks of social distinction and formed part of the ostentation and civic pride of the young men, especially in state processions. Civic virtue was wedded to physical prowess and social snobbery.
3. Another feature of "the Greek way of life" was the stadium, where sports - wrestling, discus throwing, horse racing - took place. The author of 2 Maccabees 4:14 laments that Jewish priests were deserting their sacred offices at the altar to be spectators and participants in the arena games, "putting the highest value upon Greek forms of prestige."
4. Entertainment of a different kind from that which appealed to the Jews was integral to the Greek ethos This was the practice of the dramatic art in the Greek theatre, which had been developed to a finesse by the Athenians m the fifth century. Every city in the Greek world had its theatre. That civic necessity did not come easily to the Jewish way of life, for Judaism had no interest in theatrical representations and no actors.
5. The most powerful and abiding influence of Hellenism was the use of the Greek language. Greek culture spread through the medium of the language, which was a grief to orthodox Palestinian Jews, who believed that Hebrew was uniquely sacred and who came to associate the learning of Greek with an invitation to apostasy from the ancestral faith.
The importance of Alexander is seen in this intermingling of cultures, which went far to destroy the parochialism and exclusivism which had marked the Jewish way of life from the beginning. Also, for the first time with Alexander's universal conquest, a single language, Greek, became widely understood and accepted. This was to have an obvious bearing on the later dissemination of the Christian gospel in Greek.

There were other factors in this "Hellenising" that could be mentioned as well:

• an immigration policy existed that encouraged people to immigrate from Greece into the Empire
• military troops were encouraged to marry 'native' women (and often given land in the Greek "colonies")
• and, of course, the impact of Greek art, music, poetry, philosophy, architecture, mythology, sculpture is legendary!

POLITICS:

Under Roman Rule

When Pompey took possession of Jerusalem in 63 B.C., Palestine was incorporated into the Roman Empire. This empire virtually embraced the entire 'known' world, of which Palestine was but a tiny part. On the whole, Roman rule was quite enlightened and conquered peoples were allowed a large measure of self-government and a freedom to practise their own customs and religion. This is the way it was for the Jews. They were allowed to observe their ancient worship of Yahweh in temple and synagogue and to keep the many feasts and festivals which this involved.

It is the administration of this vast Empire which is of interest to us here. Essentially, the areas within the empire fell into one of two groups: a "client kingdom" or a "province".

Each had special names for its rulers, but a simple picture would follow these lines:

Chart : Roman Administrative Forms

The 'client kingdom' tended to exist in more remote or backward areas. The name given to the ruler depended on the size of the territory over which he had oversight. 'King' was used for a sizeable client kingdom while a 'tetrarch' was the name given to someone who ruled a smaller region.

In the 'client kingdom' of Palestine, there was King Herod the Great but when he died and his area was divided up the resulting states were ruled by one Ethnarch and two Tetrarchs. Then Herod Agrippa had a time as King again before Palestine switched to become a 'province' (AD44 - AD53) ruled by a Roman Governor.

So, for most of the New Testament era, Palestine was considered to be a 'client kingdom' with the Herod family as her rulers. Below you will find a chart that can help straighten out some difficult details. It takes a while to absorb what is going on - so hang in there! It comes from an older book by B. M. Metzger entitled The New Testament: It's background, growth, and content (Abingdon, 1965) 29.

Chart : The Rule of the Herods in Palestine

Please do not try to master all the details - just a basic appreciation will do fine!

Now, let's take a quick look at the people with the power in the first century: the Herods and Caesars.

A. The Herods

The Herods can be traced back to the period right after the Maccabean War and before the conquest of Palestine by Rome. While Hyrcanus II was in power as both Ruler and High Priest (while he was opposing his brother in the civil war) he allowed into his group of advisors and officials a man from Idumaea (the region directly south from Jerusalem) called Antipater. Antipater was ambitious and quite evil and a potent force in the weakening of the Maccabean power base in Palestine. By the time the Romans came in and conquered, Antipater had emerged as the most powerful man and one quite happy to administer the region according to the best interests of Rome … and himself!

Antipater had 2 sons (one of whom was Herod), and when their father was murdered in 43BC, the two young men took over. At first they were joint tetrarchs of Judea (under the authority of the Romans) but in a subsequent invasion by the Parthians, Phasael was killed and Herod had to flee to the Romans for refuge. Eventually the Romans regained control over Palestine and, as a reward for his loyalty, Herod was made 'King of the Jews', a client king of the Roman Empire.

Below you will find a 'family tree' of the Herod Family in the era of the New Testament.

Chart : Herod Family Tree

Illustration : Bust of Herod the Great

Herod the Great was an able ruler but in his personal life he had a cruel and ruthless streak. He killed at least two of his ten wives and three of his sons. What's more, he had two sons 'Philip' by different women and then they, in turn, both married the same woman. His line actually continues on through a son whom he executed!

For a shortened version of Herod's family tree Click here.

(Thinking about Herod's troubled family life and ruthless attitude to rivals - as expressed in the execution of his own family members - his response to the magi's question concerning the whereabouts of the 'King of the Jews' becomes quite explicable).

Source: Interdisciplinary Atlas of the Bible, Giacomo Perego, Transl. by Stewart Foster (London; St Pauls Publishing, 1999) p75.

Herod was very shrewd in the way he kept in favour with both Jew and Roman . In John 2:20 we find mention of the fact that he rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem - or at least he started the rebuilding of it and consecrated the 1st stage - the entire work wasn't completed until 63 AD - only to be destroyed again in 70 AD. (Many Pharisees retained strong reservations about Herod's true devotion to Yahweh as he paid for the building of pagan temples etc. in cities outside Palestine such as Athens, Sparta and Rhodes). He was a great builder of cities, fortresses (he rebuilt the Hasmonean fortress NW of the Temple area in Jerusalem and renamed it 'Antonia' after his friend, Mark Antony and also built the fortress at Masada, among others).

The cost of his building programme was enormous but Herod did have ample private means (e.g. half the revenue from the copper mines on Cyprus), but he also exacted huge taxation from his people (although at times of great famine he did show some compassion by reducing his demands).

After his death his kingdom was divided between three of his sons, Archelaus, Philip and Antipas. During the ensuing period Rome deposed Archelaus (6 AD) and replaced him with a Roman 'governor' (hence the position of Pontius Pilate at the time of the crufixion).

Herod's family members still played significant roles even in the biblical record - look at the story of the beheading of John the Baptist for example (you may like to return to Herod's family tree and try to work out who the principal figures in the story were).

Herod Agrippa I (grandson of Herod the Great) briefly succeeded to the kingship of Israel (41-44 AD), though again, under the ultimate authority of Rome. His son, Herod Agrippa II was the last of this famous family.

B. The Caesars

Again, these are included so that you can feel a little more confident and a little less confused when these names come up. Here is a list of the various Roman 'Caesars' who ruled during the time of the New Testament. Their names are followed by the years they ruled and then any relevant comments/events are made in the final column.

Chart : Summary of the Reigns of the Caesars

EMPEROR	TIME	COMMENTS
AUGUSTUS	33BC - 14AD	"Octavian". A skilful leader for 41 years a time of peace and consolidation (Pax Romana - the "Roman Peace") the time of Jesus' birth and the Census of Luke 2
TIBERIUS	14 - 36AD	The time of Jesus' ministry and crucifixion
CALIGULA	37 - 41AD	A short and unsavoury reign as he surrounded himself with rascals issued an unfulfilled command to have his statue placed in the Temple to be worshipped
CLAUDIUS	41 - 54AD	Ordered all the Jews from Rome for rioting (Acts 18:2)
NERO	54 - 68AD	First persecution of Christians, martyrdom of Peter and Paul at his hand?
VESPASIAN	69 - 79AD	Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70AD
TITUS	79 - 81AD	The general who led that expedition against Jerusalem
DOMITIAN	81 - 96AD	First systematic persecution of Christians. Revelation was written during his reign