16: Intertestamental Development

Question 1

What was the Second Temple Literature?

Answer 1

Mostly the Hebrew Bible, although we find sectarian groups, like the Essenes, who had more books.

Jesus only affirmed the books of the Hebrew Bible.

Question 2

What was the Second Temple time frame?

Answer 2

From 516BC to 70AD

Question 3

What were the major collections of the Second Temple Literature?

Answer 3

1. Septuagint
2. Apocrypha
3. Pseudepigrapha
4. Dead Sea Scrolls
5. Philo
6. Josephus

Question 4

What was the Septuagint?

Answer 4

Greek rendition of the OT

abbreviated: LXX

Question 5

What were the Apocrypha?

Answer 5

Jewish books accepted as canonical by some Christians

• 1 & 2 Maccabees
• Wisdom of Solomon
• Sirach
• additions to Esther and Daniel

Question 6

What was the Pseudepigrapha?

Answer 6

• Originally, writings written as if authored by an OT figure
• But now denotes a variety of early Jewish texts not found in the Apocrypha

Question 7

What were the Dead Sea Scrolls?

Answer 7

Writings (often fragmentary) dating from 2BC to 1 AD that contained:

• Biblical scrolls
• sectarian documents
• non-sectarian Jewish literature

Question 8

Who was Philo?

Answer 8

Mid-first century philosopher from Alexadria (Egypt) who penned allegorical and philosophical interpretations of the Pentateuch.

Question 9

Who was Josephus?

Answer 9

Jewish historian who wrote at the end of the first century about the history of Israel.

Question 10

When was the Assyrian Exile of Israel (northern kingdom)?

Answer 10

721 BC

Question 11

When was the Babylonian Exile of Judah (southern kingdom)?

Answer 11

587/6 BC

Question 12

When did Cyrus of Persia took Babylon?

Answer 12

539 BC

Question 13

When did the return of some jewish exiles back to their land began?

Answer 13

circa 538 BC

Question 14

When did the Rebuilding of the Temple start?

Answer 14

circa 520 BC

Question 15

What was the importance of the High Priest in the intertestamental period?

Answer 15

Because they didn’t have a king, they only had the High Priest to represent them.

Other nations made trading deals with the Judeans through the High Priest.

Question 16

What was the effect of the exile for the Judeans?

Answer 16

Solidification of Monotheistic religion and Ethnic Identity.

Question 17

When did Alexander the Great became king of Macedon and general of the Greeks?

Answer 17

336 BC

Question 18

When did Alexander assumes the title “Great King” of Persian Empire?

Answer 18

330 BC

Question 19

When did Alexander the Great died?

Answer 19

323 BC

Question 20

Who were Alexander’s successors?

Answer 20

• Ptolemies of Egypt
• Seleucids of Persia
• Antigonids of Macedon

Question 21

What were the effects of the domination of the Greeks?

Answer 21

• Spread of Hellenistic culture
  
  • speaking greek
  • city life
  • education (greek rhetoric)
  • Hellenistic Philosophy (stoicism, epicureanism)

Question 22

When did Judea moved from Ptolemaic to Seleucid control?

Answer 22

198 BC

Question 23

When did Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) orders the defiling of Jerusalem’s temple?

Answer 23

167 BC

Question 24

When did the Hasmonean (Maccabees) revolt begins?

Answer 24

166 BC

Question 25

When was Jonathan proclaimed high priest in Jerusalem?

Answer 25

152 BC

Question 26

When does Pompey takes Jerusalem and enters the Holoy of Holies?

Answer 26

63 BC

Question 27

When did Herod the Great rule Judea?

Answer 27

37 BC - 4 AD

Question 28

When does Rome enters the picture?

Answer 28

63 BC

Question 29

What is particular about the Herodian dynasty?

Answer 29

They were non-Davidic, non-Jewish kings.

Question 30

When did Judea became a Roman province?

Answer 30

6 - 41 AD

Question 31

When was Pontius Pilate governor of Judea?

Answer 31

26 - 36 AD

Question 32

When was Agrippa I king of Judea?

Answer 32

41-44 AD

Question 33

When did Roman procurators rule Judea?

Answer 33

44-66 AD

Question 34

How was Herod’s kingdom divided in three portions?

Answer 34

• Archelaus - Judea
• Antipas - Galilee
• Philip - everything else

Question 35

When were the failed Jewish revolts against Rome?

Answer 35

66 - 73 AD

Question 36

When was the Fall of Jerusalem?

Answer 36

70 AD

Question 37

When was the Fall of Masada?

Answer 37

73 AD (some say 74)

Question 38

When was the revolt under Trajan (diaspora)?

Answer 38

115 - 117 AD

Question 39

When was the Bar Kochba revolt, under Hardian?

Answer 39

132 - 135 AD

Question 40

When was the Mishnah compiled?

Answer 40

circa 200 AD

Question 41

What were some distinctives of Judaism amidst first century Paganism?

Answer 41

1. Monotheism
2. Ethical religion
   
   • Romans did not get their ethics from religion, but philosophy
3. OT redemptive history
4. Ethnic centered
5. Jerusalem as “Mother-City”
6. Sabbath, circumsicion, food laws

Question 42

What are some developments in Second Temple Judaism period?

Answer 42

1. Diaspora & Geography of Judaism
   
   • spread throughout the roman empire
2. Rise of Jewish Sectarianism
3. Rise of the Synagogue
4. Messianism

Question 43

What were some of the jewish sects?

Answer 43

1. Sadducees
2. Pharisees
3. Essenes
4. “4th Philosophy”
5. Herodians

Question 44

What distinguished the Sadducees?

Answer 44

• Power elite
• believed in radical free will
• rejected resurrection from the dead
• rejected oral tradition

Question 45

What distinguished the Pharisees?

Answer 45

• rabbinic teachers
• believed in both God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility
• accepted resurrection from the dead

Question 46

What distinguished the Essenes?

Answer 46

• monastic
• believed in radical determinism

Question 47

What distinguished the 4th Philosophy? What were their subgroups?

Answer 47

sought to overthrow pagan rule of Judea

• Zealots
• Sicarii (dagger-men, political assasins)

Question 48

What distinguished the Herodians?

Answer 48

• favored rule by Herodian kings