3 - Israel's Identity: Land, Narrative, Theology, Institutions, and Parties Flashcards
super slay israel map
oc galilee . Nazareth
ea samaria
n judea . jerusalem
5 zones of land of israel
coastal plain, coastal hills, central mountains, jordan valley, eastern plateau
coastal plain 2
mainly fishing villages, joppa and ceaserea main ones
coastal hills 2
very fertile, eremaus
central mountains 3
building material, 3000ft tall, includes jerusalem
jordon valley 2
700-1200ft below sea level, runs length of the jordon river
eastern plateau 3
cities of decapolis, john the baptist lived in this desert, other kingdom
creational montheism
one God who created all things and actively involved in the world
election 4
- choosing Israel as His special people
- from God’s covenant with Abe
- problem: israel implicated in the worldview and ongoing issue of sin
- jerusalem temple-based sacrificial system was intended to deal with israels sin, but sin was still a recurring problem
eschatology
ultimate outworking of God’s will and work in the world, greatly awaited
response to election
jews to obey God’s will as expressed in the Torah and repeating temple sacrifice to show faithfulness to covenent (covenantal nomism)
God could be worshipped where 2
in jerusalem temple through sacrificial system or in local synagogue through prayer and study of scripture
the temple general 4
geographic and spiritual center of Israel, destrpyed by babylon in 587 bc, rebuilt by zerabbabel after exile, developed by herod the great
temple sacrifices 2
priests offered sacrifices, including high priest on behalf of the nation on the day of atonement
other temple purposes 5
political, social, judicial, sanhedrin, bank and monetary exchange system
sanhedrin 4
- jewish high court and leading decision-maker
- jewish nobility
- 70 to form a council
- also lower court of 20 elders for smaller issues
synagogue 4
- local center for jewish life for jews scattered who couldn’t regularly worship at the temple
- worshipped at each sabbath
- also center for education, scribes, and community life
- decentralized jewish identity and made it more personal and accessible to average person
herodians 3
- supporters of the house of herod
- herod’s family and supporters continued to have influence after his death
- didn’t like Jesus, so partnered with pharisee enemies when Jesus became a threat
pharisees 5
- often seen as legalistic, but many were more moderate
- may have originated during maccabean or hasmonean period
- out of torah study and interpretation arose an extensive body of oral laws, whos interpretation led to internal and external debates
- key players in sanhedrin, numbering about 6000 in Jesus’ day
- law-centered approach may explain survival after 70ad as normative rabbainic judaism who codified into later jewish writings
saducees 5
- closest to roman rulers, tried to keep things stable so roman rule doesn’t come in heavier, they had the most to lose
- may have originated during hasmonean period
- conservative, priestle, aristocratic, temple-centered
- rejected oral tradns and resurrection of pharisees
- leading figure was high priest and his predecessors (chief priests)
the essenes 3
- could be behind the dead sea scrolls
- may have also originated in the hasmonean period, breaking away from temple establishment to form their own seperate “true Israel” in teh dead sea area at qumran
- destroyed by romans in 70ad
essenes distinctives 5
- period of probation
- joint ownership of all goods
- obedience to community discipline
- observance of purity + ritual
- preservation and transmission of sacred texts
revolutionaries/4th philosophy 3
- popular nationalist movements seeking socio-economic justice and the overthrow of roman rule
- foremost amongst these were zealots and the siccarie
- experienced internal disputes and eventual roman defeat with the fal of jerusalem and its temple in 70ad
zealots
zeal for torah, temple, and land
sicarie
those who carried daggers
people of the land 3
- ordinary jewish artisans and peasants
- formed majority of jewish population
- little written record of them survived
scribes 4
- aka teachers/rabbis
- professional class of lawyers, scribes, teachers of the law
- highly educated from various classes and contexts who ocupied official roles as copyists and teachers
- disciples (learners) would follow them, learning by observation and memorization
sources on israel and judaism 7
- ot/septuagent
- apocrypha
- pseidepigrapha
- dead sea scrolls
- philo
- josephus
- rabbinic literature
