exam 1 Flashcards
tanakh
Hebrew Bible - Jewish Scripture
T - Torah (law)
N – Nevi’im (prophets)
K – Ketuvim (writings)
scriporium
group of scribes listen to text being read and translate it
Abrahamic covenant: relationship to circumcision, Canaan, conditionality, and generations. Who was it between
circumcision - all males must circumsize
canaan - this land is promised to Abraham
condition - unconditional
generation - God blesses them with Isaac and descendants
between - God and Abraham
mosaic covenant - relationship to Torah, conditionality, between, contrast with abrahamic
relationship - in the first 5 books (Law)
condition - Yes, punished if violated
between - God and the Israelites
contrast - unconditional = Abrahamic, no circumcision, no canaan, no generations
Davidic covenant - between, who was King David
btw - God and David - God promises David’s lineage will last forever.
King David was king of ancient Israel and Judah
How does the Davidic covenant relate to the Jewish concept of the messiah especially the
notion of a kingly messiah that would restore Israel
The Davidic covenant promises a kingly lineage and signifies a future king that will reign over Israel. This would fulfill the messianic prophesy
How did the Jews view Zerubbabel and his connection to David upon their return
from the Babylonian Exile? How did this spark hope of the restoration of this
covenant?
Zerubbabel is a significant figure who was possibly a descendant of David. He was a symbol of hope and the promise of a future king.
who could be anointed in ancient Judaism
kings, priests, prophets
was there a notion that the Jewish messiah had to die?
No, there were many different notions ranging from Isaiah’s suffering servant, the promised one, the Savior. Often seen as a warrior king who fights enemies, national narrative of Israel.
how does the concept of the messiah evolved by 2nd temple judaism?
One suffering, one being warrior king
how does the Babylonian exile affect the development of the messiah
View became more focused on restoration/redemption, deliver them from exile as a political leader.
how might contact with Zoroastrianism affect messiah development
More cosmic view. Good and evil in a cosmic battle forever, to be one of the three saviors. Saoshyant will lead the battle, raise the dead, and redeem humankind
are the Jews struggling with God and the fulfillment of religious covenants especially the Davidic covenant
Jews felt betrayed by God because there land was taken away and there was no Davidic leader.
Do we see the Son of Man from Enoch as a pre-existing, cosmic being that will come in the future?
Yes
will the messiah reveal secrets of heaven, carry out a judgment, and overthrow Israel’s enemies?
Yes
how does the messiah start to fit into nationalistic feelings of the restoration of Israel as in Ezekiel 37?
The reanimation of the dead bones represents Israel’s revival
Reunification of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah and Jesus would be the one to do that.
How did the “suffering servant” in Isaiah 53 speak to those Jews in exile and the
promise of the restoration of their homeland
explains there own suffering
What idea of the afterlife does the Hebrew Bible typically expound
sheol where it is silent and dark, you are forgotten by God - psalms and Ecclesiastes
resurrection is foreshadowed - Isaiah and Daniel
What happens to a person’s nephesh at death? Does it live on like an eternal soul?
Cannot exist outside the body and simply ceases when the body dies
What is the greatest difference between the Hebrew Bible and Greek afterlife?
Hebrew Bible’s primary concept is sheol where everybody goes
Greek has different sections for people
hades/tartarus, asphodel meadows, and elysium. Soul is immortal
Is there one view of the afterlife in the Hebrew Bible
There are many views
1. sheol
2. resurrection/restoration
3. Hope for national restoration
4. divine judgment and justice
What does the story about the Medium/Witch of Endor suggest about the
afterlife? What wrench does it throw into the equation?
That there is existence in some form after death. Samuel appeared and was recognizable. Saul is in trouble because necromancy is forbidden in the Torah. God has control of the afterlife
Wrench - place where God’s justice is carried out, not like sheol.
What are the differences between the tours of the afterlife we looked at in class?
Review Odysseus’ tour of the underworld, Plato’s Phaedo, and Virgil’s
Aeneid
Homer - Odysseys stops at Circe’s island where she tells him to descend to the underworld and find Tiresias. Psuche - soul or breath - lives on as a shade of person.
Phaedo - the body needs to be shed, the soul is the real person. Phaedo describes Socrates last moments before execution and his acceptance and belief in purification of the soul, place of judgement
Aeneid - Aeneas, after Trojan War goes to Italy and founds Rome. rewards/punishments - Elysium and Tartarus
How did the Greeks understand the psuche?
soul or breath, concept of an everlasting soul that lives after the body dies in Hades
lives on as a shade of the person.
What survives in Hades? What word describes the souls in the underworld
according to homer, soul survives = psyche/psuche
Does Plato intend his use of myth to be an exact interpretation of what happens
right after death?
no
What is Plato’s view of the soul (hint: prison)?
o What is Plato’s ultimate message about the care of one’s soul?
The body needs to be shed, and the soul is the real person
Soul must be nurtured and to live virtuously
In what was did the Greek views differ from those of the Hebrew Bible
Afterlife - Greek (mythological) Hebrew (sheol)
Soul - Greek (immortal) Hebrew (God’s sovereignty)
Reward/Punishment- Greek (elysium/tartarus) Hebrew (tied to god’s justice, covenant)
What language is the New Testament composed in?
What about the Hebrew Bible
koine (greek)
How were the New Testament texts transmitted down to us?
What was the role of scribes?
Could there be errors in the texts?
Autograph - original handwritten comp
- manuscript - copies
Scribes make copies, all of them are different
Where was Jesus born and raised?
born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth
Where was Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem?
Nazareth in Galilee, Bethlehem and Jerusalem in Judea
When did Judea become a Roman province? What regions did it encompass?
o Was Galilee a part of Judea at Jesus’s time?
6CE until 132CE
included samaria, judea, and idumea
galilee and perea added in 44CE
What criteria was used in selecting the New Testament texts (hint: 3)?
- Apostle Authorships - text one of the apostles or closer to era
- How orthodox (correct) was the text perceived to be - divinity of Jesus
- Widespread usage of texts
How does Athanasius’ list align with the 27 books located in the New Testament
today
same 27 books we use
what was Constantine’s role on NT canonization
Edict of Milan makes Christianity the preferred religious, legalized by Constantine in 313AD
What legal status did Christianity hold in the Roman Empire following Jesus’
death?
illegal
Was Christianity coherent in its beliefs after Jesus’s death
No, early Christianity was initially a Jewish sect. Earliest Christians expected Jesus to return soon to overthrow Romans. Many interpretations of doctrines and nature of Christ
What role did persecutions (especially the Great Persecution) play - 303AD
Niro brought about the unknown fire and persecution so Christians were martyred and had to have house churches
What about Marcion’s role? What did his canon look like
resembled luke and paul’s letter, 2nd c. AD
Who built the first 1st Temple according to Jewish tradition?
o Who destroyed this 1st Temple?
Solomon
Why is the 2nd Temple also referred to as “Herod’s Temple”?
o What event caused the destruction of this 2nd Temple and by whom
Herod did a grand extension/remodel of the 2nd Temple. Destroyed in 70CE by the Romans under Titus during the First Jewish-Roman War
What did the Jewish Temple (both the 1st and 2nd) symbolize to the Jewish people?
God’s presence among his people and residence on earth
where the holy and earthly met
central place of worship
offer sacrifices
sign of national identity
Were there gender divisions within the Temple? (video)
o Were Gentiles permitted on Temple grounds? (video)
o Who could enter the Temple proper? (video)
o What is the Holy of Holies?
Separate spaces for men and women. Did have a spot for Gentiles. Only priests permitted in the Temple. Holy of Holies is where God lived
How were the kings Saul, Solomon, and David related to this monarchy?
o Why was this significant for the Israelites?
The United Monarchy was the period of ancient Israel when the twelve tribes of Israel were united under a single ruler. Significant because they were united, had a national identity, free with their religious.
What type of political leadership did the United Monarchy follow (hint: judges)?
Period of the Judges - decentralized leadership
Why will the United Monarchy fail, and Israel split into a northern and southern
kingdom?
What is the name of the northern and southern kingdoms?
Which of these kingdoms will be sent into the Babylonian Exile?
Solomon dies and his son Rehoboam takes over. Solomon taxed heavily the north, rehoboam unsure but decided to intensify the oppression. Upsets tribes of the north so north breaks away.
North - Israel
South - Judah - Sent to Exile by Nebuchadnezzar
Babylonian Exile (586 BCE)
o What event occurred that set this into the motion
political tensions
Who was Nebuchadnezzar? What did he do to the Jews
King of Babylonian Empire who deported many Jews to Babylon and destroyed the 1st temple
Did every Jew in Babylon readily hurry back to Jerusalem upon Persia’s conquest
of Babylon?
Most pious Jews return under governor of Zerubbabel. Many stay because of economic stability and thriving and autonomous in Babylon
Who was Cyrus the Great? Why is it unique that the Jews called him ‘anointed’
King of Persia who defeated the Babylonians around 538 BCE allows the Jews to return home and rebuild the Temple
who was Alexander the Great
Takes Persia and Egypt and Jewish homeland.
How did Alexander fuel the process of Hellenization across the ancient world?
Were all Jews receptive to this?
fueled by spreading koine, built Greek cities, greek schools, art, culture, etc.
Not all Jews were receptive, some were hellenized jews others were traditionalists
How did the conquest of Alexander, his death, and the division of his empire
eventually lead to the Hasmonean era?
Ptolemies (egypt) and Seleucids (syria) Antiochus IV Epiphanes of Seleucid comes into power and aggressively hellenizes. Funds his temple by raiding the temple. No circumcision allowed, no long abstain from eating pork, rededicates 2nd temple to Zeus, uses alter to sacrifice sows. Led to Maccabean Revolt
Who was Matthias?
Man who led to the Maccabean Revolt against Epimanes
Who was Judah Maccabee/Judas Maccabaeus “the Hammer”
succeeded his father Matthias
hasmonean era: why this event significant in terms of the Jews and their history of foreign
rule?
End of foreign rule (over 400 years), established sovereign Jewish Kingdom in Judea, restores Jewish Practices
Who was Simon/Simeon? What occurred under his leadership
Third son who sees jews win full independence in 142 BC
sadducees: What were their view towards supernatural beings?
o What were their attitudes towards an afterlife and judgement?
Did not believe in any resurrection or supernatural beings, no Sheol.
sadducees: What happens to this group after the destruction of the Second Temple?
Strictness and lack of modernization
sadducees: How did their strict Torah adherence contribute to their disappearance from history?
Did not support applying the Torah to new situations.
sadducees: Did they cooperate with the Romans?
Friends with Romans and willing to adapt to Roman control, politically motivated
sadducees: What is their relationship to the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem and the office of
High Priest?
held control over office of High Priest and majority of Sanhedrin - any internal Jewish court during Roman rule. Great Sanhedrin - located in Hall of Hewn Stones
Sadducees: Which two Jewish groups (besides the common Jew) do scholars believe Jesus
interacts with the most?
pharisees and sadducees
pharisees: What were their view towards supernatural beings?
o What were their attitudes towards an afterlife and judgement?
o Do they accept the immortality of the soul and a resurrection of the dead?
Did believe in the supernatural - angels/demons, immortality of the soul, afterlife based on rewards/punishments, resurrection would occur but only for the good souls, new life/body
pharisees: Why did the Pharisees eventually come to lead Judaism after 70 CE?
their ability adapt and adjust to new times, applying the Torah, not needing a Temple to do this
pharisees: Why do scholars think Pharisees are so negatively portrayed in the New Testament?
Pharisees believe that Jesus was just a prophet, disagreed with Early Christian’s on Jesus’ identity
pharisees: How are the Pharisees connected to Rabbinic Judaism?
Why does this phase of Judaism start to dominate after 70 CE?
How do the Pharisees survive in history after the Second Temple period
After 2nd Temple is destroyed, the Pharisees focused on the Torah, synagogue worship, and oral traditions which is the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism
essenes: Know of their association with the Qumran community and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Essenes are said to have composed the Qumran community where they wrote the Scrolls. Apocalyptic worldview, maintained celibacy
essenes: What were their view towards supernatural beings?
o What were their attitudes towards an afterlife and judgement?
Believed in a constant cosmic struggle between good and evil
essenes: Do they accept the immortality of the soul and a resurrection of the dead? Be aware of the vague area regarding the resurrection body/reunification of body and soul and a final judgement.
What do the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves say regarding a bodily resurrection and judgement?
immortality of the soul and reward/punishment after death. Body is like a prison for the soul. Believed in resurrection. Scrolls are unclear about a resurrection of the body.
essenes - 2 messiahs
Davidic and priestly messiah
who are the two zealot founders?
Judas of Galilee
Zadok the Pharisee
zealot founder role in the first Jewish War (results, veiw towards roman interference)
physical fighting against Romans
what is masada and its legacy in Judaism?
herod the great built it as a fortress and palace/vacation home, after death rome formed a garrison there
what other group did Zealots relgious beliefs likely align with
Pharisees
who were sacarii, the connection to Masada, and role in the Jewish War?
dagger men took over Masada and attached roman officials and Jews who worked with the Romans
How does Henze discuss the Book of Daniel and its relationship to the
Maccabean revolt?
Daneil called for a peaceful form of resistance
Maccabees chose the armed revolt
How does the Book of Daniel contribute to the idea of an actual, physical resurrection? Who receives this reward? What historical event does this narrative pertain to?
In ch 12, it says those who are asleep will awaken to everlasting life or shame. The reward is for those who are wise and righteous. This historical event is the Maccabean Revolt.
How does Daniel’s reference to resurrection differs form Isaiah and Ezekiel?
Isaiah and Ezekiel are hoping for the restoration of Israel to the homeland. Daniel writes about a double resurrection of those who resisted Antiochus and those who were teachers and leaders.
Plurality of the Torah - Henze
Did the Torah hold the same meaning of various Jewish groups in
ancient times, or were there many different ideas concerning the
Torah?
Not on exam 1 but
Henze - Who was Ezra?
Whose approval did Ezra need to explain the Torah and to give it authority? (hint: 2 figures)
What status did the Mosaic Torah reach in postexilic times? (hint: “statutory law” and “prescriptive function”)
Ezar was a priest/scribe/prophet who led the return of Jewish exiles.
ArtaxerxesI and priests and levites
According to Henze, what biblical book begins the story of demons, yet are there no demons in this text?
Genesis
Where do “evil spirits” emerge from according to the Book of the Watchers during the deluge? How long will these “evil spirits” endure?
They were spirits in heaven, they will be here as long as the world lasts.
Who is Mastema in the Book of Jubilees?
How does the Book of Jubilees use demons to explain human life?
He is the chief of the demons. Demons explain why there is temptation, sin, and suffering.
What is the significance of Psalm of Solomon 17?
First known work to use David and Messiah - peaceful messiah, made 50-60 years before Jesus
Which of Jesus’s disciples was referred to as a “Zealot”? What alternate explanation does Harris give that scholars think this title may refer to in this disciple’s case?
Simon. That Jesus was involved in some form of rebellion against Rome
Who was Rabbi Gamaliel?
Not on exam 1: Jew (Pharisee) that was protective of the Jesus movement (Christianity). Taught Paul.
What is the Jewish Talmud and its relation to the Mishnah and Gemara?
Mishnah - document of Judaism, the basis of further commentary
Gemara - completion
Talmud - teaching
How did the word rabbi evolve to a formal title?
from informal master/teacher to officially recognized scholars of Jewish tradition
what is the 3-story universe
Heaven
Earth
Hell
what does philosophy mean?
love of wisdom, an attempt to understand human life and its place in the universe by applying rational analysis to a body of observable facts
what is the connection between the maccabean revolt and hannukah
Feast of Dedication - the day Judas led an attach to recapture and purify the Jewish Temple, success
