Week 12: Wisdom Literature and Theodicy (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastates) Flashcards
The Restoration Period
The Persian Period (538-332 BCE)
The Persian Period (538-332 BCE)
Return to Jerusalem and Rebuilding
539 BCE
Cyrus of Persia conquers Babylon
How does Cyrus of Persia conquer Babylon in 539?
The king was away frequently, fighting battles
In Babylonian culture, the King needed to be present to worship Babylonian gods
The people of Babylon could not worship their god
They felt that they were suffering without the protection of their ods
So Cyrus of Persia came in while the King of Babylon was away and said, “I’ll be your King, and I won’t leave, so that you can worship your God”
The people of Babylon accepted him, thus began the Persian period…
Persian god: Ahura Mazda
Persian idea of angels, messengers, and heaven was very developed
This influenced Israel’s literature during this period (e.g., angels in Daniel)
The Cyrus Cylinder
Cyrus issues an edict/proclamation which allows for everyone who has been conquered to return to their homeland (it was written on the Cyrus cylinder).
This would have included the exiled Judeans.
Even though he allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem, they are not free. Judah and Jerusalem are provinces of Persia.
Many Jews return home, but some stay in Babylon, so we have diaspora, where Jews are spread out and they try to maintain their identity.
Cyrus adopts all of the other gods.
The reason he sends the exiled people home rests on the idea that people should be able to worship their own gods. If people return home to worship their local gods, Persia will be strengthened since all of the gods will be happy with Persia.
How does the Bible understand the Cyrus Cylinder?
The early books of Ezra talk about the early Persian period, when King Cyrus lets the exiled people return
The Biblical Version…
Ezra 1:2-4: from the biblical perspective, Cyrus of Persia gives this instruction for people to return home because the Lord told him to. This is a component of monotheism: even the kings of other nations are acting the way they are acting because God is instructing them.
This is furthers the theological leap from monolatry to monotheism…sll other nations act the way they act because God tells them to act that way.
God is not only in control of Israel, but also of the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and so on
From the Jewish perspective, the question becomes: When something bad happens to the Jews, and it is the work of God, what have we done to deserve this bad fate?
The Second Temple Period: Post-Exilic Subperiods
- Persian Period
- Hellenistic Period Alexander the Great
- Maccabean Period
Jews in Jerusalem will regain control - Roman Period
The New Testament
Describe the Persian Period (538-332 BCE)
520-515 BCE: Rebuilding of the Second Temple.
It will not look as beautiful as it did under Solomon, but it will be functional. With a functional Temple, Israel resumes sacrifice.
But now they also have synagogue practices, since those developed during the exile. So not we have a complementary system of sacrifice and synagogue, i.e., liturgies focused on the written word.
Satrapy (“province”): Judah becomes the Province of Yehud
Three levels of government:
( 1 ) Satrap (political governor)
( 2 ) General (military governor)
( 3 ) “Eyes and Ears of the King” (the snitch)
With three people in charge, it ensures stability and ensures that no one person will try to gain control for themselves.
Economic Boom: extensive road networks installed and taxation (Tribute: the Persians do not want stuff, like beforehand, they want coin. This has a huge effect on Israel because they had to begin liquidating their goods to pay taxes).
Dualism, angels, afterlife
Literature During the Persian Period
Deutero-Isaiah: A New Exodus (40-55)
- Articulation of Monotheism
- Universalist Response to Worship
Literature During the Persian Period: 1. Articulation of Monotheism
A part of the book of Isaiah, but probably deutero-Isaiah (written by a disciple of Isaiah).
Isaiah connects the return from exile with the Exodus: in both cases, God is the one who leads the people home, and God is the saviour of the people.
Emphasis on the idea that returning the people from exile was not Cyrus’ decision, it was God’s.
Powerful images of God as king, shepherd, bringing the people to safety. Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cryus (his chosen leader), there is no other God besides me. God is sovereign over all other Gods.
The Judeans return back to Jerusalem, but they do not get their own King; the King does not return to the throne
This is when we see the beginning of Messianic expectation: the expectation for a divinely anointed king to come to the throne.
Literature During the Persian Period: Universalist Response to Worship
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols.
Everybody should worship Yahweh, Israel has a duty to proclaim Yahweh to the rest of the world.
Isaiah 54: Rehabilitation of Israel, Spouse of God
In Hosea, Israel was presented as an adulterous wife. In Isaiah, we see the restoration of the relationship. God welcomes Israel back into the household, restores her, and the marriage is better again.
God as the Redeemer of Israel
In OT literature, the redeemer is the one who saved the woman from destitution. The metaphor is being employed here. Israel had become like a widow, but God redeems and restores Israel. But God was also the husband that cast her off, and then welcomed her back.
The Book of Ezra: Ezra 1-3: The Diaspora and the Returning Group
Confusion: Who is in and who is out? (Ezra 6)
Not everyone returns to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem becomes like a pilgrimage destination
Note: differing reactions
Some people had never seen Jerusalem (e.g., were born in exile) and were amazed by its beauty. But the people who had seen it and returned were deeply saddened and devastated by what had happened.
The Book of Ezra: Exclusivist Response (Ezra 4:1-5)
Confusion: Who is in and who is out? (Ezra 6)
Who are the Chosen People?
Strong, definitive statements in Exodus: the whole Earth is God’s, Israel is the priestly kingdom and holy nation (some of those passages are likely post-exilic).
The Neighbouring Peoples (the am ha-aretz people of the land): The group that returns from exile is very anxious not to find themselves in exile again, and want to ensure that they are doing everything right (e.g., worship) for an exile not to happen again. The very first thing they do is set up the altar in order to resume sacrifices. This leads to a lot of language about how to do orthopraxis, and how they are doing it right (reassurance): we are doing this right, we are doing this by the book.
This leads to the questions: Who gets to worship Yahweh?
Who is a part of the in-group? Who is a “real” Jew? “The people of the land” becomes the people who collapsed.
We gain a strong sense of cultural identity where it matters if you can place yourself in the story.
The Book of Ezra: Instructions on Intermarriages
Forbidding intermarriage and foreign wives (Ezra 9:1-4)
After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, ‘The people of Israel, the priests, and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, theJebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons. Thus the holy seed has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands, and in this faithlessness the officials and leaders have led the way.’ When I heard this, I tore my garment and my mantle, and pulled hair from my head and beard, and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. (Ezra 9:1-4)
