Age of Empires: Jewish Life in Palestine After the Return from Exile
Introduction
Alexander the Great is gone. The Hellenistic world after his death, under his generals, leads a fragile existence rocked by constant wars, assassinations and land taking from East to West. Inside this milieu of war and violence sits the tiny Jewish enclave around Jerusalem surviving at the largess of these Greek tyrants. God's people in Judah are like "wheat ground between two millstones,": the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires.A Seleucid empire, huge in land mass and hegemony, controls Palestine. From Anatolia, to Antioch in Syria, and on to east Babylon and Persia, Seleucid domination compels a Hellenization of the Jews and their culture. The worst of the dynasty, from the Jewish point of view, is Antiochus IV or Epiphanies. He is a self-proclaimed god-king and a hellish tyrant who attempts to stamp out Judaism and all its practices in favor of what he believes are superior Greek ideas and ways.
His ultimate atrocity, described in Daniel's "abomination that maketh desolate," is his erection of a statute of the Greek thunder-god Zeus in the Jewish temple. A sow is sacrificed in the temple in Antiochus' honor. It is too much and this insult detonates a long and bloody rebellion which will end with a re-born, unified Jewish state; the first time it has been unified since the time of David and Solomon.
It is during this time that the origins of the three Jewish parties of the Pharisees, the Sadducces and the Essenes are formed. These groups directly play a role in Jesus' narrative and conflict with Jesus during his time on Earth. But who are they? What did they teach? This is our study for today.
Hellenism v. Judaism
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes descended from Seleucus, a former staff member of Alexander the Great who turned his satrapy of Babylon into the Seleucid Empire during a violent period of turmoil. The Seleucid Empire was considered a major center of Hellenistic culture. As a Hellenizer, he hated Judaism and sought to abolish and outlaw its practices. This divided Jewish society, the in 167 BCE, Judas Hasmon led a violent revolt to rid Palestine of Antiochus and return it to Judaism. This was called the Maccabean Revolt after Hasmon's nick name of Maccabeus (the Hammer).The successful revolt led to the establishment of the Hasmonean dynasty of Jewish rulers in Judea from 140 BCE until Judea was conquered by the Romans and an Edomite named Herod the Great was installed by Rome as the King of the Jews. For a brief window, Judea was an independent state that ruled all of Palestine again.
After repeated Hasmonean wars in Judea Palestine, Rome became more aggressive. General Pompey intervened in the region and Judea, the nation, became a client state under Rome's hegemony. To cement Judea's loyalty, Pompey installed King Herod the Great as a vassal who would remain utterly loyal to Caesar & Rome.
Sadducees
The Sadducees were openly friendly to the Hellenizers. They were more interested in worldly political affairs and commercial expansion than maintaining the purity of Jewish culture. They accepted Mosaic Law only as the basis for the law and rejected the oral traditions of the scribes. Members of this group were among the upper class, elite, land owners.Short list of beliefs:
- They believed in self sufficiency to the point of denying God's involvement in every day life; a profound belief in free will;
- They denied any resurrection of the dead (Matthew 22:23);
- They denied that any after life existed. They held that the soul perished at death therefore there existed no penalty nor reward after earthly life; and
- They denied the existence of a spiritual world with angels, demons or even Heaven. There was no influence from Zoroaster's nor Plato's teaching that they accepted. (Acts 23:8)
Pharisees
The Pharisees were the "separated ones". They drew their number from the middle-class businessmen in contact with the masses. They accepted the written word as having been inspired of God and they believed that the oral traditions of the Scribes were equal to the Scriptures in authority. Some of the better known of them were: Nicodemus ("victory of the people"), Hillel, Gamalier, Paul and Josephus.Short list of beliefs:
- They believed that God controlled all things yet individuals had the power to make decisions that contributed to the outcome of a person's life;
- They believed in the resurrection of the dead;
- They believed in the existence of penalty or rewards after death in a spiritual realm; and
- They believed in the existence of angels and demons.
As in many cases, it is the "bad apples" who create negative publicity for the whole group. They have played an important part in Jewish culture. Josephus, a Pharisee, saved precious texts during Jerusalem's catastrophe, making them available to readers today. The Apostle Paul, a Pharisee, travels the length and breadth of the Roman world spreading the Gospel of Christ. The Pharisees, in the groups' beginning, fostered a restoration and reverence for God's law that had been absent in Israel. They brought Israel back.
Scribes
These were the lawyers or interpreters of the Jewish Law and traditions.The Essenes
This was a sect of people living near the Dead Sea. They rejected the Temple and religious life under the city leaders as corrupt, immoral and contrary to the true law of God.Hillel & Shammai's Schools
Ultimately, every we do condenses into a pool of philosophy. This is why universities award Ph.D. (doctors of philosophy) for mastery of the philosophy of history, mathematics, divinity, etc. For the Jews in Palestine, development of a philosophical platform was essential in interpreting and transmitting the word of God in an understandable way to the people.Prominent among the teachers of rabbis and the law were Hillel and Shammai. The outgrowth of their beliefs, influence and power are seen in the lives and words of Jesus, Paul and the early Christian apologists.
Hillel (100-20 CE).
Hillel was known for his open heart, open mind, peace-loving, gentle disposition. He invited discourse with Gentiles and Jews alike. His interpretations of the law leaned toward honoring the spirit rather than the letter; loose constructionist. He was known to be patient, civil, flexible and compassionate. Legend had him living 120 years with 40 years spent in Babylon, 40 years studying and the last 40 years of his life as the spiritual head of the Jewish people. Many of Hillel's attributed sayings resemble Jesus' attributed sayings. Hillel's son is Simeon. His grandson is Gamaliel who was Paul's teacher and mentor. (Acts 22:3).Shammai (50 - 30 BCE).
Shammai was a rigid, strict interpreter of the Law of Moses. He was anti-Pagan and anti-Roman. His followers chose to join the revolt against Rome in 66-70 CE and they will be destroyed along with the Temple. He is a "strict constructionist" with fiery, incendiary rhetoric that is a Jewish fundamentalist.It is interesting to note that many of the disputes and conflicts written about between Jesus and others erupt from the beliefs of the Sadducees and their teachings on angels, resurrection, laws, etc. It is also interesting to note that Paul, a Pharisee among Pharisees, behaves more like a Sadducee when he persecutes the Christians.
John Hyrcanus (125-105 BCE)
John Hyrcanus was a Sadducee convert who became king of the independent state of Judea when it ruled all of Palestine.Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BCE)
Alexander was the son of Hyrcanus. As a Sadducee, he was offended the Pharisaical Jews by committing what they saw as malpractice of the temple ceremony. This lead to an appalling massacre of some 6,000 Jews and resulted in the persecution to the death of another 50,000 Jews.FOR FURTHER READING: Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners & Customs
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