Background of the period between
the Old Testament and the New Testament, The Intertestamental
Period
There are over 400 years that separate
the final events (Nehemiah 13:4-30) and final prophecy recorded in the Old
Testament around 424 B.C. (Malachi 1-4). The beginning
actions are narrated by the disciple Luke in the New Testament around 6 B.C. (Luke
1:5-25). This era is often called “the four hundred silent years” because there
was no prophetic word from God during this period. However, God was still
firmly in control as the history of these years precisely followed the pattern
predicted by Daniel as God and His angels revealed to Daniel several times as
described in Daniel 2:24,45; 7:1-28; 8:1-27; 11:1-35. We will explore each
instance in detail, below:
Babylonian
Empire (605-539 B.C.)
Jewish History
As predicted by Daniel, control of the
land of Israel passed from the empire of Medo-Persia to Greece, and then to
Rome according to Daniel 2:39,40; 7:5-7. For about 200 years, the Persian
Empire ruled the Jews from 539-332 B.C. The Persians
allowed the Jews to return, rebuild, and worship the temple in Jerusalem as narrated
in 2 Chronicles 35:22,23; and Ezra 1:1-4. For about 100 years after the close
of the Old Testament canon, Judea continued to be Persian territory under the
governor of Syria with the High-Priest exercising a measure of civil authority.
The Jews were allowed to observe their religious tenets without any official governmental
interference.
Persian
Empire (539-332 B.C.)
https://www.q-files.com/history/ancient-middle-east/persian-empire
Between
334 B.C and 331 B.C., Alexander the Great defeated the Persian King, Darius
III, in 3 decisive battles that gave him control of the lands of the Persian
Empire. The land of Israel thus passed into Greek control in 332 B.C. as
predicted in Daniel 8:5-7, 20, 21; 11:3. Alexander permitted the Jews in Judea
to observe their laws and granted them an exemption from taxes during their
sabbatical years. However, Alexander sought to bring Greek culture, called “Hellenism,”
to the lands he had conquered. He wished to create a world united by Greek
language and thinking. This became policy carried out by Alexander’s successors
and was as dangerous to Israel’s religion as the cult of Baal had been, because
the Greek way of life was attractive, sophisticated, and humanly appealing but
utterly ungodly.
Upon Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., a
struggle ensued among his generals as his empire was divided as described in Daniel
8:22; 11:4. Ptolemy I Sater, founder of the Ptolemies of Egypt, took control of
Israel even though an agreement in 301 B.C. assigned
it to Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucids of Syria. This caused continuing
contention between the Seleucids and Ptolemaic dynasties as described in Daniel
11:5. The Ptolemies ruled Judea from 301 B.C. to 198 B.C. as
described in Daniel 11:6-12. Under the Ptolemies, the Jews had comparative religious
freedom in a setting where they experienced economic oppression.
Greek
Empire (332-75 B.C.)
https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Greece/Alexander-the-Great
Seleucid
and Ptolemaic Empires
https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15183/map-of-ptolemaic-egypt-c-240-bce/
In 198 B.C.,
Antiochus III the Great defeated Ptolemy V Epiphanes and took control of
Palestine as described in Daniel 11:13-16. Judea was under Seleucid rule until
143 B.C.
as
described in Daniel 11:17-35. Early Seleucid toleration of Jewish religious
practices came to an end in the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.). Antiochus
desecrated and plundered the temple of Jerusalem in 170 B.C. In 167 B.C.,
Antiochus ordered Hellenization in Palestine and forbade the Jews from keeping
their laws, observing the Sabbath, keeping festivals, offering sacrifices, and
circumcising their children. Copies of the Torah were ordered to be destroyed,
idolatrous altars were constructed, plus the Jews were commanded by Antiochus
to offer unclean sacrifices and to eat swine’s flesh. Antiochus was the first
pagan monarch to persecute the Jews for their faith, as described in Daniel 8:9-14;
23-25; 11:21-35.
An aged pried, Mattathias and his 5 sons
led the Jewish resistance against Antiochus and his Seleucid successors. This
was known as the Maccabean Revolt because Judas Maccabeus (literally “Hammer”)
was the first leader among the 5 sons. After 24-years of war, from 166-142 B.C. the Jews
were able to gain their independence from Syria because of the growing Roman
pressure on the Seleucids. The descendants of Mattathias founded the Hasmonean
dynasty, a name derived from Hashmon, an ancestor of the Maccabees.
The Hasmoneans took over the office of
High-Priest, although they did not belong to the line of Zadok as prescribed in
Numbers 25:10-13; and Ezekiel 40:46,48:11. The Hasmoneans quickly began to embrace
Hellenistic ways, ironically the very practices they had resisted at first. The
Greek influence continued in Palestine from 142 B.C. 63 B.C. through
this native dynasty.
The Hasmonean dynasty ended in 63 B.C.
when Pompey, a general of Rome, intervened in a clash between two claimants to the
High Priesthood, Aristobolus II and Hyrcanus II. As a result, the land passed into
Roman control as described in Daniel 2:40; and 7:7. The continual unrest led
the Romans to make Herod the Great king of Judea. He was an Idumean by birth,
which means a Jewish proselyte, and deeply Greco-Roman in outlook. He ruled
Palestine from 37 B.C. to 4 B.C. and was the “king of the Jews” when Christ was
born as captured in Matthew 2:1,2.
Jewish Developments
Diaspora. The dispersion
(diaspora) of Israel began in two exiles, the first being Israel in Syria
described in 2 Kings 17:23, and the second of Judah in Babylon as described in
2 Kings 25:21. Most Israelites did not return to Judea after the exile and so
became colonists, no longer captives, in the Persian Empire. The geographical
movement of Israelites continued in the Greek and Roman Empires so that by the
first century A.D., Jews were found throughout the Mediterranean basin and Mesopotamia.
Most Israelites lived outside of Palestine during the later Intertestamental
Period.
Scribes and Rabbis. Believing the
Exile had come because of lack of knowledge and obedience to the Torah, the
Israelite exiles devoted themselves to the study of the Old Testament. The scribes
became experts in and were considered authorities on the interpretation of the
Scriptures during the Intertestamental Period. The rabbis were the teachers who
passed on the scribal understanding of the Scriptures to the people of Israel.
Synagogue. Since the temple was
destroyed in 586 B.C., the synagogue became the place of education and worship
for the exiled Jews. Since most Jews did not return to Palestine after the Exile,
the synagogues continued to function in the Diaspora and became established in
Palestine, even after the temple was reconstructed by Zerubbabel in 516 B.C.
Septuagint. Since political
emphasis was placed on using the Greek language from approximately 300 B.C.
onward, the Jews in the Diaspora became predominantly Greek speakers. According
to Jewish legend, in ca. 250 B.C., Ptolemy Philadelphus brought together 72 scholars
who translated the Old Testament into Greek in 72 days. Thus, the Latin word
for 70 “Septuagint (LXX),” also the name attached to this translation. Probably
translated over the period from 250 B.C. to 125 B.C. in Alexandria, Egypt, the
Septuagint was the most important and widely used Greek translation of the Old
Testament.
The
Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament,
also
known at the LXX in Latin, meaning “Septuagint”
Pharisees. This
religious party probably began as the “holy ones” associated with the Maccabees
in the endeavor to rid the land of Hellenistic elements. When the Maccabees turned
themselves to Hellenism once it was in power, these holy ones “separated” (the
possible source of the name, Pharisee) from the superficial religious establishment
of Judea. The Pharisees interpreted the law strictly in accordance with a
developing oral tradition and sought to make their understanding binding upon
all Jews. Though few in number, the Pharisees enjoyed the favor of the majority
of the people of Palestine.
Sadducees. Probably from the name “Zadok,”
the high priestly line mentioned in Numbers 25:10-13. These Hellenized,
aristocratic Jews became the guardians of the temple policy and practices. The
Sadducees rejected the Old Testament as Scripture, except the Torah (the first
five books of the Old Testament), as well as any teaching they believed was not
found in the Torah, for example the resurrection from the dead (Acts 23:6-8).
