THE INTERTESTAMENTAL PERIOD

What happened in the four hundred years that separate the last events recorded in the OT from the first events recorded in the Gospels?

The OT ends after the Jews had returned from exile in Babylon and rebuilt the city of Jerusalem and the temple there. This second temple was dedicated in 515 BC. It became the centre of Jewish life, the place where the restored priesthood offered sacrifices and where festivals were celebrated.

A new religious institution was also in place by this stage. It had emerged in the days when the temple lay in ruins and sacrifices could not be offered. This institution was the synagogue, a place where Jews came together on the Sabbath to worship God and to hear his word read and expounded. By the time of Jesus, synagogues existed all over Israel. Jesus worshipped in them regularly, and was often asked to read and teach (Matt 4:23; Luke 4:15-21).

Politics

At the time the temple was rebuilt, Judea was a province of the Persian Empire. This empire was overthrown by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, who conquered Palestine, Egypt, Syria and much of Asia, almost reaching the Ganges. Alexander sought to Hellenise those he conquered. In other words, his goal was to spread the Greek way of life and culture across his vast empire.

After Alexander’s death in 323 BC, his empire was divided among his generals. Ptolemy took control of Egypt, and Seleucus Nicator took control of Syria. Palestine (the name for Judea at that time) became a battleground as the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria sought to control this strategic area.

The Seleucids emerged victorious. They ruled harshly, although Antiochus III was less hostile to the Jews than his predecessors. He reduced their taxes and granted them the right to live in accordance with the law of Moses. However, his son, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, cancelled the concessions his father had made and intensified the Hellenisation process, ordering the construction of gymnasiums and stadiums in every city and forcing Jewish youths to go to these gymnasiums, where athletes competed naked. He insisted that Greek should be used and promoted Greek philosophies, religions and traditions. Although his policies were utterly at odds with the law of Moses and with Jewish culture, Antiochus was supported by some wealthy Jews and by certain priests who craved status and power.

Jews were forced to abandon Judaism and received the death penalty if they observed the law or the Sabbath or circumcised their sons. They also saw Antiochus plunder the temple and convert it into a shrine to Olympian Zeus, complete with heathen altars. They rose in revolt, led by a priest named Mattathias and his sons Judas (who was also given the nickname Maccabeus, meaning “hammer”), Jonathan and Simon. They were victorious, and the temple was reclaimed, cleansed and rededicated to the Lord. The Jews still observe the festival of Hanukkah to commemorate that rededication in 165 BC.

Mattathias’ descendants ruled over Judea as the Hasmonean dynasty. But conflicts with the Seleucids to the north continued, and so did tensions among the Jews. Influential new movements like the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots emerged (for more on these, see the article “The New Testament World”).

After several generations, conflict within the Hasmonean dynasty led one of them to seek an alliance with Rome, paving the way for the Roman conquest of Palestine in 63 BC. But the Romans did not favour the Hasmoneans, and Antipater, an Idumean rather than a Jew, won the favour of Julius Caesar and was appointed governor of Judea.

His son, Herod, ruled Judea from 37 BC to AD 4, and was the king when Jesus was born.

The Hasmonean rulers had come from a priestly family, and so could be both high priests and rulers. Herod could not do this. So as a competent but ruthless leader, he made sure that he was the one who chose and controlled the high priest. He also attempted to win the support of his subjects by providing food subsidies in a time of famine and promoted trade by constructing roads and building a new port city on the Mediterranean. He also built numerous palaces and fortresses. However, he did not win the full support of the Jews because of his Idumean blood. This may account for his decision to rebuild the temple, to prove his zeal for the Jewish God. But even this project was not enough to make his Jewish subjects trust him, particularly as he supported Hellenisation in other areas. He was closely associated with Rome – his new port was named Caesarea, and he renamed Samaria as Sebaste (the Greek form of Augustus).

But if Herod was not loved, he was certainly feared. He was famous for his cruelty, which extended even to his own family. He did not hesitate to murder even his wives and sons if he suspected them of treason. (For more on the Herodian dynasty, see the article “The New Testament World”.)

Literature

In the intertestamental period, the Jewish people struggled with political and cultural challenges to their faith and existence. The literature and theology of the time reflect their concern to defend their faith and continue as the faithful community of the God of Israel.

Because of the exile and the ongoing conflicts in the region, many Jews had fled and taken up residence around the Mediterranean region. They retained their faith but were losing the ability to read Hebrew, the language in which the OT was written. Accordingly a Greek translation of the OT was produced, for the process of Hellenisation had spread knowledge of Greek throughout the region.

This translation is known as the Septuagint because it is said to have been done by seventy scholars. Hence the name is often abbreviated to LXX (representing 70 in Roman numerals). It is the Septuagint that the Apostle Paul quotes in his letters.

The trauma of the period also led to the emergence of new styles of writing, including apocalyptic writing. Apocalyptic books use vivid symbolism to describe revelations about what God is doing in history.

This style was used to describe the sufferings of the Jews under Seleucid rule, and would later be adopted by the author of the book of Revelation to describe the sufferings of the disciples of Jesus at the hands of Rome. (See also the article “Introduction to Apocalyptic Literature”.)

This period also saw the production of a number of religious books written in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. While these books were not considered to have the same divine inspiration as the thirtynine books that make up the OT, they were recognised as having spiritual value. Today, books like Esdras, Maccabees, Tobit, Judith, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch and so on form a group known as the Apocrypha. They convey valuable information about the political developments, persecution and theological ideas of the time. Further information about the period comes from the writings of Josephus, a Jewish historian who lived in Palestine and Rome in the first century AD. His contemporary, Philo, a Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria in Egypt, used both literal and allegorical interpretations to explain the books of the OT. Still more information can be found in the writings collectively known as the Dead Sea Scrolls (see the article “Dead Sea Scrolls”).

Theology

Theologies are developed not only by revelations of God but also out of the experience of God’s interaction with people and involvement in human history. In any given situation, some theological ideas are emphasised and new ideas emerge. This is what happened in the intertestamental period. There was a growing awareness of the sovereignty of God and of his control of the history of the Israelites and of foreign nations. There was recognition that Israel was not only the suffering servant of God but was also intended to be a light to the nations. The Jews were also beginning to grasp that death was not the end, and that some form of resurrection awaited the faithful.

The threat of Hellenisation led to greater emphasis on the teachings of the Torah and on observance of its laws, particularly the Sabbath laws that set the Jews apart from other nations. The question of whether it was right to defend oneself from attack on the Sabbath was hotly debated. No wonder Jesus’ actions on the Sabbath aroused controversy!

As Hellenisation and persecution intensified, so did hopes for the

coming of a Messiah, a king from the line of David who would bring freedom and establish godly rule over an independent Judea.

Lessons for Today

The study of the intertestamental period does more than just help us to understand the NT better. It also challenges us to continue during times of persecution. Just as the Jews had to resist Hellenisation when it threatened to undermine their faith, so we may have to resist Hindutva, Sanskritisation or Islamisation. We too may have to decide what is at the core of our faith and cannot be surrendered. We too may have to trust in the sovereignty of God in turbulent times.

Jesudason Baskar Jeyaraj