palestine during the inter-testament times

8/13/2019 Palestine During the Inter-Testament Times

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Palestine during the Inter-

Testament times

RELB 116 Life and Teaching of Jesus


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The territory controlled by a king orpeople varied from time to time, and

was often disputed by other peoples.The coast-line has varied over the

years, particularly in the Gulf of Persia.

An approximation to the modern coast-

line is generally used in the maps


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The Break of Macedonian Empire

The Seleucid Empire was founded byAlexander's general Seleucis. His

descendents were generally namedeither SeleucisorAntiochus. India and

much of the lands to the east of Persia

revolted and returned to local rulership

on the death of Alexander


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Macedoniawas claimed by members ofAlexander's family, who were all

eventually murdered. The land revertedto the status of a small kingdom until it

was taken by the Romans


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Much of Greece had been virtuallyindependent of Alexander even during

his lifetime.


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On the break-up of the Empire, Greekcities started forming leagues for

defense. Some came under the control of several

of the competing generals, and there

was a rather confused period whichculminated in the take-over by the

Romans


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Setting the Stage

Following the conquests of Alexanderthe Great and his early death in 323

B.C., his empire was divided by four ofhis generals.


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Palestine initially fell under the rule ofSeleucus, who held authority over Syria,

but soon passed to Ptolemy, who hadgained authority over Egypt.


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This period under the Ptolemies from301 to 198 B.C. was generally one of

peace for the Jews. However, in 198B.C. the Seleucid king Antiochus III,

also known as Antiochus the Great, re-

conquered Palestine.


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At the death of Antiochus III, his sonSeleucus IV took the Syrian throne for

twelve years after which another son ofAntiochus III, Antiochus IV Epiphanes

(illustrious) rose to power in 175 B.C.


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Besides believing strongly in thesuperiority of the Greek culture, having

lived the past fifteen years as a hostagein Rome as part of a treaty made by his

father, Antiochus Epiphanes had

developed a taste for conquest.


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He detested anything Jewish and setout to destroy anything associated with

the Hebrew religion. Besides massacring forty thousand of

the residents of Jerusalem, Antiochus

Epiphanes stripped the temple of itstreasures and erected a statue of

Jupiter in the Holy Place.


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He ordered the offering of swine assacrifices and prohibited the practice of

circumcision. Along with this he madeevery effort to find and destroy all

copies of Scripture


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The Maccabean Period



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During this time, sometime in 167 B.C.,an officer of Antiochus Epiphanes

named Bacchides came to the village ofModin to impose upon the residents the

decrees of Antiochus.


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An elderly priest of the clan of Hasmonby the name of Mattathias stabbed

Bacchides to death and fled with hisfives sons (John, Simon, Judas,

Eleazar, and Jonathan) to the

mountains.


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Many others joined them in themountains to form a resistance

movement that would eventually lead toJewish independence. Among those

joining were the Hasidim who had

fervently resisted outside cultural

influences in order to remain faithful to

the Torah.


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Mattathias died in 166 B.C. and theleadership of the rebellion he had

begun fell to his son Judas (calledMaccabeus, the hammer, hence the

name Maccabean for the entire period

under the leadership of the

descendents of Mattathias).


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Judas proved to be an able man of war,for after a series of victories he

reopened, cleansed and rededicatedthe temple in 164 B.C., re-establishing

the daily sacrifice.


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This rededication is commemorated tothis day with the celebration of

Hanukkah, also called the Feast ofDedication, and was celebrated at the

time of Christ as is recorded in John

10:22.


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Since such a celebration would be atime of great patriotism one can well

assume what the messianicexpectations must have been when the

Jews came to Jesus on that day asking

if He was the Christ, as described in

John 10:24


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Though having succeeded in his fightfor religious freedom, Judas Maccabeus

continued to fight for political freedom.He met his death in battle in 161 B.C.

and the leadership passed to his

brother Jonathan.


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Their brother Eleazar had already diedin battle, reported by Josephus as being

crushed by an elephant that he stabbedwith his weapon while mistakenly

thinking Antiochus Eupator (the son of

Antiochus Epiphanes and who reigned

in Syria for two years following the

death of Antiochus Epiphanes) to be

mounted on said elephant.


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Jonathan gained great advantage inthat there was a dispute going on overthe throne of Syria at the time of his rise

to leadership.

Demetrius(who was the nephew ofAntiochus Epiphanes) and Alexander

Balas(who claimed to be Antiochuss

illegitimate son) both sought the support

of Jonathan by giving him concessions.


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Demetriusallowed Jonathan to freelymarch his army into Jerusalem, while

Alexander promised him the HighPriesthood.

Jonathan threw his support toAlexander and from that time on theHigh Priest was a Hasmonean.


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Fiensy observes that this was probablythe time that marks the beginning of the

Essene sect since many of the orthodoxJews were infuriated that the

Hasmoneans, who were not of High

Priestly lineage, would hold the office.


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Jonathan was successful in formingtreaties with Sparta and Rome and in

reinforcing the wall of Jerusalem.Nevertheless, in 142 B.C. he was

captured and killed by Tryphon, a

Syrian general who also coveted Syrias

throne.


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Simon, the remaining son of Mattathias(John having also died in battle shortly

before this time) ascended to power.Simon made a treaty with Demetrius II

who was contending with Tryphon for

Syria.


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Through this treaty Simon procuredpolitical independence for Judea for the

first time since the Babylonian exile. Aswas Jonathan, Simon also became the

High Priest.


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In 134 B.C. Simon was assassinated byhis son-in-law Ptolemy, who also

imprisoned and eventually killedSimons wife and two of his sons.

Despite the efforts of Ptolemy toassassinate him also, another son, JohnHyrcanus entered the power void left by

Simon


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As well as being High Priest, Johnmade political gains by conquering

Samaria and destroying the temple builton Mount Gerizim.

John also succeeded in conquering andconverting the Idumeans who in yearsto come would become the most

patriotic of the Jews.


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During this time his politics alienatedhim from the Pharisees and he began to

align himself with the Sadducees, whofavored the efforts toward Hellenization.


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Upon the death of John Hyrcanus in105 B.C., his son Aristobulus came to

power, assuming the title of king for thefirst time since before the Babylonian

exile.


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Ambitious and without scruples,Aristobulus starved his own mother to

death in prison and killed one of hisbrothers. Though he was able to

increase his influence with the

annexation of Galilee, Aristobulus only

reigned a year before dying of disease


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Alexander Jannaeus, brother ofAristobulus, assumed power and

reigned until 77 B.C. Though at one point the territory of

Judea actually surpassed the ancient

boundaries of the twelve tribes,Alexanders rule was marked by

violence, cruelty, and civil war.


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While enjoying the support of theSadducees, he was detested by the

Pharisees. During the civil conflict he had 800 of

the principle Pharisees of Jerusalem

crucified, executing their wives andchildren before their eyes as they hung

on the crosses


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When Alexander Janaeus died, his wifeAlexandra assumed the throne. During

the reign of Alexandra from 78 to 69B.C. the Pharisees gained considerable

influence and began to hold such

positions in the government that

Josephus wrote that the Pharisees

governed her.


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Already appointed High Priest by hismother, Hyrcanus II was Alexandras

rightful heir at her death, but his

younger brother Aristobulus II incited a

civil war and seized power, which heheld until 63 B.C. at the coming of the

Roman general Pompey, who first

defeated the Seleucids in Syria andthen conquered Palestine with much

bloodshed.


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Both Hyrcanus and Aristobulusappealed to Pompey for arbitration intheir quest for power.

Pompey sided with Hyrcanus,reinstalling him as High priest whileleading Aristobulus away to Rome as a

trophy of war.

Though High Priest, Hyrcanus was amere puppet in the hands of his

Idumean advisor Antipater.


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The Reign of Herods



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At the death of Pompey, Antipaterproved himself a faithful supporter of

Julius Caesar, who bestowed uponAntipater the title of procurator of Judea


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Two of Antipaters sons, Phasael andHerod, were given authority over

Jerusalem and Galilee respectively.After the assassination of Julius Caesar

in 44 B.C., Antipater and Herod gave

aid to the forces of the conspirators

Brutus and Cassius.


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By 42 B.C. when Brutus and Cassiushad been defeated by the forces of

Octavian and Mark Antony, Antipaterhad died by poisoning.

Mark Antony conferred on Phasael andHerod the title of tetrarch along with

responsibility of Jewish politics.


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Antigonas, a surviving son ofAristobulus II managed to put this in a

bad light and gained the support of theParthians to lay siege to Jerusalem.


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Phasael committed suicide before hecould be taken, and upon capturing

Jerusalem Antigonas cut off the ears ofHyrcanus (his uncle) so that he would

no longer qualify as High Priest. Herod

managed to escape and sought out

Antony in Alexandria.


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In 37 B.C., three years after Antigonashad seized power, Herod retook

Jerusalem with the support of theRomans.

Antigonas was executed, and Herodcontrolled of all of Palestine.


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Herod, also called Herod the Great, wasknown for great cruelty, even among his

own family. During the period of his reign he had

ten wives.


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The first was Mariamne, thegranddaughter of Hyrcanus II.

Herod was always suspicious of thepolitical ambitions of the survivingHasmoneans, so one by one he had

them murdered, including Mariamne.


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As time went on he also murdered histwo sons by Mariamne, Alexander and

Aristobulus IV. Herod was being true to his character

when he ordered the boy babies in

Bethlehem killed as seen in the Gospel

of Matthew.


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Just prior to his death he gave ordersfor the most distinguished men of

Jerusalem to be executed upon hisdeath so that the nation would be in

mourning upon his demise. Fortunately,

those orders were never carried out.


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Having ruined his popularity with thepeople through his own cruelty, Herod

sought to gain political points throughgrandiose construction, in Jerusalem

and elsewhere in Palestine. Most

notable of these constructions was the

temple


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Upon his death in 4 B.C., Herod left themajority of his kingdom to his three sons

Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip.Archelaus, also noted for his cruelty,

ruled over Idumea, Judea, and Samaria.

He only ruled for two years beforefalling out of favor with the emperor,

Octavian, and was banished to Gaul.


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Roman procurators then ruled over theregions except for a short period when

Agrippa I ruled. The most notable ofthese was Pontius Pilate, the fifth

procurator to hold authority. As with

procurators both before and after him,

Pilate did much to cause the hostilefeelings of the Jews toward Rome.


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Antipas, the Herod who beheaded Johnthe Baptist and before whom Jesus

appeared before His crucifixion, wasgiven the rule of Galilee and Perea.


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Antipas, who was half Samaritan (hismother being Malthace, the Samaritan

wife of Herod the Great) and alreadylooked upon with disdain by the Jews,

further scandalized the Jews by

divorcing his first wife and marrying

Herodias, the wife of his half-brotherPhilip.


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Herodias is characterized by one writeras being to Antipas what Jezebel was to

Ahab.

Her jealousy of her own half-brother,Agrippa I, would push her husband into

a play for power that would finally lead

to his banishment to Gaul in A.D. 39.


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Philip, the third of Herod the Greatssons to receive power was given

authority over northeast Palestine. He

reigned until his death in A.D. 34.


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Agrippa I, the son of Aristobulus IV whoHerod the Great had put to death, was

given the title of king over the territory

formerly ruled by Philip at Philips death.

Herodias, whose husband Antipas was

merely a tetrarch, prompted Antipas to

seek a higher title, whereby heappealed to Emperor Caligula.


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Agrippa I was a personal friend ofCaligula and wrote a letter to Caligula

accusing Antipas of having formed a

secret alliance with the Parthians. At

this word from Agrippa, Caligula

banished Antipas to Gaul and Agrippa

was given his territory.


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In A.D. 41 Caligula also gave to Agrippathe territory that had once been ruled by

Archelaus but had been under a Roman

procurator from A.D. 6 to 41. At his

death in A.D. 44, Agrippa was ruling the

same general area that Herod the Great

had ruled.


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At the death of Agrippa I, Palestinecame under direct Roman rule, Judea

being through the intermediary of a

procurator. In A.D. 53, Agrippa II, son of

Agrippa I, was made king over Philips

former territories.


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Like others before him, Agrippa IIcaused great scandal by his moral

debauchery, most notably the

relationship he had with his sister

Bernice. It was before this Agrippa that

the Apostle Paul presented his case in

Acts 26. Agrippa II died in A.D. 93 andwas the last of the Herods to rule.


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palestine during the inter-testament times

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