The World Of Jesus

Pheme Perkins, Reading the New Testament, ch. 2

Galilee, Samaria and Judea
Jerusalem: A Pilgrimage City
The Political and Social World
Religious Parties and Sects
Religious Customs and Beliefs
New Ideas and Symbols
The Religious Life of the People
Summary

Galilee, Samaria and Judea

We have all seen those humorous maps which claim to give the distorted view of the world held by particular persons or groups. We have also all watched the embarrassment of TV commentators when a crisis breaks out in some part of the world with which we are not familiar. Even lessons learned years ago in geography are not much good as names, boundaries and alliances shift with the turmoil of world events. If we are so unclear about the basic geography of the world we live in, it is hardly surprising to find even more confusion about the geography of the world in which Jesus lived.

Some of the political realities of that time (and of the area in our own time) were determined by the geographical location of the Jewish states. For all of its history, Palestine either has been dominated by a greater power, which left some autonomy to the local inhabitants, or when the great powers in the area were weak, it has managed to enjoy independence under a local dynasty and to expand its rule over the surrounding countryside. These periods of independence under David and Solomon in the tenth century B. C. and under the Hasmonean kings in from the mid-second century B. C. until Pompey's (Roman) conquest in 63 B. C. were often idealized. People looked back to them as the source of hope for a new independence in the future.

In 198 B. C. the Seleucid king of Syria, Antiochus III, gained control. His empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Aegean. He created larger administrative districts than had been the case under the Ptolemies, Samaria was the center of a district which included Galilee, Judea and Perea. But as the Maccabean revolt against Syrian rule in the 160's B. C. spread, Judea again became an independent district. Another district was {24} created along the coastal plain and one east of the Jordan. The Seleucid rulers also favored the establishment of independent Greek cities, since they found their most loyal supporters in the aristocracy of such cities. A number of cities east of the Jordan took the name "Antioch." Some Jews in Jerusalem also wanted to create a "Greek city," "Antioch," there. It was located on the western of the two hills that made up the ancient city and contained a marketplace and a fortress known as Acra. During the revolt, the city of Jerusalem was divided. The Jews were established on the temple mount, called "Mount Zion," and the Syrians and their Jewish sympathizers, called Hellenizers because they advocated Greek culture, were entrenched around the Acra.

Although the Seleucid generals were unable to relieve the fortress and although the rebels had established control over the other part of the city by 162 B. C., the struggle for complete independence from Syria would continue for several decades. In 152 B. C. the Syrians, beset by internal strife over succession, appointed Jonathan high priest and de facto ruler of Judea. He began to enlarge the territory over which he held control. But it was not until 141 B. C. that his brother Simeon, the last of the family of Maccabee brothers, was able to capture Acra and reunite Jerusalem. He also captured Joppa and made it a Jewish town and an outlet to the sea. His successor, John Hyrcanus, set about gaining a foothold on the "king's highway," which lay east of the Jordan, and then gaining the other international highway through Palestine, the Via Maris. After that he turned to conquer Samaria. The Samaritan temple on Mount Gerezim was destroyed. But the Samaritans continued to maintain a distinctive national and religious identity, venerating Moses and their version of the Torah, and tensions between Samaritans and Jews are clearly evident in the New Testament.

Fresh from clearing the Mediterranean of pirates, the Roman general Pompey took Jerusalem and its temple in 63 B. C. He returned the Greek cities to their former Gentile inhabitants. The Jews lost Joppa and the agricultural estates in the Jezreel valley. In addition, Pompey created a league of Ten Cities east of the Jordan, the "Decapolis." This league included Sythopolis on the west of the Jordan. Pompey seems to have intended that these cities would form a buffer zone between the Roman empire and the Arabian steppe. Augustus made them subject to Herod. Later they were part of the Roman province of Syria. These ten cities were thoroughly Greek in their outlook. We also have evidence for Jews continuing to live in Sythopolis, Gadara, Hippos, Trachonitis, and Gaulanitis. And in Roman times there was considerable traffic between Galilee and this area of the Transjordan. Mt 4:23-25 includes people from the Decapolis among those who listened to Jesus. Mk 5:1-20 and 7:31 even pre- {25} sume that Jesus went there to minister. The territories of Hippos, Gadara and Gaulanitis reached to the eastern shore of the lake.

Herod and His Kingdom

Herod the Great was named "king" of the region by the Romans in 40 B. C., though he required Roman help to assume the throne in 37 B. C. Herod was able to win favor with Augustus, who expanded his domain by giving Herod the coastal cities from Gaza to the Tower of Straton (except Ascalon), the city of Samaria and the cities of Gadara and Hippos. In order to show his gratitude Herod rebuilt and expanded the cities of Caesarea (formerly the Tower of Straton) and Samaria, renamed Sebaste, Greek for Augustus. In Caesarea, Herod built a great temple to Augustus. This temple is probably the one represented on coins by Herod's son Philip. Caesarea was also provided with a deep-water harbor, which provided the only secure anchorage between Joppa and Accho. Sebaste was provided with new city walls, a forum, a theatre and a temple of Augustus. Caesarea lay outside the boundaries of Galilee proper and probably did not have much influence on the lives of Galilean peasants. But Bethsaida, which Philip renamed Julias after Augustus' daughter Julia, lay on the shores of the lake and may have had frequent contacts with such Galilean settlements along the lakefront as Capernaum and Corozain.

The city of Tiberias was founded by Herod's son, Herod Antipas, in A. D. 13 and named after the emperor. It was on the lake in the most fertile part of Galilee and was noted for its hot springs as a "tourist attraction." However, the city was also built over an ancient cemetery, a site forbidden by Jewish law. (Even today, ultra-orthodox Jews instigated a lawsuit to stop building of a modern hotel over the old tomb area, claiming that that would hinder the resurrection of those buried there.) It appears that the Jewish inhabitants of this city belonged to the aristocratic circles associated with the Herodian court. Antipas is also said to have populated the city with the poor, who were given houses and plots of land.

Herod's kingdom comprised quite a mixed population, a Jewish element (Judea and Galilee), Idumeans (Herod was an Idumean), Samaritans (who already had a long history of friction with the Jews), and the non-Jewish population of the Greek towns. Herod's perpetual fear of an uprising led him to expand and strengthen the old fortresses of Alexandrium, Hyrcania, Machaerus and Masada and to build a new one at Herodium, the site of the royal tomb. Part of his rebuilding in Jerusalem included a fortified palace protected on the north by three towers. The lower part of one of these towers (archeologists are divided over which one it was) can still be seen today. Another fortress, Antonia, dominated the temple. {26}

Herod initiated an expansive rebuilding of the temple, which continued into the middle of the first century A. D. The Jewish historian Josephus claims that when it was finished some 18,000 people were out of work. Herod Agrippa II is said to have undertaken repaving the streets of Jerusalem in order to provide them with employment.

When Herod died (4 B. C.), the kingdom was divided between his three sons. Archelaus, the eldest, received Judea, which had the bulk of the Jewish population, Idumea and Samaria (including the cities of Cae-sarea and Sebaste). He was given the title "ethnarch." The other two only received the title "tetrarch." Herod Antipas, the second son, ruled over two widely separated areas, Galilee and Perea. The third, Philip, received the lands east of the Jordan. Herod's sister, Salome, received the towns of Jamnia and Azotus and the domain of Phasaelis in the Jordan valley.

Archelaus proved a bad administrator and after a short, turbulent reign was deposed in 6 A. D. His region was administered by a "prefect" of equestrian rank responsible to the legate of Syria. When Philip died in A. D. 34 his land was provisionally taken over by the imperial administration. In A. D. 37 Herod Agrippa (Agrippa I), Herod's grandson, was given the tetrarchy of Philip together with the region of Chalcis and the title "king" by the emperor Caligula, with whom he had grown up in Rome. In A. D. 39, Caligula exiled Herod Antipas and gave Agrippa his territory. Then the emperor Claudius gave Agrippa I Judea and Samaria. Thus, he regained almost all of the territory of Herod the Great. Agrippa I only ruled this domain for three years (A. D. 41-44). His son Agrippa II received Chalcis from Claudius in A. D. 53, and two-thirds of Perea and half of lower Galilee (Tiberias and Tarichaeae) in A. D. 54 from Nero. After he died (c. A. D. 95) the Herodian dynasty ceased to rule any part of the Jewish people.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a small town (pop. ca. 1200), which had been occupied since the second century B. C. It lay a couple of miles off a main road through lower Galilee. Sepphoris was the next large town to the northwest and was the administrative headquarters of the region. Galilee's southern boundary separated it from the Herodian estates in the Jezreel valley. Three important localities mentioned in the New Testament lie along the Sea of Galilee- Tiberias, Tarichaeae, or, as it is called in Aramaic, "Migdal Nunaiyya" (home of Mary Magdalene), and Capernaum. Upper Galilee consisted of highlands. In this region, there are peaks of over 3,000 feet. Mount Meron, the highest, is 3,963 feet. It is an area of rugged peaks, valleys, basins and gorges. Traffic did pass through the area destined for the port of Tyre along a road which appears to have run from Damascus over Paneas and through the Dishon valley. It is a region of {27} independent village life, which appears to have been strongly attached to ancestral custom. The principal city in this area was Gishala. Josephus complains that during the revolt against Rome, the peasants of Upper Galilee were more interested in farming than in defending the city (War 4:84). Although it is possible to establish boundaries between various territories and administrative regions, it is more difficult to describe the ethnic make-up of a particular area or city. From Hasmonean times, we find a desire to establish Jewish areas especially in Judea proper. But in Jamnia and Azotus their status as imperial estates would suggest some admixture of Gentiles, since the higher administrative ranks would probably have been filled by non-Jews. Similarly, Gentiles would have been involved in administering the royal estates in the Jezreel valley. (An example of such a person would be the "royal official" of Jn 4:46.) Some Greeks may even have moved into Jerusalem under Herod. The two large Galilean cities, Tiberias and Sepphoris, are careful to avoid human images on their coins and appear to have been Jewish municipalities. Yet, Herod Antipas is also reported to have settled Gentiles in Tiberias when he founded the city. Even Capernaum, which sat on the border of two regions as is evident by the customs collector there, appears to have had some Gentiles. Herod had settled colonies of veterans at Gaba, and a number of mercenaries may have stayed on after their discharge to become prominent figures in local villages. The centurions mentioned in the gospels may have been former legionary officers, who were now in charge of drilling native auxiliary troops (Mt 8:5-13; Lk 7:2-10). The Jewish population of Jerusalem was constantly increased by an influx of Jews from other countries.

Jerusalem: A Pilgrimage City

Jews from outside Palestine, called "the diaspora," regularly made pilgrimages to Jerusalem to celebrate the great feasts. Synagogues in the city appear to have been established to accommodate them. Excavations in Jerusalem have uncovered a large complex that had been donated by a person whose name clearly shows Roman origins:

Theodotus, the son of Vettneus, priest and archisynagogos (ruler of the synagogue), son of the archisynagogos, grandson of the archisynagogos, built this synagogue for the reading of the Torah and the study of the commandments, and the hostel and the rooms and the water installations for needy travellers from foreign lands. The foundations of the synagogue were laid by his fathers and the elders and Simonides. {28}

The combination of synagogue and lodging facilities would have made it easy for persons from a particular region to meet others who spoke the same dialect and to obtain help and advice. Tombstones in Jerusalem also attest to the influx of people from outside Jerusalem, perhaps to spend their last days and be buried there.

The Old Testament law commanded that adult males make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year (Ex 23:17; Dt 16:16). Persons from the diaspora could not fulfil that obligation literally. But diaspora communities sent representatives with the half-shekel tax for support of the temple that was required of all Jewish males. A Roman edict protected that offering as "sacred money" and mandated harsh penalities against any who might attempt to seize it.

Although only men are bound by the law, women and children clearly took part in pilgrimages and ceremonies. They are mentioned in inscriptions referring to Jews from the diaspora. In the diaspora itself, some wealthy women seem to have built synagogues and are honored with inscriptions conferring on them the same title as Theodotus, archisynago-gos. Others who came for the great festivals were proselytes, Gentiles who had converted to Judaism.

Reconstruction of the Temple.

The great pilgrimages and offerings strengthened the ties between Je- {29} rusalem and Jewish communities outside Palestine. Envoys and letters might then be sent from Jerusalem to the communities in the diaspora. The very early spread of Christianity from Jerusalem outward into the Roman world followed the patterns already established in Jerusalem's relationships to diaspora Judaism. The first converts at Pentecost are Jews visiting in Jerusalem for the Passover feast (Ac 2:5-11).

The Political and Social World

Our survey of the shifting boundaries, provinces, cities and rulers has already shown something of the "large scale" realities of political and social life in Jesus' time. The destiny of the country was in the hands of others far removed from most people. Excavations in Jerusalem's Upper City have revealed the luxurious villas and palaces of the high priests and other wealthy persons who might be the equals of members of Herod's court. But even the Herodian monarchs owed their position and what part of the land they ruled to personal ties and loyalty to Rome and even to personal relationships with members of the imperial family.

With the Herodian monarchy and the consolidation of Roman power in the region, Palestine was relatively peaceful and prosperous. The Jewish revolt of A. D. 66-70 was quickly extinguished in Galilee. Diaspora Jews made no move to join in an uprising, which they may have considered more a local struggle for power than the overthrow of a great oppressor. Roman edicts protected certain Jewish practices. The temple tax was protected as "sacred money" and exempted from prohibitions against the export of gold and silver. The sacred Torah scrolls were also protected. Any Gentile who stole the temple offering or Torah scrolls could be prosecuted for a sacrilegous act. The punishment was confiscation of one's property. Roman edicts also protected the Jewish sabbath by stipulating that Jews could not be issued a summons to appear in court on the sabbath, since failure to do so would cost them the case. Jews were exempt from obligations to perform certain "civic liturgies," that is, to pay for various public works projects- often enough with religious associations- and from compulsory service in the military. We find repeated complaints against local officials in the eastern part of the empire, which required Roman intervention to protect these rights.

Loyalty to a demanding and tenacious set of religious beliefs contributed to the cultural vitality of Judaism and provided a common bond between those who might otherwise have been sharply divided. Even considerable diversity between Jewish groups like the Pharisees and the Sadducees over religious practices and observance of the law did not shake {30} the common core of devotion to the temple and to the religious practices of Judaism. We do find sectarian groups, most radically the Essenes, who attacked the Jerusalem priesthood and the common interpretations of the law. A non-Zadokite priesthood, a religious calendar and an interpretation of the law that was not acceptable to the Essenes led them to paint a particularly dark picture of their fellow Jews. The sect had been founded by a member of a high priestly family in the mid-second century B. C. The founder, known to us only by the "code name" used in the sect, "Teacher of Righteousness," had apparently opposed the Hellenization of the Has-monean monarchy and their assumption of the high priesthood. The sect gave cryptic interpretations of prophecies by Habbakuk, which were said to reflect their origins. A certain "wicked priest" is said to have come and attacked the Teacher. Whatever the political events surrounding the sect's founding, its invisibility in the first century suggests that intense sectarian piety and isolation from fellow Jews were more characteristic of the Essenes than social or political critique.

This fact does not mean that Herod was always a model ruler. When John the Baptist spoke out against his marriage to his brother's (former) wife, he had John imprisoned and finally killed. Some of his attempts to ingratiate himself with the emperor Tiberius behind the back of the Syrian legate Vitellius only netted him an angry ally. When the Nabatean king, father of Herod's first wife, attacked, the Roman legate left Herod to suffer a stinging defeat. The Markan picture of village leaders, Herodian nobles and Roman military commanders gathered to celebrate Herod's birthday provides a likely image of the political unity in the region (Mk 6:21). The emperor Caligula exiled Herod Antipas in A. D. 37 in order to make his friend Herod Agrippa king. But in general the Galilee of Jesus' day appears to have been politically stable.

One must also raise cautions about over-dramatizing the economic divisions. No one doubts that the wealthy, especially the absentee landlords in Jerusalem, engaged in conspicuous consumption well beyond anything that the temple functionaries, petty traders, merchants, laborers and the like could ever imagine. But in the life of hundreds of Galilean villages the divisions are between rich and poor peasants. Although some of the best lands had come under royal and imperial control by the first century, there is no evidence for major disruption in village life or land ownership. Jesus' parables show us two types of land owner. There is the Herodian noble with slaves to act as stewards and peasants beset by their debts to such landowners. But there is also ample evidence for the continued viability of small holdings. In the parable of the prodigal son, the father, his sons and a few servants work the land (Lk 15:11-31). A father and two sons are {31} involved in cultivating a family vineyard (Mt 21:28-31). Zebedee, his sons and hired servants are working the fishing boats (Mk 1:16-20). The main hazards are natural disasters that lead to a bad harvest rather than policies of deliberate oppression of the poor.

It is difficult to measure the burden of taxation in this period. Taxes were levied on the produce of the land, on men, property, sale of animals and all transport of goods across boundaries. In addition, Jewish males paid a half-shekel for support of the Jerusalem temple. Religious law also commanded that people pay "tithes," a portion of the fruits of a person's labor, to the priests and Levites. What was subject to tithing, the strictness with which it was observed and whether tithes were paid to priests living in the local area or were paid in Jerusalem were all questions of some dispute in Jesus' day. The "tax collectors" who are scorned by the people in the gospels are those, like Levi, who collected the customs tolls and other fees connected with transporting goods across borders. They were generally suspected of becoming wealthy by various forms of fraud in collecting such taxes (see the story of Zacchaeus in Lk 19:1-10).

Taxes on the produce of the soil were supplemented by a "head tax." This tax applied to all who were subject to the Romans directly. Persons had to be registered on the tax rolls of the town or city in which they lived. When the Roman governor took over Judea in A. D. 6, a census was taken for tax purposes. Lk 2:1-2 thinks that Jesus' birth in Judea occurred when his parents went to Bethlehem for the census. However, they would not have done so for that reason. Taxes were collected according to place of residence, which was clearly in Herod's Galilee, not in Judea. By linking the two events together, Luke is able to present Jesus' parents as loyal Jewish subjects in the larger Roman empire. In Jesus' time, the "head tax" appears to have been set at "one denarius" or approximately a day's wage.

The wealthy, Hellenized Jews of the Herodian court and the high priestly families in Jerusalem served as intermediaries between Roman power and the populace. Agrippa even complained to the emperor that Pilate was cruel, took bribes and executed people without trial. The causes behind the eventual revolt against Rome in A. D. 66-70 are difficult to establish. However, it does seem clear that under the later governors, the Jewish upper class, which tended to be moderate, lost its ability to mediate potential conflicts. Josephus insists that as the war went on, moderates lost all voice to hot-headed radicals. The radicals were worse tyrants and oppressors than the Romans had ever been, he claims. The people may have been sympathetic early on, but by the end they were simply victims of violence that could no longer be controlled. Finally, in August of 70, Roman legions stormed the temple and fortress of Jerusalem, looting and {32} burning the city. The Roman capture of Jerusalem is commemorated on the triumphal arch set up in Rome by the victor, Titus. There you can see the great seven-branched candlestick from the temple being carried off in triumphal procession.

Before the Jewish revolt, there was a sizable Christian community in Jerusalem. We meet them in the letters of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles. Tradition holds that they fled the fighting by going across the Jordan to Pella. Some scholars think that many of them may have gone up to Galilee, which had surrendered early on in the war and settled in towns and villages there. The Jerusalem church had provided Christianity with a strong center of Jewish identity. Paul insisted that his Gentile converts show their gratitude by making an offering for the poor there (2 Co 8-9; Rm 15:25-29). After A. D. 7 Q, this center is lost. Christianity becomes independent of Judaism and emerges as a predominantly Gentile religion.

Religious Parties and Sects

The various religious parties within first century A. D. Judaism are grounded in both religious and political developments of the previous two centuries. Since the temple at Jerusalem formed the center of Jewish life, it is hardly surprising that the high priestly families in the city formed a wealthy, aristocratic elite. They are the owners of the large, richly decorated houses that archeologists have found in the Upper City. We have seen that some two centuries before, the high priesthood had become a political appointment. The high priest served at the pleasure of the rulers of Palestine. He might also be expected to exercise some influence with the ruling powers.

Of course, the elaborate services and sacrifices of the temple required many other priests, Levites and others to carry out the daily rounds of offering. The hereditary priestly families from the different regions had appointed times to come up to Jerusalem and serve in the temple. Priests were expected to observe special rules of purity. No one could be a priest who had any physical imperfection. There is a story that when Antigonus, a contender for the Jewish throne, was given the high priest Hyrcanus as a prisoner, "Antigonus mutilated his ears with his own teeth so that never again could he resume the high priesthood" (Josephus, War 1:270). In addition, appointment to the high priesthood was limited to a few families, who were often referred to as "high priests" or "sons of high priests."

The high priest did not minister in the temple every day. He would appear there on the sabbath, on special festivals and on the annual day of repentance, Yom Kippur, when he alone entered the most holy sanctuary {33} of the temple. Here is the description that Josephus gives of the splendid garments that the high priest wore for that occasion:

When ministering, he wore breeches which covered his thighs up to the loins, a linen undergarment, and over that a blue robe reaching to his feet, full and tasseled; to the tassels were attached alternately golden bells and pomegranates, the bells signifying thunder and the pomegranates lightning. The embroidered sash that bound the robe to the breast was adorned by five bands in different colors- gold, purple, scarlet, linen and blue, with which the curtains of the sanctuary were also woven. The same combination appeared in the high priest's ephod (possibly a cape to which the breastplate was attached), gold being predominant. Shaped like an ordinary breastplate, it was held by two golden brooches set with very large and beautiful sardonyxes (an unknown gem) engraved with the names of the twelve tribes. On the other side were twelve more stones in four groups of three- sardius, topaz and emerald; carbuncle, jasper and sapphire; agate, amethyst and jacinth; onyx, beryl and chrysolite- and on each of these was the name of one of the heads of the tribes. On his head the high priest wore a tiara of fine linen wreathed with blue and circled by another crown of gold on which were embossed the four sacred letters (of the name Yahweh). (Josephus, War V:231-35)

If you look at a diagram of the temple area, you will see that it was divided into a number of chambers and courtyards. Only the officiating priests entered the court immediately in front of the temple where the great altar and the places for slaughtering the sacrificial animals were located. Only Israelite males were permitted beyond the walls which separated the temple area from the court of the women. Non-Jews were not even permitted as far as the court of the women. Israelite men who were not in a state of ritual purity were confined to the court of the women. Persons suffering from leprosy or related types of disease were barred from the holy city of Jerusalem altogether. (Notice that Jesus sends a leper he has healed to the priests to make an offering and to have it attested that he is no longer unclean- Mk 1:40-44.)

A group generally known as "the scribes" had emerged as interpreters of the law in the period after the exile. But it is the group known as the Pharisees, who had the widest influence on the interpretation of the law in the time of Jesus. They originated sometime in the second century B. C. out of the various groups known as "the pious." These groups had re- {34} sponded to the threats of Hellenism by emphasizing the importance of carefully observing the law in daily life.

Both priests and lay people might belong to the party of the Pharisees. The aim of Pharisaic interpretation of the law was to make every sphere of life holy. The developing tradition of oral interpretation of the law enabled the Pharisees to advocate interpretations that could not be strictly main- {35} tained on the basis of the written text. Essene writings appear to be attacking Pharisaic interpretations of the law when they claim that many are being led astray by the "seekers of smooth things." This objection shows that the Pharisees were not always rigid conservatives in interpretation. Their goal was to find an application of the law that both respected its importance and could be lived out in the circumstances of ordinary life.

The name "Pharisee" comes from the Hebrew p'rushim, "separated ones." What this meant was that the Pharisees tried to separate themselves from all that was impure. They were careful to observe the rules for food preparation and meals, perhaps even taking on as laymen rules that had originally only applied to those who were priests. They were also careful to pay tithes on everything that might possibly be subject to the tithing. Although the Christian parable holds him up as a figure of scorn, the Pharisee in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector (Lk 18:10-13) is a good example of the serious devotion to God felt by members of this sect. The Pharisees were the ones who were able to restructure Judaism after the destruction of the temple and its cult. The oral law was codified in a work known as the Mishnah around 200 A. D. Thus, the Pharisees, not the high priests, were the ancestors of rabbinic Judaism and, through the rabbinic traditions, of the various forms of Judaism that we know today.

In the first century B. C., the Pharisees had been engaged in political struggles for influence with another party known as the Sadducees. The Sadducees represented the wealthy aristocracy and the priestly families. They opposed the "oral law" of the Pharisees along with other innovations in Jewish belief such as belief in resurrection or an afterlife.

Religious Customs and Beliefs

A COVENANT PEOPLE LIVING BY GOD'S TORAH. The law, which had been given by God, provided the basic framework for Jewish life. The different parties and sects might dispute one another over the interpretation and application of the law, but no one would think that a person who lived "outside" the law could expect to enjoy God's blessing. For those who lived in Palestine, the law was also the basis for all legal relationships between people. It was not just a set of religious rules. Jews living in minority communities in the diaspora were probably allowed to conduct their own internal affairs according to the law as well.

We may have a hard time understanding why the law is so important or why challenges to it from the early Christians excited so much controversy even among Christians. One must remember that "the law" is not an arbitrary set of rules. The law was understood to be God's revelation to {36}

Moses on Sinai. There the nation had entered into a covenant, a solemn pact, with God to abide by the law and to honor no other gods. In return, the people of Israel would enjoy a special place as God's chosen people. God would protect, guide and bless them throughout their history.

When things did not go well for Israel, many people sought the cause in Israel's failure to remain faithful to the law. The Essene sect saw most of the history of Israel as infidelity. Here is a description of the prayers said when new members were accepted into their group. You will notice that joining the sect was said to be entering into a "covenant before God." This "new covenant" replaces the disobedience of the old covenant. (Christians would later insist that they had entered a new covenant with God through Jesus' death on their behalf.) {37}

Everyone who joins the community must enter into a covenant before God to do everything He has commanded and not to turn away from Him through fear or through any trial to which one may be subjected by Belial (= Satan)... then the priests are to recount the bounteous acts of God and to recite His tender mercies toward Israel. The Levites are to recite all the sins and transgressions that the children of Israel have committed as a result of the dominion of Satan. Everyone who enters should make a confession saying: "We have acted wickedly; we have transgressed; we have sinned and done wickedly, we and our fathers before us by going against the Truth. God has been right to bring His judgment on us and on our fathers before us. But from ancient times, He has been merciful to us and always will be." Then the priests are to bless all those who cast their lot with God... and the Levites to curse all who have cast their lot with Belial.

The Essenes believe that God's mercies to Israel will be given to faithful members of the sect. Most Jews would not have drawn the sharp division within Israel that is presupposed by the sectarian Essenes. They might agree that the people had sinned against God through disobedience but would expect God to raise up a new king and to bring the nation out of sinfulness to righteousness. Here is an example of such expectation from one of the "Psalms of Solomon." They are a collection of eighteen psalms apparently written in the middle of the first century B. C. Ps Sol 2:30-35 alludes to the death of Pompey in Egypt in 48 B. C. The Psalms of Solomon emphasize the covenant, the coming destruction of sinners and the eternal life which awaits those who are pious. Ps Sol 17:23-51 describes an "anointed" king like David who will come to lead the people:

... we hope in God, our deliverer. For the might of our God is forever with mercy. And the kingdom of our God is over the nations in judgment forever. You, O Lord, chose David as king over Israel, and swore that his kingdom would never fail before you. But, because of our sins, sinners rose up against us... They did not glorify your name... They destroyed the throne of David in tumultuous arrogance... Look on their plight and raise up for them, their king, the son of David... and gird him with strength so that he can destroy the unrighteous rulers, and throw out of Jerusalem the nations that trample her to destruction... and he shall gather a holy people and lead them in righ-

{38} teousness... and he shall force the pagan nations to serve under his yoke; and he shall purify Jerusalem, making it holy as of old; so that nations will come from the ends of the earth to see His glory.

The selection from the Psalms of Solomon supposes that God can bring about the blessings of the covenant by raising up a king from the Davidic line who will cast out foreign rulers and create a holy and great nation. In the early days of the Maccabean revolt, people had thought that such a reform might come about. But by the time the Psalms of Solomon were written, it was evident to all that the ruling kings could not be described in such terms.

GOD'S NEW ORDER TO DESTROY EVIL. Another writing from the very end of the first century B. C., the Assumption of Moses, proposes a somewhat different version of this hope for a nation free from evil. Ass. Mos. 6:2-6 lashes out at Herod the Great:

An insolent king will succeed them (the Hasmoneans), who will not be of the race of the priests, a man bold and shameless, and he will judge them as they shall deserve. And he will cut off their chief men with the sword, and will destroy them in secret places, so that no one may know where their bodies are. He will slay the young and the old, and he will not spare anyone. And fear of him will be bitter... for thirty-four years.

Ass. Mos. describes a bitter period of persecution suffered by the righteous. This persecution originally reflected the conditions under Anti-ochus IV. But the author sees it as the final wicked bloodshed that will demand God's response:

His (= God's) Kingdom will appear throughout creation. And then Satan will no longer exist, and sorrow will depart with him. And the hands of the angel appointed chief will be filled, and he will avenge them against their enemies. For the Heavenly One will arise from His royal throne, and He will go forth from His holy dwelling, with indignation and wrath on account of His children.

The earth will tremble and be shaken to its depths. The high mountains will be leveled and the hills be shaken and fall.

{39} And the horns of the sun be broken and it will turn dark; the moon will not give her light and be turned to blood... For the Most High, the only Eternal God, will arise, and He will appear to punish the Gentiles, and He will destroy all their idols. Then you, O Israel, will be happy... and God will exalt you, and bring you near to the stars. And you will look down from above and see your enemies in hell. And you will recognize them and rejoice. And you will give thanks and praise to your creator.

(Ass. Mos. 10)

This vision breaks the boundaries of mere earthly rulers. God arises from the heavenly throne and creates the new order of things. Indeed, God's action follows directly upon the death of a martyr, Taxo and his sons. Taxo, a righteous person, chooses to suffer that death so that God will come and deliver the people. This understanding of the martyr's death is very important in the New Testament. It originates with the promise of Dt 32:43 that God will avenge the "blood of his children." The same promise is invoked in the martyr story of the heroic mother and her sons in 2 Mc 7. Sinful Israelites deserve any fate that comes to them. But when the innocent righteous suffer persecution and death, God must become their defender. In the New Testament, Christians were able to understand the death of Jesus as the offering of an innocent, righteous person to free a sinful humanity from the punishment due its sins against God (Rm 3:24-26).

You may have noticed that human sinfulness is not the only reason given for evil in many of these passages. Perhaps you were not surprised to find references to Belial (or Satan) as the source of evil. But if you look carefully in the Old Testament, you will see that there is little mention of Satan. Evil is human doing pure and simple. Sometime in the period after the exile, the Israelites picked up a new idea, the idea that there was a demonic principle of evil that worked in the world to corrupt God's creation and to lead human beings astray. As a result, it would never be possible to have humanity obey God as it was meant to without destruction of this evil power.

The Essenes give a dramatic expression to this view. They speak of human beings as divided into two types. Some are guided by the "angel of light," others by the Satanic "angel of darkness":

Now God created man to rule the world and appointed two spirits whose direction he would follow until the final Judgment: the spirits of Truth and of Falsehood. All who practice righteousness are under the domination of the Prince of Light and walk in light; {40} all who practice evil are under the Angel of Darkness and walk in darkness. Through the Angel of Darkness, however, even those who practice righteousness are made prone to error. All their sins and transgressions are the result of his domination, which is permitted by God's inscrutable design until the time He has appointed. But the God of Israel and His Angel of Truth are always there to help the sons of light. God created these spirits of light and darkness and made them the instigators of every action and thought.

New Ideas and Symbols

These selections show us that a number of new ideas had come into circulation in the two centuries prior to the time of Jesus. These new religious ideas and symbols were ways of understanding the significance of what was happening in Israel's history. First, the direct links to the Davidic kingship and to the Zadokite priesthood had been broken. The existing kings and high priests were no longer in that line of descent. Had God broken the promise to sustain the Davidic line forever? Some people might have been political pragmatists and presumed that the Davidic kingship no longer mattered. Israel simply had to get along in the world she had. But other people, observing the abuses of the present monarchy, answered that God was always faithful and merciful. God would soon raise up a righteous and just king of David's line. Along similar lines, groups with a strong attachment to the priesthood like the Essenes held that God would also restore the true priesthood. A recently published Temple Scroll from the Essene collection speaks of an entirely new temple and of special rules of purity that would be observed in the holy city of Jerusalem.

Second, there is clear disagreement over the relationship between human action and divine action in bringing about this new order. Some writings speak as though the new leaders, king (and priest), would simply emerge from the people as had been the case in the past. Others have given up on that view. Only direct divine intervention, or divine intervention through a heavenly figure, can destroy the wicked from the earth and break the power of Satan. Here is a long passage from a Jewish writing describing the ideal high priest. The passage is presented as a revelation given by the dying Levi to his sons:

Then the Lord will raise up a new priest. And all the words of the Lord will be revealed to him, and he will judge the earth righteously for many days. His star will arise in heaven like that {41} of a king, and light the light of knowledge as the sun does the day. He will be magnified in the world, and shine forth on the earth like the sun, and remove all darkness from under heaven. There will be peace in all the earth, and the heavens will exult in his day, and the earth will be glad. And the glorious angels of the Lord's presence will be glad in him. The heavens will be opened and sanctification will come upon him from the temple of glory, with the Father's voice as from Abraham to Isaac. The glory of the Most High will be uttered over him, and the spirit of understanding and holiness will rest upon him. And no one shall ever succeed him. In his priesthood the Gentiles will increase in knowledge (= religious devotion to God) and be enlightened through the graciousness of the Lord. In his priesthood sin will come to an end, and the lawless will stop doing evil. He will open the gates of paradise, remove the threatening sword against Adam, and give the holy ones the tree of life to eat, and the spirit of holiness will be upon them. He will bind Beliar, and give his children power to tread on evil spirits. And the Lord will rejoice in his children, and be pleased with his beloved ones forever. Then Abraham and Isaac and Jacob will exult, and I (= Levi) will be glad, and all the holy ones will clothe themselves with joy.

We can see that like the passage from Ass. Mos. this image of the coming high priest goes beyond the boundaries of possibility for the world as it is. Various signs indicate his coming. (Some of them should be familiar to you from the Christmas stories in the gospels.) This high priest is not limited by human knowledge since "all the words of the Lord will be revealed to him." His appearance will bring about an era of peace when even the Gentiles will come to acknowledge God.

Sin will come to an end and a redeemed humanity will enjoy the fruits of paradise. However, only those who are found righteous at the judgment inaugurated by this high priest will participate in this glorious future. The theme of a universal judgment at the end of history and the world as we know it is another one of the "new ideas" which had developed in this period. The patterns of "salvation history" in the Old Testament had the nation as a whole suffer divine judgment through natural disasters or at the hands of enemy nations. Balancing punishment and rewards with each individual was not an issue. The persecution and suffering of righteous persons in the post-exilic period sparked reflection on how God's "justice" was present in individual lives as well as the corporate life of the nation. A judgment {42} scene such as that presupposed in this passage was one way of answering such questions.

A fourth "new idea" is embodied in the dualism associated with the emergence of Satan and myths of angelic (demonic) forces at work behind the evils of the world. Such dualism could never become absolute, since the Israelite believed in God's sovereign power as Creator of all things. Therefore, judgment is also a time in which God's rule over all of human history is made evident. Everything which had been contrary to God's purposes is destroyed. Some writings of this period introduce the idea of set periods of history. God knows the evils that are to come in each. God also controls their unfolding. Usually, most of the ages are said to have passed. The author assures the readers that they live close to the end of the times. Frequently, the overwhelming evils of the present are seen as symptoms of the final evil age in which people are living.

Global wars, famines, persecution of the righteous and an increase in evil are commonly presented as signs of the "end-time." One of the most influential "historical surveys" is that in the concluding section of the book of Daniel (Dn 7- 12). It employs a traditional scheme of four world empires. This scheme is combined with mythic images of four beasts coming out of the sea. The myth of the god defeating the dragon monster of the watery chaos in order to establish order is a very ancient one in the near east. Yahweh slays the dragon in creating the world (Jb 26:7-13), or with the exodus (Is 51:9-10). The terror and chaos of the mid-second century B. C. is evoked in these images.

"One Like a Son of Man"

Dan 7 switches to a scene of heavenly power, also derived from mythic symbols. "One like a son of man" ascends to the throne of the Ancient of Days. Israelite imagery describes Yahweh as the one who rides on clouds. But the image is taken from the Canaanite myths of Baal, the divine figure who conquers the evil sea monster. Baal is a younger god, subordinate to 'El, the father of gods and human beings. Daniel is using this imagery to assure the readers that the persecution of Antiochus is the culmination of demonic evils. It will come to an end with glorious divine victory. Instead of analyzing the situation of his time in human terms, Daniel sees it in the cosmic terms of archaic symbols.

The New Testament applies "Son of Man" to Jesus. The heavenly origins of the "Son of Man" figure are evident in the association with angels (Mt 13:41; Mt 16:27; Mt 24:31; Mt 25:31; Mk 8:38; Mk 13:27,41; Lk 9:26) and the exercise of judgment. Here is a description from a Jewish writing of the New Tes- {43} tament period that pictures the "Son of Man" enthroned in judgment. Notice that the righteous and elect have been raised up from the earth to a joyous fellowship with the Son of Man:

And the Lord of Spirits seated him on his glorious throne and the spirit of righteousness was poured out upon him and the word of his mouth slays all the sinners... and they shall be downcast. Panic will seize them when they see the Son of Man sitting on his glorious throne. The kings, the mighty and all who possess the earth will glorify and praise the one who rules over all and who was hidden, for the Son of Man was hidden from the beginning; the Most High preserved him in his mighty presence and revealed him to the elect... And the righteous and the elect will have risen from the earth and cease to be downcast. And they will be clothed with glorious garments. (1 Enoch 62, 2-15)

We can see that later writers understood the heavenly context of Daniel's judgment scene. When "Son of Man" is used in connection with Jesus it should evoke images of a heavenly savior figure who represents the righteous community on the supernatural level. The revelation of the Son of Man at the judgment is the ultimate vindication of the righteous and their cause. "Son of Man" was not intended to make a point about Jesus' humanity in contrast to the expression "Son of God." In fact, "Son of God" was an expression with more human overtones than "Son of Man." It could be used for the king or for Israel as a whole or for a person who was particularly wise or righteous.

Writings like Daniel are often called "apocalyptic" from the Greek word for "reveal" because they claim to reveal the secrets of God's plan for the world, the judgment and secrets of the heavenly world. Apocalypses frequently repeat the same sequence of events in parallel visions using different symbols. Dn 8 and Dn 10-12 form such a parallel. Dn 9 interprets the prophecies of Jr 25:11-12 and Jr 29:10 that seventy years after the Jews were taken into captivity by the Babylonians 587 B. C.) they would be restored to their land. The focus of the interpretation is on the last "week of years," the time in which Dan is being written. During that time there was an "anointed one" (Onias III, reported in 2 Mc 4:3) and the temple is profaned. However, these evil days are coming to an end. Dn 10-11 explains that there is a great conflict of heavenly powers behind the historical struggles of the sage Daniel during the Babylonian period and of the author's own time during the persecution of Antiochus IV. Dn 11:32 predicts that Antiochus will "seduce with flattery those who violate the {44} covenant," that is, those Hellenizing Jews who supported the Syrian king's policies. But the people who "know God" will be led by "the wise" to stand firm.

Resurrection of the Righteous

Dn 12:1-3 introduces another new theme for Judaism in this period: the resurrection or exaltation with the heavenly hosts for the righteous. Here, that destiny is a special reward for the "wise." "Shining like stars" means that they become companions of the angels in heaven. This image of the resurrection of the righteous appears in 1 Enoch 39:5: "the dwelling places of the righteous are with the holy angels." Jesus uses it in Mk 12:25 to answer the Sadducees' objection that resurrection is a foolish idea. The Essene writings do not contain explicit reference to resurrection, but some scholars think that resurrection is presupposed in the Essene view that members of their sect are purified and given a place with the angelic host as in this hymn:

You (= God) have taken a spirit distorted by sin, and purged it of the stain of transgression and given it a place in the host of the holy ones, and brought it into communion with the sons of heaven. You have made mere humans to share the lots of the spirits of knowledge; to praise your name in their chorus. (1 QH 3:19-21)

Many other images of exaltation in God's presence or resurrection to new life or new creation can be found in this period.

It is also the view of apocalyptic writers that the events in history are guided by powers that are beyond human control. Without heavenly revelation, one would never know that the events on the stage of human history are really part of God's salvation. Salvation must come with God's divine power. The apocalyptic writers do not think that human beings can create God's rule on earth by some political and religious revival. Evil has much too much power for that. Some apocalypses even speak of salvation as a form of heavenly life.

Because Christians refer to Jesus as the messiah (the word simply means "anointed"), they sometimes imagine that there was a special agent of divine intervention, "the messiah," whom all Jews were waiting for. It's not that simple. Both kings and priests were "anointed." Some people thought that God would deliver the people from their present evils by restoring a king from the descendants of David to rule over Israel. Others thought that the corrupt high priesthood would be replaced with a true {45} one. Others believed that God would raise up two "anointed" figures, a king and a righteous high priest. Still other people thought that salvation would be brought through a heavenly figure- for example, the angel Michael might defeat the evil angels, or, perhaps, the mysterious, heavenly "Son of Man" would come in judgment and defeat the enemies of God's people. And many other apocalypses speak as the prophets do of God acting directly in human history.

The Religious Life of the People

Apocalyptic visions and their prophecies about the great empires of the world have contributed much religious symbolism to the New Testament. But much of Jesus' audience was from the general populace. They were not members of any special religious group devoted to the study of the law or to interpreting such visions. For them, religious life was part of the daily routine of the home and the local synagogue.

SYNAGOGUE. The structure of the sabbath services in the synagogue appears to have been quite simple. Singing a Psalm was followed by reciting the "Shema" (Dt 6:4-9; Dt 11:13-21; Nm 15:37-41) and the Blessings. A reading from the law would be followed by a reading from one of the prophets. Then someone would give a sermon on the scriptures. A blessing by the president of the synagogue was followed by the priestly blessing from Nm 6:24-36. Some scholars think there was a three year cycle for the readings from the law. The "president of the synagogue" was often a person who had donated the synagogue building. NT examples suggest that any adult male could be called upon to read and explain the law, though it may have been normal to pick out persons who were known for their knowledge of the law.

The religious center of Judaism remained the temple. The synagogues were places to meet, pray and study the law. They were not "sacred places" like the temple which was the place in which God dwelt. Jews living outside Judea would make pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Many could not make the three yearly journeys called for in the religious calendar. So Jews adopted the practice of praying at the times when sacrifices would have been offered to God in the temple (Dn 6:10-13). The first century Jewish historian Josephus retells the story of Moses to include the command to pray three times a day (Antiquities 4:212).

Our earliest example of a synagogue building comes from the beginning of the third century B. C. It is referred to by the Greek word for prayer (prosuche). Other examples have been found in every part of the {46}

Roman world. After the Roman general Pompey conquered Judea he brought Jewish prisoners to Rome (63 B. C.). By the first century A. D. there was a large Jewish community in that city. It was the basis for the earliest churches there, which were established by 41 A. D. However, the extensive remains of synagogues in Galilee are all from the third century A. D. onward. The New Testament remains our only evidence that there were already synagogues there in Jesus' day. They were probably much simpler than these later synagogues, which had been built along the lines of a "temple," with a special ark for the Torah scrolls and more elaborate decoration.

GREAT FESTIVALS. Pilgrimages to the temple in Jerusalem were linked with the agricultural seasons. Galilean villagers probably thought that God's faithfulness was tied to their harvest as well as to the events of salvation that were remembered at each feast.

Passover (Pesah) is probably the best known to Christians because Jesus' death and resurrection occurred during this feast. Passover commemorates the fact that God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. They are told to remember (Ex 6:7; Nm 15:41) what God has done forever. We do not know exactly how the Passover meal was celebrated in Jesus' time. Groups large enough to consume a lamb would gather for the meal. Lambs were slaughtered in the temple the day before Passover. The basic rules for Passover observance are derived from Exodus: (1) remember annually (Ex 13:3); (2) eat unleavened bread (Ex 12:18); (3) cleanse all leaven out of one's house. Today, cleansing all the leaven from the house can involve an orthodox Jewish family in an extensive house cleaning- putting away all dishes used during the year; purifying ovens and refigerators, cleaning silver and utensils so that no particles of leavened food are left on them.

Traditions which go back to Jesus' time claimed that the leaven represented the "evil inclination" which leads people away from God. A first century Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, Philo, explained that leaven "puffs up" bread. Therefore, it symbolized the arrogance of the pharaoh who would not let the people go. The negative associations of "leaven" should be remembered when reading Jesus' parable of the leaven in Mt 13:33.

It is also important to notice how important remembering is in the Passover context. Christians would speak of the Eucharist as "remembering" the death of Jesus (see 1 Co 11:24-25). Remembering in this context is not just looking back into the past, it is a call to put ourselves back with those events and to recognize that they are also about us. The Mishnah tractate on Passover gives us an example of what is meant by commemoration: {47}

Rabbi Gamaliel used to say: "Whoever has not said the verses concerning these three things at Passover has not fulfilled his obligation. They are Passover, unleavened bread and bitter herbs. "Passover" because God passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt; "unleavened bread" because our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt; "bitter herbs" because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt. In every generation a person must regard himself as if he, himself, came forth from Egypt, for it is written, "And you shall tell your son on that day, It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt."

(m. Pesahim 10:5)

Pentecost (shavuot), was a more popular festival than Passover according to Josephus. Lv 23:9-22 prescribes that an offering be brought fifty days after the omer offering. The omer was a grain offering that marked the beginning of the spring grain harvest. This festival marks its end. Two loaves of leavened bread were presented in the temple. If you live in a farming area, you can see why the end of the spring wheat harvest would be an important feast for Galilean villagers. After the temple was destroyed by the Romans in A. D. 70, there was no place to make such offerings. The feast had also been associated with the giving of the law on Sinai. It could even be seen as the conclusion to the season that began with Passover. Today, there are no special rituals associated with Pentecost. Custom dictates that some Jews will decorate their homes and synagogues with green plants and eat dairy foods at Pentecost.

Tabernacles (sukkot) was the third agricultural festival. It celebrated the fall harvest (Ex 23:16). Lv 23:39-43 prescribes a seven day festival like Passover. The people are to dwell in huts during the festival and are to come to the temple waving branches of citron, palm, myrtle and willow, while singing praises to God. Zc 14:16-19 prophesied that when God judged the world all the nations that had oppressed Israel would annually go to Jerusalem at Tabernacles. Any nation that failed to do so would not receive rain for its crops. The gospel of John has Jesus deliver two discourses in the temple during the feast (Jn 7:14-39). They refer to Jesus as the source of living water, picking up the symbols of light and water from the temple celebration, and to Jesus going to teach the "Greeks," non-Jews.

Today, whenever they can, Jews build booths for Tabernacles. People will eat in them, especially on the first day of the feast, and perhaps hold discussions of the law there.

New Year. All cultures celebrate the New Year. Judaism marks it with solemn holy days, usually referred to as the "high holy days." They begin {48} with the first day of the year, Rosh Ha-Shanah, and end ten days later with the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. This is a period of serious reflection on the ways in which one has failed to be faithful to God during the past year. The people are to devote Yom Kippur to fasting and repentance before God (Lv 23:23- 32). In ancient times, the day was marked by special sacrifices. A "scapegoat" bearing the sins of the people was driven out into the desert and killed. The day of Atonement was the only day on which the high priest went into the most sacred part of the temple, the Holy of Holies.

In the New Testament, Heb uses the symbolism of the Day of Atonement for Christ. He is the High Priest who has entered the heavenly sanctuary by offering an atonement sacrifice that will never need to be repeated. Rabbinic traditions linked Rosh Ha-Shanah with creation. Synagogue worship focused on the theme of God as King over creation and as the one who continually renews creation. The three blessings recited in the synagogue reflect three fundamentals of Jewish belief: (1) God is King of the universe; (2) God intervenes in the world to punish the wicked and reward the good; (3) God has revealed himself in the law at Sinai and will do so again at the end of days.

Hanukkah. Unlike the festivals which go back to early times, the festival of Hanukkah originated in the second century B. C. under the Maccabees. It commemorates the rededication of the Jewish temple and is an eight day holiday modeled after Sukkot, which the people had been unable to celebrate while the temple was in pagan hands (2 Mc 10:6-7). Hanukkah is a minor feast in the Jewish calendar except in countries like the United States where it competes with the Christian celebration of Christmas. On each day of the feast, another candle in the eight branched candlestick, the menorah, is lit. During later centuries people forgot that the festival celebrated a military victory, and circulated a legend that although there had only been one flask of oil left in the temple, it kept the lamps burning for eight days. Sometimes the feast is also tied to the story of the mother and her seven sons who were martyrs for refusing to renounce Judaism (see 2 Mc 7). Or people may read the story of another heroic Jewish woman, Judith, who saved the people from a foreign enemy. Customs include playing games, singing special songs and gifts of money to the children.

Summary

Worship at the local synagogue, daily prayers, sabbath meals, the great pilgrimage feasts and other holidays of the Jewish calendar reminded people of their special relationship to God. They did not worship the gods {49} and goddesses of their pagan neighbors. Although it sometimes seemed that God had left the people at the mercy of the great powers, the Jewish people continued to look forward to the day when God would send them salvation.

Of course, they had many visions of what salvation would be like. Some thought that a new king like David would make Israel a great nation. Others imagined that the basis for a new life would be the complete renewal of the temple and its priesthood. Still others thought that evil had such a grip on the nations and on human institutions that they would all have to be judged and condemned. Salvation would be a heavenly, angel-like existence for those who had remained faithful to God. Some people felt that they should show their devotion to God by joining a sect which had a stricter interpretation of the law than that followed by most people. They might become Pharisees or Essenes. Others responded to John the Baptist's call to repent because the time of judgment was at hand. The gospels show us that many of those who followed Jesus came not from such pious sects but from the ordinary people who had been farmers or fishermen or collectors of taxes and the like.

Study Questions

Facts You Should Know

1. How were Galilee, Samaria, Judea and the Decapolis governed in the first century A. D.?

2. What were the three pilgrimage festivals? What did each one cele brate?

3. What was the "temple tax"?

4. What were the special Jewish privileges which Roman edicts pro tected?

5. What were the distinguishing characteristics of the following groups within Judaism: (a) priests and Levites; (b) scribes; (c) Sadducees; (d) Pharisees; (e) Essenes?

6. What expectations for the future did groups of Jews associate with each of the following: (a) "anointed king," like David; (b) "anointed priest"; (c) new covenant; (d) God's rule or kingdom; (e) judgment of the world; (f) "Son of Man"; (g) resurrection and/or heavenly exaltation of the righteous?

7. What was a synagogue? How is it different from the temple? {50}

Things To Do

1. Read Dn 7-12. Pick out the mythic images of battle between heavenly powers and demonic beasts. How do they describe the political situation of God's faithful people in the world dominated by great empires? Pick out the prayers uttered by the visionary and the words of consolation spoken by the angel. What message do they give the pious?

2. Read the story of the mother and her seven sons in 2 Mc 7. Pick out the words which the mother and sons say against the tyrant. What picture do they give of life as a faithful Jew? What does the hope of resurrection mean for the martyrs in this story?