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I The End of The Persian Empire
– Artaxerxes II. His brother (Cyrus the
younger) plotted against him, raised an
army (including 10,000 Greeks), and
almost won. Cyrus was killed
– Egypt declared its independence at
the accession of Artaxerxes and had
never been re-conquered. Cyprus,
Phoenicia and Syria also took
advantage of this weakness to revolt.
The western satrapies left Persian rule
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After Artaxerxes III, Darius III (336 BC)
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That same year, Alexander (age 20)
ascended the throne with a
commission from his father to fight
Persia (336-323)
Alexander the Great, a Macedonian by
nationality, was a Greek in culture;
educated by Aristotle
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Darius III did not take Alexander
seriously
He ordered Alexander seized and
brought to Susa
• Alexander defeated the Persians
• Again (in fall of 333 B.C.) Alexander
met a Persian army; size estimated
between 100,000 to 300,000 men
• Alexander won the battle of Issus by
superior tactics
– Dn.8:…5, 20-21; 11:…3
Alexander’s Mortality
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After conquering Tyre, he entered Egypt
where he was welcomed as a liberator
• Jewish traditions show Alexander in a
friendly light
• Josephus: “And when the Book of Daniel
was showed him, wherein Daniel declared
that one of the Greeks should destroy the
empire of the Persians, he supposed that
himself was the person intended”
– [Dn.7:6; 8:3-8, 20-22; 11:3; Mt.24:15]
• On his deathbed (June, 323 BC, age 32)
when asked who should inherit the throne,
he said, “the strongest”
II The Ptolemies of Egypt
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The Ptolemies permitted Jews to live
in peace and to continue their
religious and cultural traditions
They paid tribute to the Egyptian
governments, but High Priests
administered local affairs; they had
been entrusted with responsibility for
the government of the Jews since
Persian times
III The Jews Under The
Seleucids
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When Antiochus III invaded Greece,
Roman forces moved into Greece,
defeated him, and forced his retreat to
Asia Minor
– His younger son, later known as
Antiochus Epiphanes, was taken to
Rome for 12 years as hostage
(insurance)
– This gave him a healthy respect for
Roman power and procedures
Antiochus IV Ephiphanes
• Antiochus IV wore the surname
Epiphanes (“the illustrious”)
• Jews nicknamed him Epimanes (“the
madman”)
• Popilius Laenus, a Roman ambassador,
ordered him not to attack Egypt
• He returned home through Palestine
and took out his frustration on Jews
The Hellenization of Palestine
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Antiochus set up a bearded image of
Jupiter on the temple altar
Greek soldiers and their lovers
performed licentious heathen rites in
temple courts
They sacrificed swine on the altar
The drunken orgy associated with
Bacchus worship became compulsory
Jews were forbidden,
under penalty of death:
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To practice circumcision
Observe Sabbath, or feasts
To read Scriptures. Copies were
destroyed
– 2 Maccabees 6:18-31 – Hb.11:35
– 2 Maccabees 7 – Hb.11:36-37
[1 Mac.1:53; 2 Mac.5:27]
• But, the Hellenizers had gone too far
IV The Maccabees
1. Mattathias, aged priest of Modin
– An officer of Antiochus erected a
pagan altar at Modin, asked Jews to
show their loyalty to the government
by sacrificing at the pagan altar
– Mattathias, was asked to set a good
example for the others. He refused
– When a timid Jew approached the altar
to sacrifice, Mattathias slew both him
and the officer
The resistance movement begins
• Mattathias and his five sons (John,
Simon, Judas, Eleazar, Jonathan)
destroyed the altar and fled to the hills.
Others joined them
• At first, the Syrians attacked the Jews
on the Sabbath, knowing they would
not fight
• In early days, Jews practiced guerilla
warfare
• Soon afterward, Mattathias died
2. Judas Maccabaeus (“hammer”)
– In the early days of the revolt, the
Syrians thought the revolt was a minor
skirmish, and sent inferior generals
and small detachments into the field
– The Maccabees defeated one after
another
– Antiochus fought a two-front war
(Palestine, Parthia)
– Antiochus left his general, Lysias, in
charge of Judea
Lysias
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Judas easily defeated Lysias in a
night attack, then moved his army
toward Jerusalem
They entered the temple and removed
all the signs of paganism
– They ground the statue of ZeusAntiochus to dust
– Beginning with the 25th of Kislev
(December, 165 BC) they observed an
eight-day Feast of Dedication
(Hanukkah: Festival of Lights).
Jn.10:22
3. Jonathan (tricked by Trypho)
4. Simon (a period of peace)
– During this time, leaders in Israel
named Simon leader and High Priest
– This act legitimized a new dynasty
known in history as the Hasmoneans
– Simon was the last of the sons of
Mattathias
– Under him, the concept of a hereditary
high priesthood was accepted
5. John Hyrcanus, son of Simon
– 134 B.C., an ambitious son-in-law
murdered Simon and two of his
sons. A third son, John Hyrcanus,
escaped
– John Hyrcanus succeeded his
father as hereditary head of the
Jewish state
– Syria recognized Hyrcanus with
conditions (subjection; military aid)
The Hellenistic party
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The ideals of the Hellenistic party
lived on in the party of the Sadducees;
the Hasidim, in Pharisees
The High Priesthood during this time
became a secular office
Hyrcanus died in 104 BC
– His personal life was above reproach
– His children had grown up in a palace,
considered themselves aristocrats,
were trained in Greek thought, and
disdained Pharisees
Posidonius, ancient historian
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The people of these cities are relieved by
the fertility of their soil from a laborious
struggle for existence. Life is a
continuous series of social festivities.
Their gymnasiums they use as baths where
they anoint themselves w. costly oils and
myrrhs. In the grammateia (such is the
name they give to the public eating-halls)
they practically live, filling themselves
there for the better part of the day w. rich
foods and wine; much that they cannot eat
they carry away home. They feast to the
prevailing music of strings. The cities are
filled from end to end w. the noise of harpplaying.
[Amos 6:1, 3-6!]
6. Aristobulus
– Starved three of his brothers to
death in prison. He reigned one yr.
7. Jannaeus, the one surviving brother,
used foreign mercenaries to keep
Pharisees in subjection
– Civil war broke out (six years)
– Pharisees invited king of Syria to
help them
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Alexandra, widow of Aristobulus
and Jannaeus
– Sought peace between the factions
– During her reign, Pharisees sought
revenge against Sadducees
9. Hyrcanus II (brother of Aristobulus II)
10. Aristobulus II
–Antipater persuaded Hyrcanus II to let
Nabatean Arabs into Jerusalem to help
him regain his throne from Aristobulus II
Three parties in Palestine
1. Supporters of Hyrcanus II
2. Supporters of Aristobulus II
3. Third party wanted to abolish the
monarchy
– These battles gave Rome the
opportunity to intervene
– Pompey (Roman general), entered
Palestine, slaughtered 12,000 Jews,
entered the Holy of Holies, made
Jerusalem tributary to the Romans
Judah’s independent reign
was over
• Since Judah could not govern itself,
Rome made Antipater its procurator
• In 40 BC, Parthia invaded Palestine.
• Antipater’s son, Herod, went to Rome,
received an army, defeated an
exhausted Parthian army (37 BC)
• Herod became “King of the Jews” (see
Mt.2:2)
Herod and Mariamne,
daughter of Alexandra
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Herod married a Hasmonean
(Alexandra’s daughter) to gain
credibility
– He felt threatened by Aristobulus
– Herod had him drowned
• After Anthony died in the battle of
Actium (Sept. 2, 31 BC), Herod met
Octavian and promised him the same
loyalty he had shown Anthony
Herod’s sons and hogs
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His sons by Mariamne, Alexander and
Aristobulus, were educated in Rome
– They boasted of what they would do to
the former enemies of their mother
– Herod tried them, had them strangled
• Antipater, another son by his wife Doris,
was later condemned for attempting to
poison Herod
– “I’d rather be Herod’s hog (hus) than
his son (huios)!” – Augustus
Herod’s death, April 1, 4 BC
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He knew that no one would mourn his
death
He ordered the imprisonment and
death of several leaders of the Jews
that there might be mourning
throughout the land
The order was never carried out
V The Septuagint
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Probably made at the urging of
Alexandrian Jews who wanted their
Greek-speaking children to be able to
read the scriptures
The Septuagint served as a means of
acquainting non-Jews with OT
– NT mentions many “God-fearers”
among the Gentiles
VI Sects of The Jews
1. Pharisees
– The word means “separated ones,”
probably because of their zeal for
the law which involved separation
from the influences of Hellenism
– In this sense they were the heirs of
the Hasidim
2. Sadducees
– The party of the Jerusalem aristocracy
and the high priesthood
– They had made their peace with the
political rulers and attained positions
of wealth and influence
– The Sadducees held themselves aloof
from the masses and were unpopular
– Only members of the high priestly and
aristocratic families of Jerusalem
could be Sadducees
3. Essenes
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Essenes (and Pharisees) continued
the philosophy of the Hasidim
They seem to have lived for the most
part in monastic communities, such
as the one headquartered at Qumran
They adopted young boys to
perpetuate their ideals
Josephus mentions an order of
marrying Essenes
4. Herodians
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Herodians believed that the best
interests of Judaism lay in
cooperation with the Romans
Their name was taken from Herod the
Great, who sought to Romanize the
Palestine of his day
They were a political party
5. Zealots
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Most Jews hated Roman rule
– Pharisees viewed Roman rule as
punishment visited upon Israel
because of its sins
Zealots refused to pay taxes
Zealots considered it a sin to
acknowledge loyalty to Caesar
They ultimately won many converts
Their defiance brought the destruction
of Jerusalem (AD 70)