The New Testament

Its Background and Message

Thomas Lea, David Alan Black, David Alan Black

• Publisher: B&H Academic
• Year: 2003
• ISBN:
  9781433669873
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Studi biblici

In the comprehensive The New Testament: Its Background and Message, the late Thomas Lea presented a clear and concise introduction to the New Testament giving readers the key that unlocks the door to understanding these important texts. This influential work presents the background of the New Testament with broad strokes and with a focus on specific books including the Gospels, Acts, and Paul and his letters. Originally written in an easy-to-understand style and form, Lea's text continues to unlock the message of the New Testament for both new students and seasoned scholars.

Part One

The Background to the New Testament

1

The Political History of Palestine During the Intertestamental Period

Guiding Questions

1. List the various powers controlling Palestine during the inter-testamental period and the dates of their control.
2. Give the names of any Jewish leaders who were important for Jewish history during the time of control by foreign powers. What was their distinctive contribution to Jewish history?
3. List some of the religious developments among the Jews during the intertestamental period.
4. Identify the leaders of the Herodian dynasty whose activities appear at some point in the New Testament record.
5. Explain the cultural developments that took place among the Jews during the intertestamental period.

Introduction

The final historical sections of the Old Testament describe Judea as part of the Persian Empire. The last ruler mentioned by name in the Old Testament is Darius the Persian (Neh. 12:22). He may be identical with Darius II, who served from 423–405 B.C. Because several kings named Darius ruled in Persia, the identification is not certain.

When we turn to the New Testament about four hundred years later, the ruling monarch is Augustus; he represents the power of Rome (Luke 2:1). Between these two pillars of history the ebb and flow of wars, struggles, hopes, and defeats passed over Palestine. How will a knowledge of the political history of the times help us interpret the New Testament?

First, knowing the political history of this period helps us more accurately interpret the contents of the New Testament. Names of government leaders such as Tiberius Caesar, Claudius Caesar, Pilate, Herod the Great, and Gallio appear in the New Testament. These men made decisions that had consequences for individual Christians and the early church. We can more wisely grasp the significance of their actions when we know something about them and their individual history.

Second, knowing some of the details of political history helps us to present a more lifelike description of the events narrated in Scripture. Understanding the cruelty of Herod the Great, the hesitancy of Pilate, and the boldness of Paul's appeal for a trial before Caesar makes the New Testament more vivid and alive. Knowing the details of New Testament events gives the personalities a dimension of reality that forbids us from relegating their actions and personalities to the realm of the mystical and mythical.

Third, it is important for us to recognize that the New Testament presents a theological interpretation of history. When readers realize that the historical and political details are verifiable, they feel a greater pressure to come to grips with the theological content of Scripture.

Fourth, the New Testament itself is often remarkably silent about the historical and political dimensions of this period because the writers could assume that their first readers knew the personalities and political entities they mentioned. They could also assume that their readers understood the contributions of Alexander the Great and his successors to the life of the New Testament era. Two thousand years later we cannot assume that modern readers know and understand the significance of these details. Therefore, it is important to introduce readers to this information in a survey of the New Testament.

We will explore this history from the standpoint of the powers presiding over Palestine during the intertestamental period. In consecutive order, these powers or ruling groups were Babylon, Persia, Greece, Egypt, Syria, the Maccabees, and Rome.

The Babylonian Period (626–539 B.C.)

In 597 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, ended Jewish independence by conquering Judea and capturing Jerusalem. The Babylonian king deported the Jewish king, Jehoiachin, along with his family and court, to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar installed Jehoiachin's uncle on the throne of Judah and changed his name from Mattaniah to Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:10–17). Nebuchadnezzar actually held authority over Judah from perhaps 604 B.C., but after 597 B.C. his control was more thorough and absolute.

Zedekiah had pledged to serve the king of Babylon (2 Chron. 36:13), but he later asserted his independence and dabbled in political intrigue with Egypt (Jer. 37:5–10). Nebuchadnezzar moved an army to oppose Zedekiah's rebellion, laid siege to Jerusalem, and captured the city in 586 B.C. (Jer. 39:1–10). The walls of Jerusalem were demolished. Babylonian forces captured the fleeing Zedekiah and brought him to the king. In a brutal display of cruelty, Nebuchadnezzar killed the sons of Zedekiah, blinded him, and carried him bound to Babylon.

To maintain law and order, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah as governor of Judah. However, factions in Judah still produced strife and discontent. Gedaliah was eventually assassinated. Some of the insurgents escaped to Egypt and took Jeremiah (against his will) with them (Jer. 40–43).

Meanwhile, Nebuchadnezzar had taken some of the most devout and competent Jews into captivity in Babylon. There the prophet Ezekiel helped to mold segments of this group into a body that would provide the leadership needed to replace those fallen in Jerusalem. He promised that God would revive his people spiritually and restore them to their homeland in Palestine (Ezek. 36:22–28).

During the Babylonian captivity the practice of synagogue worship developed among the Jews. In the absence of a temple, godly Jews banded together to learn and apply the law. Teachers of the law took the place of the temple priesthood in providing spiritual leadership for the people. The study of the law replaced animal sacrifices, and ethical obedience replaced temple ritual. Jeremiah had predicted a seventy-year captivity for the Jews (Jer. 25:11–14). In 539 B.C. Cyrus, king of Persia, captured Babylon by diverting the water of the Euphrates from its normal channel. Cyrus and the Persians inherited the mantle of authority in the Middle East. Under Cyrus, the Jewish captivity in Babylon ended for some of the Jews.

The Persian Period (539–331 B.C.)

In the first year of his reign, Cyrus issued a decree allowing the Jews to return home. He released some of the captured temple treasures to them and promised to rebuild the temple at his own expense (Ezra 6:3–5).

Most of the Jews remained in the more settled and prosperous surroundings of Cyrus's kingdom, but a group of forty-two thousand, led by Sheshbazzar, returned to Jerusalem around 537 B.C. (Ezra 1:5–11; 2:64). They began to rebuild the temple, but the work languished because of opposition from the residents of Palestine (Ezra 4:1–5). Because of the urgent preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, the work resumed around 520 B.C., and construction was completed within four years (Ezra 4:24; 6:1–15).

Detailed records of events in Palestine are not available for the next sixty years, but in 458 B.C. Ezra the scribe led a second group from Babylon to return to Palestine (Ezra 7:1–7). Around 446 B.C. a third group returned to Palestine under the leadership of Nehemiah, cupbearer of the Persian king Artaxerxes (Neh. 2:1–8). Nehemiah led the people in repairing the city walls quickly, and the security of the city was established once again (Neh. 6:1–16). Nehemiah instituted various economic and social reforms, and Ezra led in calling the people back to the observance of the law (Neh. 8:1–12).

The reforms under Ezra and Nehemiah produced a group of strong devotees to God's law. They remained faithful to God's demands despite the deceptive pressures of Hellenism and the later faithlessness of the priesthood. During this period the demand for intensive study of the law produced the scribes, who copied the law and became experts in its interpretation. We will meet scribes on several occasions in Jesus' ministry. This same period also saw the development of the “Great Synagogue,” a body which sought to administer the law, and later developed into the Sanhedrin in New Testament times.

Persian control of Palestine lasted until Alexander the Great defeated the Persians at the battle of Arbela in 331 B.C.

The Grecian Period (331–320 B.C.)

Even during the period of Persian rule over Palestine, Greek influence in the area had developed rapidly. Greek traders carried their commerce and civilization to the entire Mediterranean world. Greek musical instruments and weapons appeared in Babylon as early as 600 B.C. Then the conquests of Alexander the Great of Macedonia followed and accelerated the spread of Greek culture, known as Hellenism.

Philip, the father of Alexander, had forged Macedonia into a mighty military machine. During his lifetime he made the Greek city-states the tributaries of Macedonia, and he was on the verge of additional conquests when he died in 337 B.C.

Alexander had his father's aggressive character and military skills. The Greek philosopher Aristotle had tutored Alexander in the ideals of Hellenism, and Alexander developed a deep devotion to Hellenistic culture and tradition. In 334 B.C. he led his forces across the Hellespont into Asia Minor where he defeated Persian forces at the battle of Granicus. Successive victories at Issus (333 B.C.) and Arbela (331 B.C.) established Alexander as master of the ancient Middle East. His far-flung kingdom included Egypt, Palestine, and Syria and extended to the Indus River in modern India. As he conquered, he established colonies that became centers for spreading Hellenism.

Alexander encouraged his soldiers to marry oriental women, thus enhancing the blending of Greek and oriental cultures. He educated Persians in the Greek language. His military successes turned him more and more into an arbitrary, oriental despot. A lifestyle of revelry impaired his health. He finally contracted fever and died in 323 B.C. at the age of thirty-three.

At his death four of his generals divided his kingdom among themselves. Two of these generals developed empires that are important for New Testament history. In Egypt the rulers bore the name Ptolemy and established their capital in Alexandria. The seductive Cleopatra, who died in 30 B.C., was the last of the Ptolemaic rulers. In Syria the rulers carried the name of either Seleucus or Antiochus. They made Antioch their capital. The Roman general Pompey ended the history of this empire by conquering it in 64 B.C.

Although the ruling power in Palestine after Alexander was not geographically centered in Greece, all subsequent Palestinian rulers increased the influence of Hellenism. Alexander had passed the legacy of Hellenism to both the Ptolemaic and the Seleucid empires. Even Rome was so highly influenced by Hellenistic culture that Greek became a common street language. The Roman satirist Juvenal, whose life spanned much of the first and early second century A.D., said, “I cannot abide...a Rome of Greeks.”¹

The Ptolemaic Period (320–198 B.C.)

Alexander's premature death in 323 B.C. precipitated a power struggle among his leading generals. The four generals who emerged victorious from the struggle became known as the diadochi, a derivative from a Greek word meaning “successors.”

Ptolemy I was one of Alexander's most competent generals. He shrewdly accepted headship of Egypt in 323 B.C., avoiding any immediate conflict with other powerful generals. In 320 B.C. he deposed ...