Jewish Backgrounds of the New Testament

Scott, J. Julius,Jr.

• Editorial: Baker Academic
• Año: 2000
• ISBN:
  9781585583010
• Categoría: Theology & Religion
• Categoría: Biblical Studies

This survey of intertestamental Judaism illuminates the customs and controversies that provide essential background for understanding the New Testament. Scott opens a door into the Jewish world and literature leading up to the development of Christianity. He also offers an accessible overview of the data through helpful charts, maps, and diagrams incorporated throughout the text to engage his readers.

1

Sources of Information

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• A Catalog of General Sources
• Jewish Writers of the First Century A.D.
  + Flavius Josephus
  + Philo Judaeus

A Catalog of General Sources

An essential element in any historical study is the identity and character of the primary sources of information.[1] The contribution of archaeology to the study of Intertestamental Judaism has often been minimized or overlooked. The purpose of archaeology is to reconstruct life as it was. Few recognize that Palestinian archaeology as a science is virtually a twentieth-century development. The light it has shed on individual locations contributes immensely to our understanding of the period as a whole.[2]

The major written sources for Intertestamental Judaism are unevenly spread over the period. Outside the Old Testament our knowledge of the first two hundred years is slight; the vast majority of our sources come from 200 B.C. onwards. They fall into a number of categories:

1. The Hebrew Old Testament was the starting point for Intertestamental Judaism. The Pentateuch held a special place as unquestioned authority. By the end of the period all thirty-nine books of the Hebrew canon were regarded as the Holy Word of God.

2. The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), has some emphases and content that differ from the Hebrew text. Where these differences appear, the Septuagint is essentially a separate source.

3. The Apocrypha of the Old Testament, books found in the Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Old Testament, constitutes a separate collection. (For a list of the titles usually recognized as belonging to the Apocrypha see Appendix A.)[3]

4. The so-called Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament is a rather open-ended category of Jewish works coming from roughly 200 B.C. to A.D. 200.[4] They represent diverse viewpoints. Some have their origin in the strictly Hebraic world; others come from Hellenistic (or Greek-oriented) Judaism. Collections of pseudepigraphal writings may contain a wide variety of literary types and titles. Some of the major literary classifications include history, expansions of the Hebrew Scriptures, stories and legends, prayers, odes and psalms, testaments, wisdom literature, and apocalyptic literature. Some of these categories overlap; there is disagreement as to where some writings should be assigned.

The preservation and transmission of pseudepigraphal books have sometimes been less careful than we might wish. Parts of some documents are lost. The way in which the sections of some books have been arranged is puzzling. Although representatives of intertestamental Jewish thought, virtually all of these documents were preserved not by Jews, but by early Christians. Save for a few fragments, they are available only in ancient translations from which all modern translations have been made.

Our knowledge of the pseudepigraphal writings has been greatly expanded by recent discoveries. R. H. Charles’s 1913 translation of the Pseudepigrapha contained seventeen titles.[5] The 1983–85 translation edited by James H. Charlesworth gives sixty-three documents (not including two titles in the older edition [Pirke Aboth and Fragments from a Zadokite Work] which are now assigned to other categories).[6] We list here the categories and titles of the pseudepigraphal books most frequently cited in this study (for a complete list see Appendix B):

1. History and legends: Jubilees, the Letter of Aristeas, Life of Adam and Eve, Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah, Pseudo-Philo, and Joseph and Aseneth.
2. Apocalypses: 1 Enoch, Sibylline Oracles, 2 (Syriac) Baruch, and 4 Ezra.[7]
3. Testaments: the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs; the Testament (Assumption) of Moses.
4. Psalms and prayers: Psalms of Solomon; Odes of Solomon.

5. Of the writings of the Jewish sectarians of Intertestamental Judaism the famous Dead Sea Scrolls are the most significant. However, it should be remembered that similar or identical documents were found in the Cairo genizah (a synagogue storage room) and at Masada, the ancient desert fortress in the land of Israel. We list here by category some of the most important manuscripts:[8]

1. Old Testament texts: Isaiah (1QIsa); Exodus in paleo-Hebrew script (4QEx.α); Exodus in Jewish script (4QEx.a); Leviticus; Deuteronomy 32 (4QDeut.32); 1 and 2 Samuel (4QSam.a); 1 and 2 Samuel—a second manuscript (4QSam.b).
2. Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha: the Testament of Levi (from the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs) (4QT.Levi); fragments of Enoch.
3. Sectarian or community rules: the Manual of Discipline (1QS); the Rule of the Congregation (or Messianic Rule) (1QSa); the Covenant of the Damascus Community (or the Zadokite Document) (CD or CDC); a papyrus exemplar of the Rule of Discipline (pap4QSa); Miqsat Ma’ase ha-Torah (“Some of the Precepts of Torah”) (4QMMT).
4. Worship materials: the Psalm Scroll (1QH).
5. Eschatological speculations: the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness (1QM); Florilegium (or Midrash on the Last Days or Eschatological Midrashim) (4QFlor[ilegium] or 4QEschMidr).
6. Testimonia (4QTest).
7. Biblical interpretations: Genesis Apocryphon (1QApoc or 1QapGen); Prayer of Nabonidus (4QPrNab); Commentary (Pesher) on Hosea (4QpHos); Commentary (Pesher) on Micah (1QpMic); Commentary (Pesher) on Nahum (4QpNah or 4Q169); Commentary (Pesher) on Habakkuk (1QpHab); Patriarchal Blessings or Messianic Anthology (4QPBless); Words or Sayings of Moses (1QDM); Biblical Laws or Essene Halakah (4QOrd).
8. Miscellaneous: Copper Scroll (3Q15); Temple Scroll (11QTemp); Melchizedek Scroll (11QMelch); the Angelic Liturgy (4QSirShabb).

6. Many students forget to include the New Testament in a list of sources for Intertestamental Judaism, even though it is among the most significant. On the other hand, it is heartening to note the seriousness with which some contemporary writers, including Jewish ones, take the New Testament as an important source from which to learn about the intertestamental period.[9]

7. The lives as well as the writings of two first-century writers-Philo (c. 20 B.C.–A.D. 50), the Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, and Flavius Josephus (c. 37–100), the soldier-traitor-scholar-historian from Palestine—are of special significance.

8. During the 1950s and early 1960s explorations were carried on in the Judean desert caves on the Nahal Hever near the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea. They yielded documents and other information from the period of the Jewish revolt of the second century of the Common Era (132–35). These documents included letters written by the leader Bar Kosiba himself and provide insights into the afterglow period of Intertestamental Judaism. Other caves in the deserts south and east of Bethlehem have provided additional information about this period.

9. The writings of the rabbinic Jewish period (from A.D. 90 onward) constitute a massive corpus that is difficult for nonexperts to use and evaluate.[10] Most of the religious and related traditions of Intertestamental Judaism were circulated orally. Only after the A.D. 70 destruction of Herod’s temple was a concerted effort made by the rabbis to collect and reduce this material to writing. The process involved much more than preservation of tradition. Material was collected selectively, abridged, expanded, adapted, and partly created to meet the needs of post–70 situations. The result was collections such as the Mishnah (codified by the Tannaim, A.D. 90–200), Gemara (codified by the Amoraim, A.D. 200–500 [the Mishnah and Gemara together make up the Talmud]), the Tosephta, targums, and midrashim.

The rabbinic writings may, at places, reflect the intertestamental Jewish period. However, this first-century information stands side by side and is often intertwined with records that reflect situations and practices that arose after that era. Accordingly, those using rabbinic writings as a source for the intertestamental period must do so with caution and critical skill. (For a list of the titles in the Mishnah, which are also the titles in the Talmud and Tosephta, see Appendix C.)

10. Christian collections, including the New Testament Apocrypha, ante-Nicene fathers, heretical writers (e.g., the Gnostic books found at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945), and a few later writers like Eusebius, Jerome, and Epiphanius, provide limited information about Jews and Judaism.

11. The Greco-Roman writers make references to Jews and their customs. Pliny the Elder, Tacitus, Juvenal, and Dio Cassius are among the more important for our purposes. Various texts about Jews by non-Jewish, classical authors have been collected by Menahem Stern.[11]

12. Numerous papyri coming from the beginning to the end of the intertestamental period have been discovered. Most are fragmentary but still often informative. Three important papyrus collections, not particularly well known, deserve special note and explanation:

1. Elephantine Papyri: Sometime during the sixth century B.C., a Persian military colony consisting of Hebrews was established on the island of Elephantine in southern Egypt. Archaeological and written (Aramaic) records have revealed the cultural, business, social, and religious life of this Diaspora community during a period from which very little else is known. Of particular interest is the fact that the documents mention the name Sanballat, which may or may not refer to Nehemiah’s adversary. Another interesting feature is that the Elephantine community had their own temple and appealed to Jerusalem when faced with a crisis.[12]
2. Wadi Daliyeh or Samaritan Papyri: Skeletons, jewelry, household goods, coins as well as fragmentary Aramaic documents were discovered in 1962–64 in a cave near the Wadi Daliyeh about nine miles north of Jericho. They are probably the remains of some upper-class Samaritans who fled from but were massacred by Alexander the Great about 332 B.C. In addition to general information about the times, the documents are helpful in reconstructing the situation in Samaria, including the list of governors of the area. Although the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were probably written earlier, information from this cave is important for understanding the background and situation assumed in them.
3. The Zeno Papyri: Much of the correspondence of Zeno, an administrator under Apollonius, a treasury official of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 B.C.) of Egypt, was discovered in 1915. About a fourth of the documents relate to Palestine and surrounding areas and include information reflecting life and conditions while Zeno was on a personal journey through those areas from 260 to 258 B.C.

13. Numerous inscriptions from tombs, public buildings, and other monuments cast light on the culture and history of the intertestamental period.

14. Some scholars might wish to create separate categories for documents reflecting Gnostic, magical, and mystical intertestamental Jewish literature.

The interpretation of the literary works coming from or pertaining to Intertestamental Judaism is fraught with difficulties. At times we cannot be completely sure of the meaning of some of the concepts and words they use. There are times when we cannot identify the persons, events, or institutions of which they speak.

Another problem is that the ancients’ handling of documents was very different from modern methods. Their standards of accuracy were very unlike ours. Also, the ways documents assumed their present forms were varied and sometimes confusing. Three ancient literary practices identified by modern scholars are evident in some of the written sources of information for Intertestamental Judaism: (1) Bringing together materials written in different places and times has resulted in what may be called evolved documents. (2) Interpolation is the practice of inserting into a document material that clearly comes from a later period or different provenance, and that often is of a different viewpoint. (3) More difficult (and often impossible) to distinguish are a later editor’s redactions, that is, additions, subtractions, rewriting, rewording, reorganizing in order to accomplish his purposes. Thus we must often ask not only the intent of the original writer, but also what the present form tells us about later collectors and editors. It is little wonder that these and other critical considerations inevitably lead to differences of opinion about a document and hence to differing interpretations and assessments of it.

Jewish Writers of the First Century A.D.

Two non-Christian Jewish writers from the first century are so significant to our purpose that we need to sketch them briefly. In their own ways they were Hellenistic Jews. Josephus gives information about the life and history of the land of Israel in his day. Philo lived in Alexandria, Egypt. His primary concerns were intellectual pursuits, biblical exposition, philosophy, and the like. For the most part, Philo gives but glimpses of himself and the world about him. Coupled with his description of events in which he was involved at the end of his life, they are major sources of information about the Jewish backgrounds of the New Testament.

Flavius Josephus

Through his father Mattathias, Josephus was of the priestly nobility.[13] He was related to the royal Hasmonean house through his mother. Originally named Joseph, he later called himself Flavius Josephus, Flavius being the name of the family of Roman emperors who were his patrons, and Josephus the romanized form of his Hebrew name. Between his birth and death (c. 37–100) Josephus was a student, sectarian, statesman, military officer, traitor, historian, and apologist for the Jews.

The life and times of Josephus are closely entwined. Shortly before his birth Pontius Pilate was recalled from Judea to face charges of mismanagement. Gaius Caligula became emperor in A.D. 37, released his friend Herod Agrippa from prison, and made him king of the Jews. In 40–41 all Jewry was thrown into consternation and Judea pushed to the brink of war when Caligula threatened to erect his own statue in the Jerusalem temple.

By age fourteen, Josephus claims, his learning was so highly regarded that rabbis consulted him. A couple of years later he began a study of the three primary national sects, Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes. For three years, he says, he lived as an ascetic in the wilderness with Bannus, a hermit. He then became a Pharisee. In 64 Josephus visited Rome and obtained freedom for some priests who had been imprisoned there. In that city Josephus was impressed with the grandeur and power of the empire.

Back in Judea Josephus found his country headed for war with Rome. Realizing the folly, he sought to steer his nation in other directions. But when only twenty-nine years of age Josephus was placed in charge of preparing Galilee for the anticipated Roman invasion.

In the autumn of 67 the Romans arrived in Galilee. Josephus’s efforts to stop their advance were futile. He and his forces made their last stand against the Romans...