New Testament Introduction – Lecture 3
First Century Judaism
I.
First Century Jewish Worldview
A. Who are we? We are Israel, the chosen people of the creator God.
B. Where are we? We are in the holy Land, focused on the Temple; but,
paradoxically, we are still in exile. Even the Diaspora were attending the annual
festival. There are in the land, but they do not rule the land.
C. What is wrong? We have the wrong rulers: pagan on the one hand - Romans,
compromised Jews on the other - Saduccees, or, half-way between, Herod and his
family.
D. What is the solution? Our God must act to give us the true sort of rule, that is,
his own kingship exercised through properly appointed officials (a true
priesthood – not the corrupted priesthood of the Hasmonean Dynasty; possibly a
true king); and in the mean time Israel must be faithful to his covenant charter.
II.
The Jewish Institutions.
A. The Law
1. The Written Law
a. Also known as the Torah. The Law of Moses.
b. Three recognized sections. Luke 24:44
c. Sometimes summarized by just law and prophets. Defines the whole by a
couple of its parts.
d. Remember, this was the Hebrew Bible.
e. The Hebrew Canon was not closed until the Council of Jamnia in AD 70.
f. At this point, everything was on scrolls in a collection. Writings
circulated not necessarily as a whole.
g. When the Temple was destroyed, the emphasis was placed on the law.
2. The Oral Law
a. Referred to as the tradition of the elders in the New Testament.
b. It went through three stages of development.
1. Beginnings – Started at the time of Ezra the scribe. They made oral
interpretation of the law. Nehemiah 8:8
2. Greek Period – Cultural influence. Some embraced Hellenism. Some
rejected. Some compromised. The oral law was a response to
Hellensism. Teachers of the law explained the written law in the
context of its society. This would be much like the application of the
Word.
3. Roman Period – Economic and commerce issues. Traveling and
growing global economy. More cultural influence. A cultural
meltingpot. New societal questions. Roman coinage? Taxation?
c. The Pharisees and the oral law.
1. They considered it as binding as the written law. Matthew19.
2. The oral law was codified in 200 AD. Called the Mishna.
3. This created much conflict with Jesus.
B. The Sannhedrin – Jewish Ruling Council in Jerusalem
1. The Sanhedrin arose during the intertestamental period and was active in the
Hasmonean period.
2. Under the high priesthood of Annas, the Sanhedrin experienced a growing
influence.
3. The high priest presided over the Sanhedrin, which consisted of seventy other
members.
4. At the time of Jesus, the high priest had four responsibilities:
a. He represented all Jews before God.
b. He represented all Judea before the procurator.
c. He represented all Jews of the empire (including the Diaspora) before the
emperor.
d. He presided over the political life of Judea. He had political authority over
the domestic administration. They had power to enact the Jewish laws but
they were limited. Legally, they could not execute criminals. They needed
Roman permission to do so.
5. In addition to the high priest, the Sanhedrin was represented by three other
groups:
a. priests
b. elders
c. scribes (experts of the Jewish law, both written and oral). They are also
called lawyers.
C. The Temple
1.
The Jerusalem Temple was the central symbol of Judaism in its day.
2.
The first Temple was built by Solomon in 950 B.C. and stood until 587 or
586 B.C. when the Babylonians destroyed it.
3.
In 516 B.C., Zerubbabel built the second Temple, which was not as
impressive as Solomon’s Temple.
4.
In 19 B.C., Herod the Great enlarged the temple area to thirty-eight acres.
5.
The Temple area comprised of a series of courts surrounding a central
edifice or building (naos). The central court was the priest court, beyond
that was the court of the Israelites, for men only, and then the court of
women (Jewish).Finally the outer court was called the court of the
Gentiles.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Standing in front of the naos was the Altar, where the sacrifices were
offered. A large laver filled with water for washing stood nearby, as did a
slaughterhouse for the animals.
Within the naos were two chambers: the Holy of Holies and the Holy
Place. In the Holy Place was the Altar of Incense, the Menorah
(candelabra), and the Table for the Bread of the Presence. The Law
prescribed that the Ark of the Covenant would be within the Holy of
Holies. However, it was lost during
the Babylonian invasion.
The Temple services were conducted by priests and consisted of the
following rituals:
1. Incense was burned twice daily in the holy place.
2. A burnt offering was made twice daily (9 a.m. and 3 p.m.).
3. Private offerings were made after the burnt offerings.
4. Annual festivals, such as Passover and Yom Kippur, were centralized at
the Temple.
The priests on duty slept in the Temple and awoke before sunrise to bathe,
dress, and then draw lots for the assignment of duties (such as removing
the ashes from the Altar, slaying animals, cleaning the Menorah, etc.).
An annual temple tax covered the expenses of the Temple, and only
certain coinage was acceptable (no pagan images or inscriptions).
D. Synagogues
1. The Hebrew Bible does not mention synagogues, though Ps. 74:8 may be an
early allusion.
Babylonian exile.
3. Synagogue worship may have developed out of the desire of exiles to gather
weekly for religious observance
4. During the first century, the widespread influence of the synagogue
significantly impacted the spread of the gospel.
5. The synagogues had no standard building plan. Archaeological evidence
reveals different shapes and sizes for synagogues.
6. Convening the synagogue required at least ten male heads of families, and
synagogue supervision was conducted by local elders.
7. Services were led by a president, synagogue ruler, who was probably
appointed by the elders. The president was responsible for oversight of
facilities, preserving order, selecting readers of scripture, and participating in the
service.
8. Synagogue worship consisted of several elements:
(1) reciting the Shema,
(2)reciting the Eighteen Benedictions,
(3) removing the Torah scroll, whichwould be read by several readers and
(4) translated into Aramaic for thepeople,
(4) readings from the Prophets on Sabbaths and feast days,
(5) a sermon by a visiting rabbi or selected speaker, and
(6) perhaps a closing benediction.
9. The synagogue also served as a school for children twelve and under. Center
of life, education, and worship.
E. Feasts and Fasts of Israel
Name
Date
Passover/Unleavened
Bread
Pentecost/Feast of
Weeks
Nisan 14-21 (March)
Sivan 6 (May); 50
days after Passover
Wheat Harvest
Feast of Trumpets
(Rosh Hashanah)
Day of Atonement
(Yom Kippur)
Feast of Tabernacles
(Booths)
Festival of Lights
(Dedication/Hanukah)
Tishri 1-2
(October)
Tishri 10
(October)
Tishri15-21
(October)
Chislev 25
(December)
Grape and Olive
Harvest
None
Purim
Adar 14-15
(March)
Almond Blossoms
III.
Agricultural
Significance
Barley Harvest
Early Rains
None
Religious Significance
The Exodus
remembered
Mount Sinai
Remembered; Giving
of the Law
Beginning of Civil
New Year
National Repentence
Wilderness
Remembered
Rededication of the
Temple by Judas
Maccabee
Esther Remembered
Jewish Sects.
A. Herodians
1. The Herodians are mentioned only three times in the New Testament (Mk.3:6;
12:13; Mt. 22:16).
2. Most likely they were supporters of Herod and were probably Hellenistic.
3. Conspired with the Pharisees against Jesus.
B. Zealots
1. The Zealots were Jews who maintained an extreme religious fervor based on
the Old Testament ideals of Simon and Levi, who made an attack on the
Shechemites, and on Phinehas, who slew an Israelite consorting with a Midianite
harlot.
2. Hating foreign rule, the Zealots developed a theology of zeal which
motivated their resistance to and rebellion against foreign rule.
3. Josephus blamed the First Jewish War on the Zealots.
4. One of Jesus’ twelve disciples, Simon, was known as a Zealot. Saul of Tarsus
was likely a Zealot (Phil. 3:6; Gal. 1:13-14; cf. Rom. 10:1-4).
C. Scribes
1. The scribes were a professional class of experts in the law.
2. The scribal office arose after the exile, probably stemming from Ezra’s
emphasis on the Law, which produced the need to know and teach the law.
3. The Hasidim (“pious ones”) were probably the scribes during the Maccabean
period.
4. The lay movement of the Pharisees may have grown out of the scribal
movement.
D. Sadducees
1. The Sadducees were very influential during Jesus’ time and were closely
associated with the aristocracy.
2. Josephus identified them as an assembly of elders connected to the wealthy.
3. Their institution was the temple and its administration.
4. Annas, the high priest, was of the Sadducees.
5. They disappeared after the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70.
E. Pharisees
1. Josephus reported that during the Hasmonean period, the Pharisees
numbered over six thousand.
2. They were pious observers of law with origins in the Hasidim of the
Maccabean Period.
3. The Pharisees controlled the synagogues and were very popular with the
people.
4. Some Pharisees served on the Sanhedrin.
5. Although the Pharisees were the primary opponents of Jesus, Jesus’ teachings
were more closely aligned with their views than with any other group.
6. Pharisees were the only Jewish sect to survive the First Jewish War. They
became the rabbinics, who were the fathers of modern Judaism.
IV. Six Jewish Contributions to Christianity
A. Judaism provided Christianity with a history and a philosophy of history.
B. Judaism gave Christianity a concept of Scripture and a collection of
Scriptures. The Old Testament was the early Christian’s Bible.
C. Judaism gave Christianity a basic theology.
D. Judaism provided Christianity an ethic and moral standards (the highest
in the world), drawn from the revelation of God.
E. Judaism provided Christianity with the basic elements of polity and
worship.
F. Judaism gave Christianity its founder, Jesus, and its early leaders. They
were racial and religious Jews.