CHAPTER ELEVEN
Judaism’s day of glory
History is never simple, containing paradoxes and ironies every step of the way. Attempts to portray the story of man as taking a linear, logical, cause-effect path from era
to era fly in the face of the facts. In the last chapter we examined a marvellous paradox
— attempts by some Jews to win over as many Gentiles as possible was largely based on
Jewish distrust of Gentiles. Here we look at an equally amazing enigma — around the
first century, in spite of mutual distrust, many Gentiles came to greatly admire the Jewish religion and people. Many willingly leapt the wall of division separating the two.
If a Jew, not converted at heart, were to
ask baptism at my hands, I would take
him on to the bridge, tie a stone round
his neck, and hurl him into the river; for
these wretches are wont to make a jest
of our religion.
Martin Luther
Tonight is going to be a great night in
the history of Christendom. We are going to massacre every Jew in the neighbourhood.
H.H. Munro, The Unrest-Cure
T
HROUGHOUT HISTORY UNTOLD
numbers of people, including many
who claim to be disciples of history’s
greatest preacher of love, himself a Jew, have
despised Jews. Tension between Jews and
their neighbours occasionally flared up
around Jesus’ time. When war broke out in
Alexandria in 38 AD between Jews and other
citizens, synagogues were desecrated, Jewish shops and homes were pillaged, and
many Jews were killed. The tension continued to fester, breaking out afresh on a broader front in 66 AD on the eve of the Jewish
rebellion.
Apion, ambassador of the Alexandrians to
Emperor Caius, laid the most heinous charges against the Jews: they had been expelled
from Egypt centuries before because they
were lepers, they had never been citizens of
Alexandria, and “the Jewish religion is not
a religion at all but, at best, an agglomera-
Showdown in Jerusalem
tion of silly superstitions and, at worst, a
conspiracy aimed at Greeks and at all those
who share Greek values” (Cohen 1987,
p. 47). He alleged that when Antiochus
Epiphanes had entered the Jerusalem temple two hundred years earlier he had found
a fattened Greek youth set aside for an annual Old Testament festival. The Jews were
supposedly planning to slaughter and eat
him all the while swearing fearsome oaths of
hostility against all Greeks. Goebbels may
have studied Apion.
Cases such as these are often cited to support the fiction that Jews and Gentiles were
constantly at loggerheads in the first century. Evidence to the contrary rarely gets any
coverage. The truth is that virulent antiSemitism was the exception in the Roman
world of the BC–AD divide. The facts suggest that, by and large, Gentiles and nonPharisaic Jews enjoyed close to a nuptial
relationship during the early days of the
church. Because Rome encouraged worship
of both Rome and its Emperor throughout its
dominion, causing periodical problems for
God-fearing Jews, theirs was a marriage
made in hell. On the positive side, the Roman husband often turned a blind eye to his
Jewish wife’s resistance.
In this chapter we will discover that,
contrary to history’s norm, Jews and Judaism enjoyed considerable favour in the eyes
of non-Jews, high and low, for about two
hundred years prior to the beginning of the
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Je wish W
ar
War
arss around 70 AD.
Why care about the world’s view of the
Jew? Because it has such an important bearing on one’s reading of the New Testament,
particularly the thorny question of whether
or not Gentile converts to Christianity were
expected to observe Old Testament law.
Many assume that being required to observe
biblical law would have proven impossibly
burdensome for Gentiles, so that any pressure on them to do so would have created
noisy debate. They take for granted that
Acts 15 reflects just such a situation. The
truth is otherwise.
Jews get bad press
Based on the assumption that the antiSemitism of the Middle Ages and today provides a guide to Jew-Gentile relations in the
first century, many scholars take the view
that Judaism and Jews were universally despised. They tend to make much of the evidence that supports the existence of hostility and ignore contrary evidence. They quote
anti-Jewish writers such as Cicero, Tacitus,
Juvenal and Diodorus Siculus. They make
statements to the effect that outsiders “ridiculed circumcision, food laws, Sabbath observance, Jewish frugality, and many of their
social customs” (Stavrinides 1991, p. 3), or
that, “There are even records that the Jews
were despised by the Gentiles because of the
Sabbath” (Brinsmead 1981, p. 13). Thielman
says,
Diaspora Judaism in the first century had
come into contact with Greek philosophy,
had experienced the heckling of a GrecoRoman majority who thought the legal
observances of the Jews were silly, and had
become more defensive in its posture
(1994, p. 31).
Famous commentator, William Barclay
(1958, p. 9), asserts that Jews were involved
in a double hatred — “the world hated them
and they hated the world.” He quotes Cicero in calling the Jewish religion “a barbarous
superstition” and Tacitus in calling Jews “the
vilest of people”.
Modern writers, overlooking the fact that
many of these authors wrote when Roman
attitudes were beginning to sour towards
Jews late in the first century, project their
testimony backwards in time without any
evidence that those same attitudes prevailed
earlier. The weight of evidence for the critical period in which most of the New Testa-
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ment books were written presents a picture
very different from textbook scenarios.
Schonfield (1968, p. 22) suggests some of
the bad press from Roman writers was wellmeaning:
The Roman authors frequently scoff at
Jewish customs and institutions, but normally in a good-humoured way. We seldom meet with rabid anti-Semitism.
He may have a point. Sanders’s assessment emphasises the oddness of Jewish
practices in the eyes of outsiders. Why
would anybody build a temple and not put
an idol in it? Who would want to eschew
pork, everybody’s favourite meat? (1993,
p. 37).
Outsiders may not have understood Jewish ways, but that doesn’t mean they despised them. The anti-Jewish nature of some
writings can be interpreted to suggest that
Jewish ways were gaining ground. As often
happens when any philosophy begins to
spread its influence, these historians reacted by writing diatribes designed to discourage conversion to Judaism. “The literature
that evinces a dislike of Judaism paradoxically confirms Judaism’s powerful attraction” (Cohen 1987, p. 49).
Alexander and the high priest
An investigation of foreign attitudes towards
Jews during pre-Roman times yields surprising results. Most people know about the savage bloodsport played by Antiochus Epiphanes against the Jews during the days of the
Maccabees, but they don’t realise that the
persecution, lasting barely a decade (175–
164 BC), was the exception rather than the
rule.
The Persians, who conquered Babylon in
539 BC, showed great favour to Babylon’s
captive Jews, allowing them to return to
Palestine and rebuild the temple Nebuchadnezzar had hacked to pieces and put to the
torch. Two hundred years later, when the
Persians in their turn were attacked by the
Greeks under Alexander the Great (356–329
BC), a miracle occurred, according to Josephus. Having defeated the Persians at Issus
and subdued numerous cities, including Sidon, Alexander invested Tyre. He called
upon Jaddua, the Jewish high priest, to send
assistance, but Jaddua refused. Alexander
vowed to teach him a lesson.
After his victory at Tyre, Alexander
marched on Jerusalem, intent on revenge.
11: Judaism’s day of glory
Alexander the Great
good relations between
Jews and their neighbours
that had begun in the Persian era in the sixth century BC. With some regional
exceptions, harmony prevailed till the sixth decade
of the first century.
Jews and
Romans
Jaddua exhorted the people to seek God’s
aid by prayer and sacrifice. Soon, he had a
dream telling him to decorate the city and to
call upon the entire populace to go out and
greet Alexander; the high priest was to dress
in purple and scarlet, the priests in holy garb
and the people in white.
Alexander’s soldiers looked forward to
plundering the city and tearing the high
priest apart, as they were led to expect. But
a strange thing happened. Alexander ordered his army to halt, then advanced towards the quaking, brilliantly-dressed
throng on his own. When, upon approaching the high priest, Alexander saluted him
and worshiped God, his soldiers thought he
had taken leave of his senses. He explained.
While contemplating how to conquer Asia,
Alexander had seen the scene now before
them in a dream. He saw a figure dressed in
glorious robes surrounded by a mass of people in white. The mysterious, brilliantly-clad
figure beckoned him to come, assuring him
of victory if he did not delay.
Not surprisingly, Alexander showed considerable favour towards Jews from then on,
encouraging them to settle throughout his
domains (thereby creating the Diaspora) and
granting them special privileges. Generally,
his successors, with the notable exception of
Antiochus Epiphanes, followed suit. The
Romans inherited the same spirit. Even the
Antiochus Epiphanes experience, though no
doubt contributing to the construction of the
wall between less tolerant elements of Jewry and its neighbours, did not shatter the
Showdown in Jerusalem
After hundreds of years of
foreign rule, and a savage
campaign waged over two
decades by the famous Jewish Maccabees against
Epiphanes, the occupying
Syrian garrison was finally
expelled from Palestine in
142 BC. At that time, Rome
was beginning to flex its muscles; less than
ten years later she was mistress of the world.
A strong friendship sprang up between
Rome and Jerusalem.
War between the Jewish leaders and
brothers, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, in
the 60s BC compelled Rome to intervene for
the sake of peace. For the sake of peace, the
Roman general, Pompey, was forced to take
sides, marching on Jerusalem in 63 BC. His
Jewish allies opened the gates to him while
his Jewish opponents cloistered themselves
in the temple. The victorious Pompey allowed the priests to continue their ministrations unmolested, forbade damaging the
temple, and resisted the temptation to plunder temple treasures. When civil war broke
out between him and Julius Caesar, the Jews
sided with Caesar, who proved victorious.
He continued Pompey’s kindness to the
Jews, allowing them to rebuild those parts of
Jerusalem destroyed in earlier fighting, and
granting them Joppa and the plains of Esdraelon.
When Jewish Herod visited Rome, he was
received with great honours and appointed
king of the Jews. After a period of internecine fighting, Herod gained the ascendancy
over those Jews who resisted him, and an
era of unequalled cooperation and peace
between Rome and Judea ensued. Historian
Paul Johnson in “A History of Christianity”
(pp. 10-11) relates how Rome got on well
with Jews during the Herodian years, granting considerable privileges to Jews and Judaism. A huge Jewish population sprung up
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in the eastern Mediterranean region, while
Rome itself hosted a large and rich Jewish
colony. Rome gave Jews equality of economic opportunity and freedom of movement for
goods and persons, with the result that the
Diaspora expanded and flourished, growing
wealthy, powerful, successful, self-confident.
The degree of Roman favour towards, and
trust of, Jews at that time is illustrated by the
liberty granted to Palestine (Judea, Samaria
and Galilee) to remain virtually an independent state throughout the period of Roman
rule (Sanders 1993, pp. 27-28). Contrary to
popular conceptions, Roman presence was
non-existent in Galilee and very small in
Judea, consisting of one Roman of rank supported by a handful of troops living in Caesarea. Romans rarely roamed the streets of
Jerusalem, where de facto rule was in the
hands of locals. Rome sought no substantial
financial gain from Palestine; all it wanted
was a stable region between Syria and
Egypt.
Greeks of the time liked Jews, too. During
Julius Caesar’s reign, the people of Athens
expressed their love for Jerusalem and the
Jewish people by sending the high priest,
Hyrcanus, a crown of gold along with gushing promises of the maintenance of good
will between the two.
In fact, Jews got on well with their neighbours throughout the Roman realm, in spite
of the wall of separation Pharisaism had
erected. Many Greeks and Romans held
Jews in high regard. The gospel of Luke recounts the story of a Roman centurion based
in Galilee who “loves our nation and has
built us a synagogue” (6:5). Dunnill (1992,
p. 26) notes that the publicly-donated synagogue was the largest building in the nonJewish city of Sardis, and that Jews were
prominent citizens in many cities.
The Jewish century
Goodwill towards Jews translated into
favour towards their beliefs. Interest in Jewish beliefs reached an all-time high around
the BC–AD divide, so much so that on the
biblically-commanded Day of Atonement
commercial and public activity in Rome
came to a virtual standstill. The poet Ovid
(43 BC–17 AD) advised Roman citizens that
it was a good day to initiate romance as it
was a day “on which other business ought
not to be transacted” (Schonfield 1968,
p. 24). Julius Caesar’s successor, the polite
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Augustus Caesar (the enemy of Antony and
Cleopatra), first emperor of Rome (27 BC–14
AD), went a step further. He wrote to a colleague concerning the Jewish fast on Yom
Kippur that, “There is no Jew… who keeps
his fast on the Sabbath as I kept it today”. He
observed it more zealously than Jews did.
Even in Egypt, where hostilities occasionally disrupted harmony between Jews and
their neighbours, a large part of the nonJewish population imitated the Jewish way
of life.
Few facts reveal the favourable state of
Roman feelings towards Jews better than the
story of Poppaea, mistress and wife of mad
Emperor Nero (54–68 AD). A stunner, as
well as a ruthless, vixen of the highest order,
Poppaea manipulated Nero for a number of
years until she incurred his wrath for accusing him of neglecting her and paid for it with
a boot of Neronic proportions to the belly.
When the Romans built a tower that gave
a view into the temple complex at Jerusalem, the Jews erected a view-blocking wall
which they were immediately ordered to
knock down. A deputation travelled to Rome
to appeal to Nero. Poppaea interceded and
the wall stayed put. Six of the eight suppliants returned to Jerusalem, while two — the
high priest, Ismael, and Hilkiah, the Keeper
of the Treasury — remained at Poppaea’s
behest. She desired to receive instruction
from these bearded Jewish dignitaries.
Sinner that she was, Poppaea became
such an ardent advocate of Judaism that
some historians believe she converted fully.
Imagine it. Nero’s wife worshiped on the
biblical Sabbath and holy days, didn’t eat
pork or prawns, and called on the God of
Israel.
Many Gentiles, then, both high and low,
decided to follow biblical teaching and practices. Johnson says,
Above all there was a marked tendency
toward monotheism. More and more men
were looking not just for a god, but God,
the God… It as at this point… that we see
the crucial relevance of the Jewish impingement on the Roman world. For the
Jews not merely had a god: they had God.
They had been monotheists for at least two
millennia (pp. 8-9).
After centuries of worshiping a panoply of
pagan gods, many Roman citizens were
highly impressed with the religion of the
Jews. Here was a people who obviously had
something special, for wherever they went
11: Judaism’s day of glory
outside their own homeland they prospered.
The respect which many Gentiles held for
God’s Word and its promises led to a desire
to convert to God’s way of life. Schonfield
asserts:
Historians agree that between 150 B.C. and
A.D. 100… the Jews did achieve remarkable results in attracting converts from the
Gentiles (1968, p. 24).
Stern avers that “Gentile proselytes to
Judaism were a sizeable component of the
Jewish people in Yeshua’s [Jesus’] day, perhaps even the majority… ” ( p. 222).
Even Greeks were caught up in the stampede to join the winning team. Pope (ed.
Buttrick, Vol. 3, p. 925-926) says that many
pagans were fascinated by Judaism’s seemingly bizarre rites and customs. More, they
found Jewish morals and belief in one god
most appealing. Many Greeks, disenchanted
by their own gods and philosophies, gravitated towards the incomparable Jewish doctrine of one omnipotent god. Yes, the God of
the Jews was the God of the century. The
religion of the Jews was the religion to embrace.
Proselytes and God-fearers
A large number of Gentiles went all the way
and converted fully, becoming Jewish proselytes in the full sense of the term (though
not in God’s eyes). They underwent circumcision to complete the conversion process.
Many more — the God-fearers (theosebeis
in contemporary Greek writings, or “proselytes of the gate”, or yîre šamayîm [fearers
of heaven] in Jewish works) — went only
part way, keeping Old Testament law but
refraining from naturalisation as Jews
(which, remember, was a Jewish innovation,
having no biblical justification). Cohen
(1989, p. 55) says,
In Rome, many gentiles observed the Sabbath, the fasts, and the food laws; in Alexandria many gentiles observed the Jewish
holidays; in Asia Minor many gentiles attended synagogue on the Sabbath. Although these gentiles observed any number of Jewish practices and venerated in
one form or another the God of the Jews,
they did not see themselves as Jews and
were not seen by others as Jews.
Johnson (p. 12) makes a staggering point
— these sympathisers of Judaism formed a
significant proportion of the total population
of the empire! Though resisting circumcision
Showdown in Jerusalem
and naturalisation, they “recognised and
worshipped the Jewish God and they were
permitted to mingle with synagogue worshipers to learn Jewish law and customs.”
These God-fearers had little time for Pharisaic tradition and its attendant focus on details, but held biblical law unadulterated by
Jewish tradition in high esteem.
That many Gentiles willingly shouldered
the burden of biblical law is strongly supported by Paul’s comment in Romans 2:14
about Gentiles who “do the things in the
law”. He continued in verse 27:
And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you
who, even with your written code and
circumcision, are a transgressor of the
law?
Evidently, many non-Jews in the empire’s
very capital had taken to observing Old Testament law without seeing any need to become Jews.
Respect for the law of God extended to its
ceremonial aspects as well. Gentiles, including various kings and princes, are frequently mentioned as coming to the temple from
near and far in order to bring sacrifices. Josephus categorically states that the altar was
held in high esteem by all peoples, and that
its fame reached all parts of the world. One
Marcus Agrippa sacrificed a hecatomb (100
burnt offerings).
Beyond Rome
Commitment to the God of Israel was evidently widespread even beyond the borders
of the Roman Empire. Acts 8:27 tells us
about a prominent Ethiopian eunuch who
came to Jerusalem to worship. He held great
authority, probably serving as treasurer,
under Candace, Queen of Meroë. Whether
he was a full proselyte or a God-fearer is not
possible to say, but he undoubtedly kept Old
Testament law. Following the biblical way of
life did not stop people holding high government office. Jews and biblical standards
basked in near universal favour; biblical law
met less opposition from non-believers then
that it does now from many believers!
Decline and fall
Amity between Jews and their neighbours
faltered periodically. Emperor Tiberius (14–
37 AD) became so alarmed at the advance
of Jewish philosophy and practices that he
sought to check the spread by sending
young Jews out of Rome to the outer prov-
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inces under the pretext of assigning them to
military service. The rest he expelled. This
ad hoc measure failed singularly, for very
soon Jews were again thriving in the capital.
Probably his measure served more as a sop
to Jew-haters than as a policy he expected
authorities to carry out.
Eventually the harmony was shattered. A
series of incidents initiated by Jewish extremists in the sixth decade of the common
era led to punishing retribution by the Romans and the end of the love affair. But it
was great while it lasted. The degree of respect Rome had felt towards biblical teaching was so strong that even after they had
crushed the Jewish uprising the authorities
gave permission to Yohanan the son of
Zadok to set up a school of Rabbinical study
at Jamnia.
Understanding the background outlined
in this chapter is vital to proper reading of
the New Testament. With Judaism and all it
stood for being so popular in the first century, the stage was set for the expansion of
the early church into non-Jewish regions.
When Jesus Christ was proclaimed to the
Gentiles by the apostles, particularly Paul,
they responded in considerable numbers.
They did not balk at slipping into the harness of biblical patterns of behaviour for a
simple reason — everybody was doing it.
Doing so put them at no disadvantage.
More, they rejoiced to follow in the footsteps
of the object of their faith — their Lord and
Master, their Saviour and King. He lived by
the same rule.
Many people today who believe that they should keep God’s laws find it a rather intimidating challenge. Society is against it. Jobs can be lost for keeping Sabbath or holy
days. Children can be taunted at school for refusing to swear like a trooper (as was my
daughter). The competitive edge in business can be lost due to scrupulous honesty. It was
very different in the first century. Work hours were much more flexible. Roman leaders
were quite amenable to Jewish ways. Everybody, it seems, was “doing it”. Thus, Gentiles
who kept the law in the first century found it much easier than they would today.
The problem of Acts 16:21
… and they teach customs which are
not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.
Acts 16:21
In the city of Philippi, Paul and Silas had won
the heart of a God-fearer, Lydia, for Jesus
Christ (16:13-15). That was bad enough.
But when they cast demons out of a girl
whose powers of divination had brought
great profit to her masters, all hell broke
loose. They were dragged before the local
courts and charged with propagating unlawful “Jewish” teachings.
If the law forbade Roman citizens from
even receiving foreign religious customs, let
alone practising them, how could biblical
practices have proved such an attraction to so
many?
History attests to a simple fact — many
Romans did receive and practise Jewish
teachings, and got away with it. The Lydia mentioned above had been ob-
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serving them for some time (vs. 14). The
problem can be resolved by recognising that
the laws in question must have been those
sorts of laws which were on the statute books
but were resorted to only when a clever lawyer remembered their existence and appealed to them to bolster his client’s case. (In
this instance, the client would stop at nothing to get Paul into trouble.) Masses of such
laws can be found in practically every country on earth today, as any John Grisham fan
knows.
Marshall (p. 270) explains:
The Romans were officially not supposed to
practise foreign cults, although in practice
they might do this so long as these did not
offend against Roman customs. The principle was clearly a flexible one which could be
invoked as necessary… It has sometimes
been argued that the Jews were banned
from proselytising, but this does not appear
to have been the case.
His point makes a lot of sense.
11: Judaism’s day of glory