The Intertestamental
Period: From Babylon
To The Birth Of Christ
Babylonian Period
Intertestamental Period
Week
Date
Topic
1
05 Mar 14 Overview
2
12 Mar 14 Babylonian Period (605-539 BC)
3
19 Mar 14 Persian Period (539-332 BC)
4
26 Mar 14 Greek Period (332-323 BC)
5
02 Apr 14 Ptolemaic (323-198 BC)
6
09 Apr 14 Syrian (198-168 BC)
7
16 Apr 14 Maccabean Part 1 (168-153 BC)
8
23 Apr 14 Maccabean Part 2 (153-139 BC)
9
30 Apr 14 Independence (139-63 BC)
10
07 May 14 Rome Intervenes (63 – 37 BC)
11
14 May 14 Herod (37 BC – 4 BC)
12
21 May 14 The IT Period and Christianity (4 BC – 70 AD)
13
28 May 14 Review
Today’s Objectives
• Review last week’s lesson
• Review the historical background from
which Babylon was formed
• Learn about he historical background
behind the rise of Babylon
• Learn about the political, social, economic,
cultural, and religious issues during the
Babylonian rule over Israel
• Learn about the fall of Judah and the exile
• Learn about Babylon’s demise
Last week’s lesson
•
•
•
•
Reviewed the lesson plan
Reviewed references
Reviewed overall study objectives
Learned why understanding the
Intertestamental (IT) Period is critical
to understanding New Testament (NT)
text
• Learned about the extent of the Old
Testament (OT) Canon
• Provided study highlights
Reference Material
• KJV (w/ Apocrypha)
– 1st and 2nd Maccabbees
•
•
•
•
•
Josephus – The Complete Works
Herodotus – The History
Intertestamental History – Mark Moore
Ancient Rome – Simon Baker
Harding University – BNEW 112 Course
Notes – Dr. Thompson
Sumer
•
•
•
•
•
Around 2500 BC
Southern Iraq (Mesopotamia)
Home of Abraham (Ur)
Known as the cradle of civilization
Sumerians lived in many city-states in
the region
• They were not unified
• Vulnerable to attack
Sumer
Akkadians
• 2300 BCE the Akkadians conquered
Sumer (read Gen 10:8-12)
• They developed the first empire, with
Sargon as king
• Sargon used military techniques to
conquer the city-states
– Destroyed city walls to discourage rebellion
– Ensured city-state governors were loyal to
him
– Established his son as the next king
– Utilized tributes
Akkadian Facts
• Semitic language
– Examples are Assyrian, Akkadian,
Babylonian, Arabic, and Hebrew
• Adapted cuneiform to the Semitic
language
• Grew weak and disappeared by 2100 BC
• Sumerian city-states again emerged, but
only briefly
Cuneiform Writing
Babylonian Empire
• Babylon was a small city-state in central
Mesopotamia
• Hammurabi was the ruler of Babylon
• Hammurabi conquered Mesopotamia,
bringing an end to the Sumerian political
structure
• Hammurabi named the new empire
Babylonia, with Babylon as its capital
– Some think of him as Amraphel in Gen 14:1
Babylonian Facts
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•
•
•
•
Babylonian empire began around1792 BC
They spoke Akkadian (a Semitic language)
Sumerian language died
Hammurabi developed his code of laws
Babylonians had an extensive trade system:
traded grain and cloth for wood, gold silver,
gems and livestock
• Irrigation systems developed
• Sexigesimal system
– System of math based upon the number 12 – 60
seconds, 60 minutes, 360 degrees
Transition of Power
• After Hammurabi’s death, the Babylonian
Empire became weak
• The Babylonian Empire fell about 1600 BC
to the Hittite empire (Anatolia, Turkey)
• The Hittite Empire fell around 1100 BC to
the Assyrians
• The Assyrian Empire fell in 612 BC to the
Babylonians
Neo-Babylonian Empire
• After Nineveh fell in 612 BC, Babylonians
rose to power again
• Nabopolassar was the first king of the
empire
• His son, Nebuchadnezzar, was the most
famous Neo-Babylonian king
• Nebuchadnezzar expands the empire,
conquering Syria and Israel
• Polytheistic kingdom similar to Canaan
Neo-Babylonia and Judah
• 612 BC – Babylon captures the Assyrian capital
of Nineveh
• 605 BC – Nebuchadnezzar reigns over the
Babylonian empire and begins Jewish
deportation to Babylon
• 604 BC – Nebuchadnezzar’s dream – Daniel 2
– Inferior kingdom will replace Babylon
– A third kingdom will rise, of bronze
– A fourth kingdom will rise, of iron
• Prophets are Habakkuk, Ezekiel, Daniel
Neo-Babylonia and Judah
• Great Rebellion of Judah 587 BC
– Zedekiah plans rebellion against Babylonia
– Read 2 Kings 24:17-25:21
• Promise of Egyptian help
– Alliance with Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt
• Nebuchadnezzar besieges and takes
Jerusalem in 587-586 BC
– City and Temple Destroyed
– Deportation to Babylon
• Failed Invasion of Egypt 568 BC
Fall of Judah
1. Babylon approaches
2. Judean cities captured
3. Siege of Jerusalem
4. Edomites raid Judah
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2
6
7
5. Rumor of Egyptian
forces
6. Jerusalem captured
7. King Zedekiah tries to
flee
–
4
Obadiah 1:11-14
2 Kings 25
Babylonian Demise
• Babylonia-Median coalition against the
Assyrians in 612 BC
• In 559 B.C. at age 40, Cyrus inherits the
small kingdom of Anshan, a tributary of
Media
• 550-549 B.C. Cyrus revolted against
Astyages, Median overlord and grandfather
• Cyrus conquers Media, then Lydia
• 539 BC - Persia, under Cyrus, captures
Babylon (more on that next week)
Significance of the Exile
• 70 Years
• 605-536, Resettlement, or B.C. 586-516,
Zerubbabel's Temple
• Destruction of the Temple in B.C. 587
– Sacrifice was no longer possible
– Birth of the Synagogue
– Cessation of Idolatry
– Demonstrated that God would annul a broken
covenant (Jer. 3:8)
• Biblical prophecy of Daniel
Review
• Reviewed last week’s lesson
• Reviewed the historical background from which
Babylon was formed
• Learned about he historical background behind
the rise of Babylon
• Learned about the political, social, economic,
cultural, and religious issues during the
Babylonian rule over Israel
• Learned about the fall of Judah and the exile
• Learned about Babylon’s demise