Introduction to the NT

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Introduction to the NT

• The Intertestamental period

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The Structure
Old Covenant (Testament) New Covenant (Testament)
Torah (Pentateuch, 5 books of Moses) A Neviim (Prophets Former and latter) A Kethuvim (writings Poetry, wisdom, etc.) Four Gospels (Story of Jesus) Book of Acts (church history) Letters of Paul and other church leaders Book of Hebrews General Epistles Apocalypse (Revelation)
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Timing

• There is a big jump between the OT and NT
  (Remember, we are using a Christian perspective
  when we refer to the Hebrew scriptures as the Old
  Testament).
• Babylonian exile around 600 BCE
• The OT ends 200-400 years before the beginning of
  the NT.
• A popular, though probably not quite true belief
  is that th Torah was canonized circa 400 BCE, the
  Prophets circa 200 BCE, and the Writings circa
  100 CE
• Israel was never independent since the Babylonian
  Captivity in 6th Century BCE until the 20th
  century.
• Babylonian and Assyrian exile spread Judaism
  which in turn, influenced Judaism.

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Three Centers of Judaism
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Eastern Judaism-Aramaic

• Often called the Eastern Diaspora or Eastern
  Dispersion
• Under the Persian/Assyrian King Cyrus, many
  exiles returned to Palestine/Judea/Israel, and
  many did not. It was safer and easier to stay in
  Babylonia under King Cyrus benevolent rule.
• The Babylonian/Persian/Assyrian period is also
  called the silent period
• Their principle language changed from Hebrew to
  Aramaic (Related like Spanish and Portuguese)
• The Torah was probably completed in Babylon by
  the exilic community
• Jewish tradition says it was Ezra, a
  Babylonian-Hebrew scribe (Ezra 76), who brought
  Mosaic Law back to Judea.
• It is clear that there was intense study of
  Hebrew Scriptures in the Eastern Diaspora.
• This is probably the beginning of local centers
  in each community for the study of the Torah
  (later called the synagogue).

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Egyptian Judaism-Greek

• Egypt has played the role of both villain (The
  Exodus) and
• A place of refuge during trouble (Abraham,
  Joseph, Baby Jesus) (Also 2 Kings 2526)
• Greater more unity in the East, especially under
  Alexander the Great in the 4th century means more
  freedom and ease of travel (safety for travelers,
  common language).
• For a time, Palestine and Egypt were under the
  same rule of Alexander the Greats general,
  Ptolemy and his heirs.
• Alexandria was a great Hellenistic city where
  Greek was spoken and it attracted many Jews.
• The practice of allegorizing Hebrew Scripture
  also seems to have begun with the Jewish
  community in Alexandria. This technique
  originated with Greeks in the 6th century to
  explain the contents of the Iliad and Odyssey.
  Jesus applies this technique extensively to the
  Jewish Scripture.

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Egyptian Judaism The Septuagint

• Produced in Alexandria.
• Hebrew scriptures translation/reinterpretation
  into Greek.
• They seem to have made it say what they supposed
  the Hebrew writers would have written had they
  lived in later times.
• Example of Esther where the Hebrew scriptures
  mention neither God nor religion directly. The
  Greek translation slips in a few passages that
  make reference to God and religion.
• Translation choices were made,
• The Hebrew word Torah (teaching) was translated
  as nomos (law). This made Judaism appear more
  like a legal system. Even now, we refer to the
  Torah as Mosaic Law, rather than Moses
  Teaching
• Gods proper name yhwh was translated as a title
  kurios (lord). This was already an oral
  tradition.

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Palestinian/Judean Judaism

• Small area near rebuilt temple, but with the most
  religious conflict.
• Many Jewish sects Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes,
  Scribes, Zealots.
• Opposing groups saw themselves as the true heirs
  of ancient Israel
• the sons of exile and
• those who stayed in the land during the exile.
• Samaritans a mixed group. Jewish name
  (shomeronim) means people of Samaria Their name
  for themselves (shamerim) means Keepers of the
  Covenant. They had their own version of the
  Torah.
• Josephus says To understand the Jews one must
  first understand that they did not constitute a
  monolithic community.
• Josephus was a Jewish priest in the first century
  who fought the Romans in the first Jewish War. He
  later became a Roman citizen and governor, and
  most notably a Jewish historian who survived and
  recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
  His works give an important insight into
  first-century Judaism

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Changes in Judaism

• Belief in resurrection.
• Unambiguous reference to conscious life after
  death is not seen the OT.
• Sheol is a shadowing underground place mentioned
  in the OT where all people go when they die
• Resurrection of the dead helps answer the problem
  of suffering in the present life (because there
  will be rewards in the next)
• Resurrection is seen in 2 Maccabees (written in
  Egypt around 125BCE) as a reward for Martyrdom.
• If there is resurrection of the dead, who is it
  for and how does it work?
• Loss of a commanding prophetic voice.
• Messianism
• Messiah comes from the Hebrew mashiah (in Greek,
  it is christos) which means anointed one.
• The Hebrew word was applied to Kings like Saul,
  David, and Solomon as well as Cyrus the Great.
• It does not mean a hoped for rescuer or universal
  savior in the Hebrew scripture.
• This idea seems to have developed during the
  intertestamental period and can be seen in
  apocryphal books such as 1 Enoch.
• It doesnt appear to have been a widespread
  concept before Jesus.

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Prominent Jewish sects

• Major groups of Jewish religious people.
• Pharisees
• Sadducees
• Essenes
• Samaritans
• Zealots
• However most people didnt belong to any of these
  groups. The common people were sometimes looked
  down upon as unteachable sinners. These sinners
  were the main audience for Jesus teaching.

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Pharisees

• Believe in a coming day of judgment
• Resurrection of the dead
• A future life of rewards and penalties based on
  deeds in this life
• Existence of angels, demons, and other
  inhabitants of unseenworld
• Devoted to study of scripture, they were not
  dependent on temple worship or promised land.
• Accepted the three parts of Hebrew scripture and
  oral law traditions (Mark 73)
• Small in number but the most powerful religious
  force
• Very strong standards of religious piety and
  commitment
• Emphasized progressive reinterpretation of the
  scripture to fit the times

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Sadducees

• More conservative religiously and politically
  than the pharisees
• Members of Jewish upper class
• Sons of Zaddok (high priest under David and
  Solomon 1 Kings 126)
• They were the officiating priests at the
  Jeresalem temple
• None of their writing survive, so hard to know as
  much about them
• Caiaphas, who condemned Jesus, was a Sadducee.
• On good terms with Roman government, wanted a
  stable society
• Rejected the oral law of the Pharisees
• Rejected Pharisees belief in afterlife, angels,
  demons, etc.
• They died off as a group with the destruction of
  the temple.

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Samaritans

• Jews at Jesus time regarded the Samaritans as
  alien people who practiced a false version of
  Judaism
• Whereas Jews worshipped at the Jerusalem temple
  on Mt Zion, Samritans viewed Mt Gerizim, near
  Shechem as Gods approved holy place (John 420).
• They recognized the Torah, but not The Writings
  or the Prophets.
• They are treated nicely by the NT writers.
• Jesus was called a Samaritan on one occasion
  (John 848)
• A small community of religious Samaritans still
  exists today

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Essenes

• Essenes flourished from 140BCE-68CE
• One main community was Qumarn near the northwest
  corner of the Derad Sea.
• They were a monastic group- gave up worldly life
  including marriage.
• Lived in an isolated desert community, they were
  awaiting two messiahs
• A priestly Messiah descended from Aaron
• A kingly Messiah descended from David
• They wrote and hid the Dead Sea scrolls before
  they were annihilated by the Romans.
• A few (not many) scholars think Jesus may have
  spent his lost years in an Essene community.
• John the Baptist seems a lot like an Essene

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Essenes the Dead Sea Scrolls

• Dead Sea scrolls discovered in 1947Pottery jars
  full of ancient manuscripts.
• A shepherd boy in the area threw a rock and heard
  the sound of pottery breaking.
• Composed during 200BC-100CE
• 1. Oldest surviving copies of parts of the Hebrew
  Bible
• There is a complete Isaiah text, 900 years older
  than any other surviving Isaiah text and it is
  almost exactly the same, but others differ
  significantly.
• 2. Apocryphal books, such as 1 Enoch, Tobit, Book
  of Jubilees.
• 3. Commentaries on canonical books
• Shows that Essenes, like later Christians thought
  of many scriptures as full of prophecies
• 4. Many of their own documents such as rules for
  how to live and outlines of Essene rituals, and
  hymns.

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Modern site of Qumran
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Two of the 12 caves where scrolls were found
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Scroll jar and scrolls
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Zealots

• Passionately committed to Jewish religious and
  political freedom
• Dedicated to evicting Rome from Palestine
• In 6CE Judas the Galilean led a revolt that Rome
  easily suppressed
• Jesus is compared to this Judas (Acts 537-39)
• Simon, one of Jesus disciples is called a
  zealot.
• According to Josephus, the Zealots blind
  nationalism forced the Palestinian Jews on a
  suicidal course.
• They wouldnt surrender, even after Jerusalem
  fell compelling Rome destroy the temple.

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Messiah expectations

• Deliver the covenant people from their Gentile
  oppressors
• Reassemble Jews after the diaspora
• Reestablish the Davidic kingdom
• Establish universal peace
• Suffering servant Isaiah 53 bears pain and
  humiliation for others