Carol Swenson
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There were 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The changes that took place over four centuries affected every area of life - political and cultural, geographical, religious, language and writings.
The Persian Period 430 - 332 B.C.
The Greek Period 331 - 167 B.C
Under Egyptian Rule
Under Syrian Rule
The Maccabean Period 167 - 63 B.C.
The Roman Period 63 B.C. - A.D. 636
THE INTERTESTAMENTAL PERIOD
Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire with lightning speed. When the people of Jerusalem threw open their gates in 332 BC to surrender, Alexander treated them well. After his death in 323 BC, control over Palestine was passed between Alexander’s descendants until Ptolemy I, a king of Egypt, managed to take over in 301 BC.
After this, Palestine was controlled by Egypt until 198 BC. The descendants of Ptolemy I were tolerant, and they let the Jews govern themselves as long as they paid their taxes and remained submissive. Many Jews settled in Alexandria, relying less on their Hebrew language in the Hellenistic (Greek) environment. As a result, these Jews translated the Old Testament into Greek. While the Egyptian kings did not force Hellenism on the Jews of either Alexandria or Palestine, many Israelites were influenced by Hellenistic ideas.
When Ptolemy V came to the throne as a very young man in 203 BC, the king of Syria, Antiochus III, took advantage of Egypt’s temporary weakness and conquered Palestine in 198 BC. Apparently the Jews hoped to gain something from the change in power, for they welcomed the Syrians. This hope, however, did not last for long. In 190 BC, Antiochus III suffered a disastrous defeat to Rome at Magnesia. In this battle, Syria not only lost much of its territory but it was forced to pay enormous taxes to Rome. After this, the Jews and the other people who had supported Syria had great financial burdens. The next Syrian king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who reigned from 175 BC to 164 BC, hoped to strengthen and unify the Syrian empire. In doing so, he forced the people he controlled to accept Greek culture and Greek religion, which involved worshiping idols. When the king told the Jews to worship idols, they could not do it because of God’s commands. The disagreement about this eventually caused a revolution called the Maccabean Revolt.
But this does not completely explain the revolt against Syria. In 168 BC, armed conflict broke out between different Jewish groups in Jerusalem. Antiochus IV thought this meant the Jews were rebelling against him, and he sent an army to attack Jerusalem. His soldiers demolished part of the city wall and many houses. After this, Antiochus attempted to eliminate Judaism completely. He dedicated the temple to Zeus and sacrificed pigs on the altar. The Jewish traditions of circumcision, the Sabbath, and other religious festivals were no longer permitted. Antiochus IV made it mandatory that all people worship idols.
Some Jews caved in to Antiochus’s orders or resisted quietly. A few of them decided to openly resist the new laws. Mattathias and his five sons became leaders of this group. When Mattathias died very early, his son Judas Maccabeus led the Jewish soldiers to victory over the Syrians. This meant the Jews could again worship God. They rededicated the temple in 164 BC, starting the Festival of Hanukkah. After this, Jonathan and Simon, the other sons of Mattathias, continued the struggle until the Jews gained complete independence in 142 BC.
Simon ruled this new Jewish state until he was assassinated in 134 BC. After this, his son John Hyrcanus took over and reigned until 104 BC. John Hyrcanus fought successfully in the east, north, and south. His armies won land across the Jordan River. They captured Shechem and the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim. They also conquered the Idumeans in the south and forced them to practice Judaism. His son Aristobulus ruled for only about a year, but he added a portion of Galilee to the kingdom. When Aristobulus died, his widow married his brother, Alexander Janneus, who reigned as king from 103 to 76 BC. Janneus was almost always at war during his reign, and by the time he died, the kingdom of Israel was nearly the size it had been when Solomon was king.
When Janneus died, his widow, Alexandra, took control of the throne. She reigned from 76 to 67 BC, and her oldest son, Hyrcanus II, became the high priest. Alexandra’s reign was peaceful and prosperous, but when she died her sons began to argue over the throne.
Some of these sons asked for help from Pompey, the Roman leader in the eastern Mediterranean area. This led to Roman interference in the region, ultimately resulting in the Roman conquest of Palestine in 63 BC.
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