Judaism Before Jesus

What was changed by the Exile? Who had been taken to Babylon and who returned? How important was it to rebuild the Temple, and who should control it? Texts: Ezra 1–6; Haggai.

Most biblical prophecy criticized kings and rulers. Now the prophets try to shore up institutions, yet radical hopes for lasting change persist before prophecy ultimately loses its authority. Texts: Zechariah 1–6; Isa 24–27; 65–66.

Did the Torah derive its authority from a Persian king? Did Ezra have the Torah as we now have it? To what degree did he succeed in making people observe it? Texts: Ezra 7; 9–10; Nehemiah 8; 9; 13.

Life in the Diaspora as reflected in the fictional stories of Esther and Daniel 1–6. How important was the Law? What was the attitude of Jews toward their political overlords and Gentile neighbors? Texts: Esther; Daniel 1–6.

The wisdom books (Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth) preserve a form of instruction with no explicit reference to Moses or the history of Israel, and yet they too belong to the Jewish tradition. Texts: Prov 3; 6; 8; Job 28; Qoh 1; 12.

By the early Hellenistic period, the Torah had iconic importance even in wisdom literature. Ben Sira (c. 180 BCE) is a bridge figure: a sage who identifies Wisdom with the Torah of Moses. Texts: Sirach Preface; 24; 38; 41; 50.

Was the Maccabean revolt a rejection of Hellenistic culture, a reaction to excessive taxation, or a defense of the ancestral laws? The evidence from 1 and 2 Maccabees points in a specific direction. Texts: 1 Macc 1–2; 2 Macc 4–6.

While the Maccabees took a pragmatic approach to the crisis, Daniel looks to the heavenly host and anticipates judgment after death. Daniel is the only example of apocalyptic literature in the Hebrew Bible. Texts: Daniel 7–12.

The books of Enoch, found in Aramaic in the Dead Sea Scrolls, show human life subject to angelic and demonic forces and humans destined for reward or punishment after death. Texts: 1 Enoch 1–36.

A mid-course pause to examine the new worldview that appears in Judaism in the early second century BCE. Apocalypticism is not only about the end of history but also about a world beyond this one and the destiny of people after death.

Though not noted for their piety, the Hasmonean reign was marked by stricter observance of Jewish distinctives (especially purity laws) and the emergence of the Pharisees, Essenes, and other sectarian movements.

The discovery at Qumran provided a trove of primary evidence about Judaism in the last centuries before the destruction of the Temple, shedding new light on the formation of Scripture and the disputes that led to sectarianism.

The Scrolls provide detailed evidence for a sectarian community with its own admission rituals and rules, almost certainly the Essenes. It existed in two forms: one that accepted marriage, and one that aspired to a higher holiness. Texts: CD 1–3; 7–8; 1QS 5–8.

Dormant since the Persian period, messianic hope revived when the non-Davidic Hasmoneans assumed the kingship. The Dead Sea Scrolls attest both a royal Davidic messiah and a priestly messiah, and to a lesser degree a prophetic one.

The Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit a distinctive apocalypticism rooted in Persian dualism: the cosmic conflict of light and darkness. They also reflect a striking belief that sectarian members already mingled with the heavenly host in this life. Texts: 1QS 3–4; The War Scroll.

An extensive Jewish community flourished in Egypt in the Hellenistic period. It produced a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Septuagint) and an allegorical reading of Scripture culminating in Philo of Alexandria.

The Jewish community in Alexandria, which prospered under the Ptolemies, came under attack and was virtually destroyed after Rome took control of Egypt. Was this ancient antisemitism, or something more complex rooted in the ambiguous position of Jews between Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians?

Rome took control of Judea when Pompey entered Jerusalem in 63 BCE. Client kings (most notably Herod the Great) gave way to direct Roman governance. Bitterly resented by some, the historian Josephus described the resistance movement as a “fourth philosophy.”

The years leading up to the revolt saw a series of prophetic and quasi-messianic figures emerge in Judea. These figures offer intriguing parallels to the career of Jesus of Nazareth, and help explain why Rome was so alarmed.

Several apocalyptic texts are dated to the years after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. We focus on 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch as profound reflections on the fate of Second Temple Judaism, and on what might lie beyond the catastrophe. Texts: 4 Ezra (2 Esdras 3–14); 2 Baruch.