Section Six: A Nation Restored
Babylon at its Peak
• During the time of the Jewish captivity, Chaldean Babylon was at its peak. It ruled
most of the lands governed by the Assyrian Empire with the exception of Egypt
• During this period, Ur, now truly Ur of the Chaldees, was being rebuilt to become a
type of Babylonian Alexandria, a city that could be a center of collected knowledge
• Babylon remained the dominant power in the region from 612 to 539 BCE
6.1
The Rise of Persia and the Fall of Babylon
• East of Babylon, a new power began to assert itself. Cyrus II, grandson of Cyrus I,
King of Anshan, ruled over a land that was a tributary state of Media, an ally of
Babylon
• Cyrus II revolted against the Medes in 549 BCE and defeated them. Three years later,
Cyrus II was officially proclaimed King of Persia (modern day Iran). Lydia was next on
Cyrus II’s to-do list. Around 547 BCE, Cyrus II captured the Capital City of Lydia,
Sardes, and the Lydian King, Croesus, effectively bringing Lydia into the everexpanding Persian Empire
• In 540 BCE, the campaign against the Babylonian Empire began
6.2
But How Many If by River?
Around 540 BCE, Cyrus II began his war against the Babylonian Empire. He routed the
Babylonians at the Battle of Opis along the Tigris River. Cyrus then began to plan for the
capture of the Capital City of the Empire, Babylon itself
The city of Babylon was protected by great walls. The River Euphrates flowed through
the city but the depth of the river ensured that no army could enter there
According to Herodotus (Histories 1: 189-191), Persian engineers went upstream of the
river and built a diversion canal. At a given signal, the water was diverted into the canal
lowering the river to an extent that the Persian army could march into the city via the
river. The surprise was so complete that the entire city was taken in one day
6.3
The Religious Tolerance of Cyrus II
• Much of what is known about the
Persian King Cyrus the Great can be
found on the Cyrus cylinder. This
includes his loyalty to the god Marduk
• The cylinder also describes the following,
“to Assur and [from] Susa, Agade, Ešnunna,
Zamban, Me-Turnu, Der, as far as the region of
Gutium, the sacred centers on the other side of the
Tigris, whose sanctuaries had been abandoned for
a long time, I returned the images of the gods, who
had resided there [i.e., in Babylon], to their own
places and I let them dwell in their eternal abodes.
I gathered all their inhabitants and returned to
them their own dwellings.”
This passage is taken by many to include
the resettlement of the Jewish people to
their homeland after their captivity in
Babylon. Since Judah is not specifically
mentioned, some critics question whether
this passage refers to the Jewish exiles
6.4
Cyrus Allows the Jewish People to Return
to Their Homeland
•
Whether or not the decree on the Cyrus cylinder was meant specifically
for the refugees from Judah, it is nonetheless a fact that Cyrus did allow
their return
•
Cyrus actually did more than simply allow the return. He restored to the
Jewish people a number of the sacred vessels that had been taken from
the Temple before it was destroyed by the Babylonians. He also
provided money to help with the rebuilding of the Temple
•
Not all the exiles chose to return to their homeland. In fact, given the
poor state of Judah, many exiles, who had established a comfortable life
in Babylon, chose to stay on there
•
On the other hand, many did choose to return but the return did not
happen all at once. There were at least two waves of people returning to
Judah and to the city of Jerusalem, or at least what was left of it
6.5
Important Characters of the Return:
Zerubbabel
•
Zerubbabel likely means “born in Babylon”. Zerubbabel was the grandson of
Jehoiakin (Jeconiah), who ruled Judah for a brief time after his father,
Jehoiakim. While Jeconiah’s line was cursed by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer.
22:28-30), Zerubbabel was a descendant of David through Solomon
(Remember the prophet Nathan’s prediction that David’s line would last forever)
• Zerubbabel, along with the priest Joshua, led the first group of hopeful
Jewish exiles back to their homeland. Zerubbabel and Joshua laid the
foundation for the rebuilding of the Temple. Joshua also carried back
some of the sacred vessels from the Temple stolen by the Babylonians
• The Samaritans from the North asked Zerubbabel to allow them to help in
the rebuilding of the Temple since, they claimed, they worshipped the
same God (YWHW). Zerubbabel refused their help but told them that they
would be welcome to worship in the only true Temple once it was rebuilt.
This response was in line with Josiah’s decree
• After these actions, Zerubbabel simply seems to fade out of history.
Jeremiah’s curse proves true. Jeconiah’s descendants never did sit on the
throne of Judah. The physical house of David came to an end but the
hope for a Messianic restoration of the line of David had its beginnings
6.6
Important Characters of the Restoration:
Ezra
•
Ezra was a religious leader. He was both a priest and a “scribe of the law of the
God of Heaven” (Ez. 7:21) Ezra was sent at the head of a later group of returning
exiles to follow in the footsteps of Josiah and teach the Law (the Torah) to those
in Judah who may have forgotten it.
•
Ezra proclaimed the law to all who would hear. Upon learning that the early
groups of returning exiles had taken foreign wives, Ezra called an assembly of all
the returned exiles and accused them of abandoning their faith. Almost all those
who had taken foreign wives vowed to dismiss both their foreign wives and any
children borne by them
• The word synagogue comes from a Greek word συναγόγη which means either an
assembly itself or, more likely, a place of assembly. The Septuagint often used
the word συναγόγη to translate the Hebrew word ‫( בֵּ ית כְּ נֶסֶ ת‬Beit K’nesset). The
people who gathered in the Beit K’nesset were the ‫( קָ הָ ל‬qahal). The Septuagint
often used the word ’εκκλησία (ekklesia) for the people assembled. The
English word ‘ecclesiastic’ comes from this Greek word. The Greek word for the
place of assembly was δόμος κυριάκος (domos kyriakos) What meaning to
attach to the word synagogue during this time period is a matter of much debate
6.7
Important Characters of the Restoration:
Nehemiah
• While Ezra was a priest, Nehemiah was more of a political leader.
Nehemiah was a Jewish member of the Persian court. When he heard
that the resettlement of Judah was not going well, he had himself
appointed governor of Judah (Before this appointment, Judah and
Samaria formed one region of governance as was the case under
Babylonian rule).
• Nehemiah began to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Sanballat, a
worshipper of YHWH and governor of Samaria, Tobiah, governor of
Ammon and Geshem governor of Arabia did their best to stop him but
Nehemiah succeeded in rebuilding the walls
Nehemiah and Ezra combined to bring renewed commitment to Jewish Law
started under King Josiah and a renewed vigor of life to the land of Judah.
The people publicly responded by recommitting themselves to their
covenant with the Lord
6.8
Final Words of the Hebrew Scriptures
“Thus says Cyrus, King of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given
to me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has also charged me to build him a
house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. All among you, therefore, who
belong to his people, may their God be with them; let them go up.”
THE END
These words are the last words of the Book of Second Chronicles, the last
book in the collection of books of that are called the Hebrew Scriptures.
They are almost as prophetic and meaningful in modern times as they must
have been those many centuries ago. (Next year in Jerusalem)
While these are the final words of the Hebrew Scriptures, they are not the
final words of the Christian Old Testament. While Protestant collection and
the Roman Catholic/Orthodox collection of OT scripture contains different
books (Protestant OT has the number of books as the Hebrew Scriptures
while the Catholic/Orthodox OT has additional books) most every Christian
bible places Malachi as the last book in their OT collection. This Christian
ordering of books has a purpose we’ll look at in a later section
The history of the Jewish people as seen in the Hebrew Scriptures stops
with their return from captivity in Babylon. However, the Jewish historian
Josephus in his work, “Antiquities of the Jews”, continues to tell the story
of the Jewish people up to their wars with Rome
6.9
Organization of the Land Under Persian Rule
• As mentioned earlier, land to which the exiles returned was initially
included in the Persian province of Samaria and governed by a Satrap
from that region. Later, Judah became its own province and was
governed by its own satrap. Given the state of Jerusalem after the
destruction of the city by the Babylonians, the Satrap ruled from Mizpah
in Benjamin until about 445 BCE. Satraps of Judah were almost always
Jewish rather than Persian following the Assyrian and Babylonian
tradition
• The people who lived in Samaria at the time of the return considered
themselves to be faithful Jews claiming to be descendants of the ten
tribes of the Northern Kingdom who managed to remain in the land.
(they claim specific descendancy from Manasseh and Ephraim, the
sons of Joseph)
• The Samaritans worshipped YHWH but did not accept the version of the
Torah used in Judah. They claimed it had been changed from the
original. They also did not accept much of the later writings such as
the Deuteronomistic History and some of the writings of the prophets.
The Samaritans had their own center of sacrificial worship in Samaria
on Mount Gerizim. They denied the Jewish claim that the Temple in
Jerusalem was the only legitimate center of sacrificial worship
6.10
Jesus Meets the Samaritan Woman at the Well
Well, it was our fathers’ way to worship on this
mountain, although you tell us that the place where
men ought to worship is in Jerusalem. (John 4:20)
As Jesus traveled south from his home in Galilee to
Jerusalem, he had to pass through Samaria.
Samaria is the name given to what was the Northern
Kingdom of Israel. When the Assyrians conquered
that kingdom and drove many of the ten tribes of
Jacob that lived there out of the land, that gave rise
to the notion of the “Lost Tribes of Israel”
Not all of the tribes left. Many of the tribe of Joseph
(Ephraim and Manasseh), the tribes closest to
Judah, remained. When Josiah, King of Judah,
declared that all Jewish worship would be centered
in the Temple of Jerusalem, as Samaritans (i.e. not
subjects of King Josiah), those Israelites who
remained continued to maintain their local shrines,
their ancient alphabet and Mount Gerizim as their
principal place of worship and sacrifice
6.11
The Persians – Two Views
• Considering the Persians from the point of view of the Jews, they
were tolerant rulers
- they allowed the Jews to return to their homeland
- they supported the Jews as they rebuilt their Temple
- they allowed the Jews a certain amount of self-government
• Jewish people so respected the Persian King Cyrus that they
considered him one sent by God to help the Jewish people (a
Messiah?) The name Cyrus is acceptable even today as a first name for
Jewish male children
• Considering the Persians from the point of view of Western Civilization
(i.e. the Greek view), they were more like barbarian invaders
- they conquered Greek colonies in Asia Minor
- they invaded Greece in 492 BCE and 480 BCE and were attacked in
turn, first by Greek city-states and then by the Delian League
- despite the enmity between Greece and Persia, the Greek writer
Xenophon wrote of Cyrus with some admiration
- the Persians did finally ally themselves with Greek Spartans in their
victory against Athens in the Peloponnesian war
- they were finally conquered by the Macedonians under Alexander in
334 BCE
6.12
Alexander Changes Everything
• The Jewish people seemed to live quietly under Persian dominance for two centuries
(a Golden Age?) but beginning around 334 BCE everything changed
• A new power had begun to assert itself in the region. A Macedonian named
Alexander created an Empire from Greece in Europe to as far East as the Indus river in
the sub-continent of Asia and as far South as Egypt
• Alexander, though not himself a Greek, loved the language and culture of Greece and
was determined to spread this culture and language to the lands that he conquered.
Greek language and culture was common throughout Alexander’s empire and later
became common even in Rome. Despite Alexander’s love for all things Greek, he
6.13
seemed supportive of the Jewish faith and respected its antiquity
The Death of Alexander
• In June 323 BCE, while still a young man (approaching his 33rd birthday) and at
the peak of his power, Alexander suddenly died while residing in the palace built
by Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Given that his death came after drinking
unmixed wine, many suspected that Alexander was poisoned. The historian
Plutarch dismissed this notion and the length of time (12 days) between the
onset of his illness and his death seem to argue against poisoning
• Alexander’s sudden death caused a problem of succession. Several of
Alexander’s generals, collectively called the diadochi or diadochoi, fought with
each other for control of Alexander’s empire. Two generals who dominated were
Seleucus and Ptolemy
6.14
Seleucus and Ptolemy
• As the wars of succession wore on, four generals of Alexander gained control
of significant portions of the Empire. The two generals who had significant
impact on the Jewish people were Seleucus and Ptolemy
• Seleucus gained control of most of the lands in Asia north of Judah, Ptolemy
gained Egypt. Judah, initially controlled by Ptolemy, found itself once again
caught in the middle of a struggle between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies to
control the small but geographically significant region of Judah. Judah found
itself, yet again, caught in the middle of the struggle
6.15
Jewish Life Under “the Diadochoi” (I)
• When Ptolemy I (Sotor) ruled in Egypt in (@323 BCE) and still controlled
Judah and Samaria, he forced many Jews to resettle in Egypt. There they
began to adopt the customs and the Hellenist (i.e. Greek) culture.
• Ptolemy II (Philadelphus) succeeded his father. In Judah, he allowed the
Zadokite High Priest and a Council of Elders (gerousia) to rule as his
regent. In Alexandria, the Jewish community was allowed to build
synagogues. It was under Ptolemy II that Jewish scriptures were translated
into Greek (the Septuagint or LXX).
• Some time around 242 BCE, war broke out between the Ptolemies
(Ptolemy III) and the Seleucids. Some Bible scholars believe that this is the
war between the “king of the north and the king of the south mentioned
in Daniel 11. The war ended with little territorial change.
• Ptolemy IV succeeded to the throne in 221 BCE and he hated everything
Jewish. He went so far as to defile the Temple in Jerusalem.
• Ptolemy V (Epiphanes) took the throne in 204 BCE and resumed the war
against the Seleucids. He chose poorly. Judah and Samaria were given
over to Seleucid control as a result of his defeat
6.16
Judah and Samaria Change Hands
Around 200 BCE, Ptolemaic Egypt lost control over Judah. The Syrian
Seleucid King, Antiochus III, defeated the troops of the Ptolemaic Egyptian
King, Ptolemy V, in the battle of Paneas (Pannion) and, as a result of that
victory, the Seleucid Syria moved its borders south to include Judah and
Samaria at the expense of Ptolemaic Egypt
6.17
Jewish Life Under “the Diadochoi” (II)
• Given their experience under Ptolemy IV, the Jews were at first happy to
welcome Seleucid rule under Antiochus III but Antiochus III had grand
international aspirations.
• Antiochus III conspired with Hannibal against Rome. When Hannibal was
defeated, Antiochus III was forced to cede most of his lands in Asia Minor
to Rome (this is the beginning of the Roman presence in the general
region). Antiochus III also had to pay a huge indemnity to Rome.
His youngest son, Antiochus, was sent to Rome as a hostage to guarantee
payment of that indemnity
• Seleucus IV succeeded Antiochus III in 187 BCE. He imposed heavy taxes
on the people of his Empire, including the people of Judah, to make the
payments owed to Rome.
• The Jewish Zadokite High Priest Onias did not support paying these heavy
taxes. His brother Jason did. This issue came to a head under the next
and most brutal ruler of the Seleucid Empire , Antiochus IV, the son of
Antiochus III who had been sent to Rome as a hostage
6.18
Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) and the Jewish Revolt
• Rome had been holding the younger son of Antiochus III as a hostage to
ensure the payment of the indemnity imposed by Rome. The younger son,
also named Antiochus, was later released by the Romans and allowed to
return to his homeland. Once there, he quickly murdered his older brother
Seleucus IV and, in 175 BCE, Antiochus IV took over the Seleucid Empire.
He ruled as Antiochus IV Epiphanes
• The reigning High Priest in Jerusalem when Antiochus IV took over was
Onias III. His brother Jason saw Onias’ opposition to the tax burden
imposed by the Seleucids as an opportunity to try to supplant his brother
as High Priest. He pledged to support to Antiochus IV in all things and
even offered him a bribe to name him as High Priest in place of Onias.
Antiochus IV accepted the bribe and named Jason to replace Onias.
Since Jason was the brother of Onias, the hereditary line of High Priest
which began with Zadok was still maintained. Jason’s treachery, however,
brought into question whether that tradition would be maintained
• A few years after Jason offered his bribe to Antiochus IV, a man named
Menelaus, not a descendant of Zadok, offered a larger bribe to Antiochus
IV and replaced Jason as High Priest. Jason was later killed. The Zadokite
line of High Priests which began during the time of David, had come to an
end. Faithful Jews (Hasidim) were outraged and the situation in Judah
began to deteriorate
6.19
Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) and the Jewish Revolt
• Antiochus IV also waged war against the Ptolemies in Egypt. When it was
incorrectly reported that he had died in battle, Jason threw Menelaus out
and managed to reclaim the office of High Priest and restore the Zadokite
line. When Antiochus IV finally returned to Jerusalem, he restored
Menelaus to the position of High Priests and then, perhaps to make his
point, entered the Temple and stole some of its treasure
• Antiochus IV had not only made the Jewish people angry with his
appointment to Menelaus as High Priest in Jerusalem. He also made the
Samaritans angry by appointing his own High Priest for Mount Gerizim.
Antiochus looked at both groups as Jews who were standing in the way of
Hellenism. Antiochus IV began to persecute both groups equally.
According to Josephus (Ant. XII), the Samaritans wrote a letter to
Antiochus claiming they were Sidonians (from the region of Sidon) and
not Jews. The inhabitants of Judah never forgot this letter
• Antiochus IV later resumed his war against the Ptolemies but this time he
was stopped by Egypt’s new allies, the Romans. In anger, Antiochus IV
returned to Jerusalem, tore down the city walls, brought ritual prostitution
and the worship of Greek gods into the Temple. He burned Jewish
scriptures and outlawed the keeping of the Sabbath and other Jewish
feasts. As a last straw, he offered a pig to Zeus on the altar of God in the
Temple. Antiochus IV Epiphanes had become Antiochus IV Epimanes
(Madman). The stage was set for revolt.
6.20