Book One: CHAPTER VI--Judaism in the First Century C.E.

CHAPTER VI

 

Judaism in the First Century C.E.

 

                        Generally speaking, one can make the case that the history of Judaism from the time of Alexander the Great to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. was an ongoing struggle against Hellenism. The most obvious example of this struggle was the Maccabean Revolt. Nevertheless, in spite of Maccabean efforts to resist Hellenism, the names of their rulers (Alexander, Aristobulus, etc.) demonstrated that they were becoming Hellenized whether they wished to be or not. Perhaps the Orwellian warning expressed in Animal Farm that one cannot fight against an enemy without becoming the enemy was the case of the Maccabean revolt and its subsequent dynasty. The attempt to forcibly Hellenize the Jews induced a Jewish rebellion, which, ironically, ultimately resulted in a Judea that adopted many of the Hellenistic elements that it sought to resist. 

 

                        It seems that the Jews were not so much against Hellenism as much as they were against the method and manner of Syrian attempts at Hellenization. More subtle forms of Hellenization did not provoke the same level of dissent that overt and sudden Hellenization did. Hellenism was a fact of life and the Jews had to learn to face it, one way or another.

 

Diaspora Judaism                Even after Rome had replaced the remnants of Alexander’s Macedonian Empire, Greek was the international language in many places along the Mediterranean Sea. By the first century C.E., there were more Jews living outside Palestine than living within it and more Jews read and spoke Greek than Hebrew. This was the result of the so-called Diaspora. The Diaspora (from the Greek “dispersion”) refers to the spreading of Judaism from Palestine to diverse places all over the world. The Diaspora had its beginnings with the periodic, forced exiles of Jewish people from their homeland, starting with the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.E. It continued after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian Captivity. In addition to the coerced expatriation of the Jewish populace, many Jews migrated throughout the Roman world for the same reasons that people move today.

 

                        Diaspora Judaism was armed with the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. The name “Septuagint” is derived from the Latin septuaginta, meaning “seventy,” referring to the seventy (or seventy-two) scholars who were responsible for its translation. The legend is that the Egyptian king, Ptolemy II, commissioned the translation after hearing that the Jewish scriptures were filled with wisdom. The seventy scholars who were assigned to translate them into Greek from the Hebrew worked independently of one another. They finished at the same time and when the translations were compared, it was discovered that all seventy scholars had translated the Jewish scriptures in exactly the same way, word for word. Anyone who has ever spent time translating documents knows that this is impossible. The purpose of this legend was to provide a sense of legitimacy to the Greek translation, which is derived from the fact that if all seventy scholars translated the texts in the same way, then it demonstrated that divine guidance was the source of the Septuagint’s translation.

 

                        Diaspora Judaism was forced to find ways to accommodate Hellenism. Jews outside of Palestine did not have the luxury of attempting to ignore the Greco-Roman world. They lived in it and had to find ways to maintain their “Jewishness” while interacting with their Hellenized neighbors. The result was a “Hellenistic Judaism” that attempted to walk the tightrope between the two world views, learning how to become culturally bilingual in the process. 

 

                        Two examples of this are the Jewish historian Josephus and the Jewish philosopher Philo. Josephus wrote Jewish histories for Roman consumption. His goal was to explain the Jewish world view to the Romans by relaying their history (including his version of the story of Israel found within the Old Testament). If the Romans understood Jewish history, then they would understand the Jews themselves. In a similar manner, Philo attempted to equate the wisdom of the Jewish scriptures with the important philosophies of the Greco-Roman world. Philo attempted to demonstrate that the Jewish and Gentile world views were compatible, making the case that the Jewish prophets predated the Greek philosophers, so any truth that the philosophers expressed was learned from the Jews. One can argue about the success or failure of both Josephus and Philo, but one cannot discount their importance to the Christian movement. 

 

                        It is an understatement to say that the spread of the Early-Christian movement to locations outside of Palestine is indebted to the existence of the Hellenistic Jews of the Diaspora. Diaspora Judaism provided the first Christians with a readily accepted Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures and an understanding of the Greco-Roman mind. Diaspora Jews knew how to talk to their Gentile neighbors in a manner that they could understand. Diaspora Judaism also provided the Early-Christian movement with a philosophical and an historical method (via Josephus and Philo) of expressing itself and defending its claims. Without the existence of Diaspora Judaism, Christianity would have become one of the many factions of Palestinian Judaism, becoming, perhaps, an interesting historical footnote, but little else.

 

Palestinian Judaism                The subtle manner in which the Judea was Hellenized continued after the Maccabees to that of the reign of Herod the Great. Herod’s entire reign, which included the building of many cities in the Greek style, can be viewed as an extensive process of Hellenization. Part of the displeasure of his subjects was that his Hellenizing efforts often appeared to be too obvious, violating the tolerated subtlety of Hellenization.

 

                        Nevertheless, even though Hellenism was, for the most part, accepted if done slowly and covertly, there were those who were not blind to the process and its effects upon the Judean populace. Hellenism within Palestine fostered a process of either resistance or compliance, with most Jews finding themselves somewhere in the middle. The result of this subtle, perennial Hellenism was the emergence of four often competing, often antagonistic, factions. 

 

The Separatists                The most influential of the four factions were known as the Pharisees (“Separatists”). The Pharisees, above all else, sought to be faithful to the Torah. They could trace their origin back to the original opposition to the Hellenism that was imported into the region by Alexander the Great. These original defenders of Judaism, who were called Hasidim (“the Pious”), answered the various influences of Hellenism by emphasizing a Torah based, ethical-monotheism. By the time of John Hyrcanus, the Pious were called the Separatists.

 

                        The Separatists earned their name by their custom of keeping at arms length anything and anyone who promoted the foreign influences of Hellenism. They also separated themselves from those whom they felt did not honor the centrality of the Torah as much as, or in the same manner as, they deemed to be appropriate. They were well known for their intense study and lively debates. The purpose of such study and debate was to figure out how to make the Torah relevant to everyday situations. 

 

                        In addition to Torah observance, the Separatists also developed an “oral tradition,” which carried as much ethical weight as the written Torah. They were also known for a particular form of Torah observance, referred to as building “hedges around the Law.” To put it simply, they would often create “lesser” commandments in order to ensure that the “major” commandments were not violated. An example of this practice was the requirement of not saying the name of God in order to keep from breaking the commandment of not using the name of God inappropriately. If one does not say the name at all, then one cannot use it incorrectly.

 

                        The Jewish historian, Josephus, identified himself as a Pharisee, numbering the group at about 6,000. Unfortunately, neither Josephus nor any other writer ever explained the requirements one had to meet in order to become a member of this group. There is also nothing that expresses what one had to do in order to maintain identification with the group, or, for that matter, whether one could be removed from this group for any reason. 

 

                        The Pharisees appear often in the Gospel narratives in the New Testament, usually providing the foil to Jesus’ wisdom and deeds. The New Testament repeatedly represents them as petty and legalistic, becoming the enemies of both Jesus and early-church that emerged from his activities. The early-church may have born a certain level of animosity toward the Pharisees, but the general public did not. 

 

                        Pharisees were analogous to “lay-pastors.” They were not ordained in the strictest sense that being religious was their full-time occupation. They were simply people who took it upon themselves to study, teach, and preach, in addition to whatever occupational and social responsibilities they may have had. Many Pharisees worked as day laborers or were employed in mundane manual labor. For instance, the Apostle Paul, who claimed to be a Pharisee, was a leather-craftsperson, which may have required skill, but it did not require much thought once he knew what he was doing. Jesus, who behaved very much like a Pharisee, was said to have been a carpenter, another occupation that required skill but not much thought. Simple manual labor freed the Pharisees’ minds from concentration on what they were doing so that they could instead concentrate on God or the Torah while they worked.

 

                        Pharisees were centered in the synagogues (Greek for “gathering place”), where they were responsible for leading communal prayer and overseeing religious education. The origins of the synagogue are unclear, but it is certain that they were a well-established part of Jewish life in the first Century C.E. The Temple in Jerusalem may have been the center of Jewish ritual practice, but the synagogue was the center of Jewish communal life. Therefore, the Pharisees had a profound influence on the average Palestinian Jew, who resided outside of Jerusalem.

 

The Righteous                Inside Jerusalem, the Temple was all important. Either directly or indirectly, the livelihood of everyone in and immediately around Jerusalem was centered on the Temple. The Temple, in addition to being the center of the cultic practices of Judaism, was also a tourist attraction, especially after Herod the Great began its renovation. Most Palestinian Jews made at least one trip to the Temple at some point in their lives, and many made periodic pilgrimages over the course of their lives. The economy of Jerusalem was driven by the tourism that the Temple generated, and the Temple was under the control of the Sadducees (“the Righteous”).

 

                        The Sadducees took their name either from Zadok, an influential priest during the reigns of both David and Solomon or from the Zadokites, those who were descendants of Zadok, who effectively took control of Temple worship from the time of the Second Temple period to the Maccabean period. By the first century C.E. the name “the Righteous” almost certainly possessed an ironic quality in that any remnant of Zadokite lineage had been dismantled by the Maccabees and certainly by Herod the Great. In addition, any important position in the priesthood, such as High Priest, was a Roman appointment. By the time of Jesus, the Sadducees were simply members of an aristocratic elite who had demonstrated loyalty to both Herod and the Romans. They may have thought of themselves as the Righteous, but many Jews living in Palestine considered them to be the Collaborators. 

 

                        The Sadducees were Temple based, responsible for the proper maintenance of Temples function as well as conducting and performing the various ritual sacrifices. In spite of the fact that many were suspicious of the Sadducees due to their required friendships with Herod and Rome, their centrality to Temple function imbued them with a high degree of prestige.

 

                        There certainly was no love between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees resented the influence and popularity of the non-priestly Pharisees, while the Pharisees resented the Sadducees’ ties to foreigners and willingness to accommodate Hellenism. Add to this the fundamental theological differences that the two factions possessed and the belief of each faction that the other faction misrepresented Judaism, and conflict was ensured. The Pharisees held to a binding oral tradition in addition to the written Torah. In addition, the Pharisees accepted the writings of the Prophets and the various “Wisdom Literature” as sacred Scripture. The Sadducees only accepted as Scripture the first five books of what has become the Old Testament. The Pharisees believed in angels and the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees rejected both the existence of angels and life after death. The Pharisees believed that people are rewarded or punished after death. The Sadducees believed that individuals are rewarded or punished during life. These, as well as other differences, ensured that the Pharisees and the Sadducees were engaged in constant conflict with one another.

 

The Devout                A third faction, not mentioned in the New Testament, but described by both Josephus and Philo, was a group of communal monastics known as the Essenes. Philo suggests that their name was derived from the Greek hosios, “devout,” but it seems just as likely that their name comes from a Hebrew or Aramaic word such as Hasidim, “pious,” which would suggest that the Essenes and the Pharisees may have evolved into two distinct groups from a common origin.

 

                        The Essenes began around 152 B.C.E. when the Maccabean ruler, Jonathan, made himself High Priest, though he did not possess the proper Zadokite pedigree. A group, led by an influential priest, known only as “the Teacher of Righteousness” (the word “righteousness,” of course, reflected the Zadokite lineage), migrated out into the wilderness, where they would be far enough from Jerusalem to be unspoiled by the corruption of the Temple, but close enough to keep an eye on what was happening there.

 

                        Josephus gave their number at 4,000 spread in various locations around the Dead Sea. They practiced celibacy and all property was held in common. They did not believe in resurrection, but believed instead that the soul survives death. Mostly, they prepared for the coming conflict between the Army of Light and the Army of Darkness. They were wiped out during the First Jewish Revolt of 66 to 70 C.E.

 

The Zealous                The last faction to be mentioned was a group known as the Zealots. This was a highly fanatical nationalistic movement, committed to the impossible task of ridding Palestine of the Romans. They emerged as a group during the reign of Herod the Great. They attempted a revolt in 7 C.E. when Archelaus was deposed, but it was quickly put down. A small faction within the Zealots, known as the Sicarii (“the dagger guys”) developed guerrilla and terrorist tactics to harass both the Roman occupiers as well as Jews who were deemed to be collaborators with the Romans. Many of the “bandits” and “robbers” mentioned in the New Testament were probably Zealot terrorists. Josephus blamed them for instigating the First Jewish Revolt of 66 to 70 C.E. The Zealots died out in 73 C.E. at the fortress of Masada, where they killed themselves rather than be captured and humiliated by the Romans.

 

                        In truth, most Judeans did not possess membership in any of these factions. Nevertheless the populace of Palestine would have been influenced by the very vocal teachings of these groups, as well as participated in the inter-faction and intra-faction debates. After 70 C.E. only one of the factions, the Pharisees, would remain. The Essenes and Zealots were annihilated during the Jewish Revolt. The Temple-centered Sadducees had no purpose once the Temple was destroyed. It was up to the Pharisees to carry on and reshape the Jewish tradition for the future. It was their attempts to distance themselves from the apocalypticism that they felt led to the destruction of Jerusalem that brought them into direct conflict with the newly formed apocalyptic Jewish sect, the Christians.