Transcript The Intertestamental Period: From Babylon to Christ’s Birth

The Intertestamental
Period: From Babylon
To The Birth Of Christ
Greek Period
Announcements
Intertestamental Period
Week
Date
Topic
1
05 Mar 14 Overview
2
12 Mar 14 Babylonian Period (605-539 BC)
3
19 Mar 14 Persian Period (539-332 BC)
4
26 Mar 14 Greek Period (332-323 BC)
5
02 Apr 14 Ptolemaic (323-198 BC)
6
09 Apr 14 Syrian (198-168 BC)
7
16 Apr 14 Maccabean Part 1 (168-153 BC)
8
23 Apr 14 Maccabean Part 2 (153-139 BC)
9
30 Apr 14 Independence (139-63 BC)
10
07 May 14 Rome Intervenes (63 – 37 BC)
11
14 May 14 Herod (37 BC – 4 BC)
12
21 May 14 The IT Period and Christianity (4 BC – 70 AD)
13
28 May 14 Review
Today’s Objectives
• Review last week’s lesson
• Review the transition of power between
Persians and the Greeks
• Review key Biblical scriptures
• Learn about the political, social, economic,
cultural, and religious issues during the Greek
rule over Israel
• Learn about Alexander's impact on the
Mediterranean and Asian regions
• Learn about the transition of the Greek empire
Last week’s lesson
• Reviewed last week’s lesson
• Reviewed the transition of power between
Babylon and the Persians
• Reviewed key Biblical scriptures
• Learned about the political, social,
economic, cultural, and religious issues
during the Persian rule over Israel
• Learned where and why all the Israelites did
not return to Judah
• Learned about the fall of the Persian empire
Reference Material
• KJV (w/ Apocrypha)
– 1st and 2nd Maccabbees
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Josephus – The Complete Works
Herodotus – The History
Intertestamental History – Mark Moore
Ancient Rome – Simon Baker
Harding University – BNEW 112 Course
Notes – Dr. Thompson
Persian Empire
Greek Rule 1 of 3
• Alexander was the son of Philip of
Macedon
• Alexander claimed paternal descent from
Heracles and maternal descent from
Achilles
• Philip was a very capable General and
administrator
• Forced the independent and warring citystates of Macedonia and Greece proper
into a national identity
Greek Rule 2 of 3
• Philip obtained the best teachers for his
young son Alexander; foremost among
them was Aristotle, reading Homer
• Philip was murdered in 336 B.C.
• Alexander was forced, for his own survival,
to assume aggressive military leadership
of the nation which his father had forged
together
• Alexander excelled leading his army
• Solidified his hold on Greece
Greek Rule 3 of 3
• Captured and burned the city of Thebes and
sold its inhabitants into slavery
• Captured the ancient city of Troy
• Alexander refined the phalanx system of attack
and defense
• Made superior use of his cavalry
• Unrestrained immorality led to his demise
• His kingdom was divided up among his
generals
• Successful in spreading the Greek culture, or
“Hellenization”
1 Maccabees Chapter 1:1-10
1 And it happened, after that Alexander son of Philip, the Macedonian, who
came out of the land of Chettiim, had smitten Darius king of the Persians
and Medes, that he reigned in his stead, the first over Greece,
2 And made many wars, and won many strong holds, and slew the kings of the
earth,
3 And went through to the ends of the earth, and took spoils of many nations,
insomuch that the earth was quiet before him; whereupon he was exalted
and his heart was lifted up.
4 And he gathered a mighty strong host and ruled over countries, and nations,
and kings, who became tributaries unto him.
5 And after these things he fell sick, and perceived that he should die.
6 Wherefore he called his servants, such as were honourable, and had been
brought up with him from his youth, and parted his kingdom among them,
while he was yet alive.
7 So Alexander reigned twelve years, and then died.
8 And his servants bare rule every one in his place.
9 And after his death they all put crowns upon themselves; so did their sons
after them many years: and evils were multiplied in the earth.
10 And there came out of them a wicked root Antiochus surnamed Epiphanes,
son of Antiochus the king, who had been an hostage at Rome, and he
reigned in the hundred and thirty and seventh year of the kingdom of the
Greeks.
Phalanx
18 foot pike
256 Men
Thracian Maedi (339 B.C.)
• Alexander was 16 years old
• Philip departed to wage war against
Byzantium
• Alexander was left in charge as regent of
the kingdom
• The Thracian Maedi revolted
• Alexander responded quickly and crushed
the Maedi insurgence driving them from
their territory, colonized it with Greeks and
founded a city called Alexandropolis
Battle of Issus (333 B.C.)
• Darius III of Persia did not take Alexander’s
campaign seriously
• Alexander intended to “liberate” all of Asia
Minor from Persian control
• Darius with a large army met Alexander at
Issus, near the Cilician Gates
• Routed the Persians and captured the royal
household
• Darius barely escaped with his life
• Battle marks the end of Persia’s dominance
over the Near East
Occupation of Jerusalem (332 B.C.)
• In order to protect his southern flank,
Alexander marched south to take Palestine
and Egypt
• Most cities surrendered to him, except Tyre
and Gaza
• Alexander then spent the winter in Egypt
and returned north in the spring of 331
• Ordered the building of Alexandria
• Jews gained favor under Alexander’s rule
• Samaritans tried to share in this favor, but
angered Alexander who destroyed Samaria
The “New” Alexander
• Alexander declared himself basileus (“king”)
and the “son of Ammon” (an Egyptian sun
god)
• He adopted the clothing and behavior of an
Oriental royal leader
• Strained the relation between him and his
army
• He became increasingly cruel
• Merciless sack of Persepolis
Alexander’s Death
• Alexander continued to push his troops
eastward
• Unrestrained expansion of the empire
• On the way to the Ganges Valley in India
his army refused to go further
• Forced finally to start making his way back
to Greece
• Alexander died in Babylon in 323 B.C. at
the age of 32
• Died of a “sickness” possibly poison
Division of the Greek Empire
• Diadochoi; it is the title given to the Greek
generals who carved up Alexander’s empire
among themselves after his death
• One of them, Cassander, murdered
Alexander’s widow and his infant son
• After seven years of fighting, four men
emerged as the most powerful:
– Antigonus (Mediterranean Sea to Asia)
– Ptolemy Lagi (Egypt and south Syria)
– Cassander (Macedonia)
– Lysimachus (Thrace)
Further Division
• In 312 B.C. the other three Diadochoi
contained the overambitious Antigonus
• In 311 B.C. Ptolemy’s General Seleucus split
off on his own and established himself as
ruler of Babylon and Syria
• Four rulers still remained (Dan 7:6; 8:8; 11:4)
• Of special importance to Jewish history:
– Ptolemies in Egypt
– Seleucids in Syria
– Palestine became a political football between
these competing powers
Route of Alexander’s March
Alexander’s Influence on Jews
• Ruled over a further degeneration of the
relationship between Jews and Samaritans
• Does not destroy the Temple as requested
by the Samaritans
• Jewish history states that Alexander gives
Jews freedom to worship God
• Jews continue to flourish as a separate and
distinct entity for 165 years
• Jews - with the exception of a small minority
- reject Hellenism, Greeks grow intolerable
and the Greek culture infects Judaism
Review
• Reviewed last week’s lesson
• Reviewed the transition of power between
Persians and the Greeks
• Reviewed key Biblical scriptures
• Learn about the political, social, economic,
cultural, and religious issues during the Greek
rule over Israel
• Learn about Alexander's impact on the
Mediterranean and Asian regions
• Learn about the transition of the Greek empire
• Next week – Ptolemaic Empire