The Intertestamental Period
We must understand the intertestamental period to entirely grasp the narrative told in the four gospels. This is the 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
We have to go back to the time of David. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
The first human king of Israel was Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin.
The next human king of Israel was David, from the tribe of Judah.
This caused a major conflict and eventually led to a war. (See 2 Samuel 2 & 3)
Eventually, David was able to unite Israel. (2 Samuel 5:1-5)
David’s son, Solomon, became king of Israel when David died. (1 Kings 2:10-12)
One of the officials, Jeroboam, rebelled against Solomon. The prophet, Ahijah, told Jeroboam that God was going to grant him authority over 10 tribes of Israel (there were 12 in total). (1 Kings 11:26-14:20)
God allowed the division because those 12 tribes had strayed away from God. He did it to humble David’s descendants. (1 Kings 11:38-39)
Solomon tried to kill him, and he fled to Egypt until Solomon passed away.
After Solomon’s passing, his son Rehoboam ascended to the throne as the new king.
Jeroboam requested a reduction in their workload, but Rehoboam disregarded the advice of his advisors and instead heeded the opinions of his friends. He declined and made their task more challenging. (1 Kings 12)
The ten tribes split and made Jeroboam their king. They moved to Samaria and took on the name of the Northern Kingdom. They are also referred to as Israel.
Two tribes who stayed in Judea (more specifically Jerusalem) were led by kings from David’s bloodline (Judah and Benjamin). They became the Southern Kingdom. They are also referred to as Judah.
Because of the division, Israel became easier to overcome.
The first exile was the Assyrian exile. They took over the Northern Kingdom (located in Samaria). This effort was led by King Sargon II of Assyria. He replaced the Israelites who made up the Northern Kingdom with people from Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim (1 Kings 17:24). When they settled there, they did not worship God so he sent lions among them, and they killed some of the people there.
“So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, ‘The nations whom you have taken into exile and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the God of the land; so He has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them because they do not know the custom of the God of the land.’ Then the king of Assyria issued commands, saying, ‘Take one of the priests there whom you led into exile, and have him go and live there; and have him teach them the custom of the God of the land.” So one of the priests whom they had led into exile from Samaria came and lived in Bethel, and taught them how they were to fear the Lord. But every nation was still making gods of its own, and they put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites were burning their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. They also feared the Lord and appointed from their entire population priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the Lord, yet they were serving their own gods in accordance with the custom of the nations from among whom they had been taken into exile. (1 Kings 17:26-33, NASB).”
This is most likely where the Samaritans came from.
The Northern Kingdom, which was in captivity under the Assyrian Empire, eventually dispersed throughout the empire and is now considered the “Lost Tribes of Israel.”
Assyria was going through a period of great power, although it was still facing significant conflicts with Babylonia. In the late 7th century BC, the mighty Assyrian empire met its downfall at the hands of the Babylonians. Assyria’s rule in the Ancient Near East ended during the fall of Ashur and Nineveh.
The Babylonians (Modern-day Iraq) took over the Southern Kingdom, which was also called Judah.
King Cyrus II of Persia invaded Babylon. This took place near the end of the Babylonian exile. He allowed all Jews to return to Judah. He returned all the items stolen from the temple and paid for the Jews rebuilding. (Ezra 1:1, 6:4-5)
This is where the Intertestamental Period begins.
As time went on, Darius III became the king of Persia. In the year 334 BC, Alexander the Great managed to overthrow the Persian Empire as he set out on his ambitious mission to conquer the entire world. Alexander’s ambition extended beyond mere conquest; he sought to spread Greek culture throughout the world. The Jews, being spread out across the globe, decided to translate their Old Testament books into Greek, the language that was becoming familiar to them. This translation is commonly referred to as the Septuagint (LXX).
Alexander the Great passed away in 323 BC. There ensued a fierce power struggle among his generals, each vying for control of the empire. The empire was divided into four regions, each under the control of one of the four generals. Ptolemy I Lagi Soter, the general who governed the Jews, granted them some religious freedom but imposed economic oppression.
The four generals of Alexander were Hellenistic (Greek) and were Antigonus (modern-day Turkey), Cassander (modern-day Greece and Rome), Ptolemy (modern-day Egypt), and Seleucus (modern-day Syria).
Between 223 and 187 BC, Antiochus III (Seleucid) defeated Ptolemy V Epiphanes (Ptolemy’s), bringing Judea under Seleucid rule. Antiochus IV Epiphanes ordered a Hellenization of Palestine (Judea). The Jewish community faced persecution. They were unable to perform circumcision on their children, observe the Sabbath, make sacrifices, and he went as far as burning the books of Law. Two women who performed circumcision on their sons were executed, and their babies were hung around their necks. The homes of those who assisted in their circumcision were destroyed. If individuals engaged in any of these actions or expressed a refusal to worship the pagan deities, severe consequences awaited them, often resulting in death.
At this point, the leaders of Israel and the priests had severely neglected their roles. Antiochus IV Epiphanes set up an image of Zeus in the Temple and sacrificed a pig on the altar, where soldiers and harlots now occupied the sacred space. This persecution sparked a powerful revival among the Jewish community, and an angry aged priest, Mattathias, intervened.
Not doing well with his health, Mattathias called his five sons to his bedside. He told them they were still priests of the temple and then pointed to Judas Maccabeus, “the hammer,” and said that he would be the one who would avenge Israel. Mattathias died shortly after that. Judas Maccabeus led faithful Israel into the Maccabean Revolt (also known as the Maccabean War). It was during their fight with the Seleucids that Judas Maccabeus sent his nephew, Jason, to Rome. Jason asked the Roman senate to form an alliance with the Jews, and they accepted. The Jews fought the Seleucids for 24 years (166-142 BC). When the Jews won, Judas and his brothers cleansed and rededicated the Temple. (This is where Hanukkah comes from). The descendants of Mattathias assumed the role of high priest despite not being from the bloodline of Zadok (a Levite), as God said.
Simon Thassi, the last living son of Mattathias, steps in as the High Priest and Prince of Judea. He spent a total of 9 years in service. On a particular evening, Simon attends a banquet at his daughter’s residence in Jericho, as she is married to the governor of the city. Simon and his family became drunk, and a group of soldiers emerged and murdered all of them. Simon’s youngest son, John Hyrcanus, wasn’t present at the gathering. Instead, he was asleep at the temple in Jerusalem. Assassins were dispatched to kill him, but he succeeded in killing them before they could carry out their mission. After that, he assumes the role of high priest and prince.
Antiochus, the leader of the Seleucids (Greeks), laid siege to Jerusalem for a whole year and eventually defeated John Hyrcanus. However, they refrained from defiling the Temple. John served in Antioch, where he fought against Parthia. John was an exceptional warrior and possessed remarkable skills. John eventually came back to Jerusalem, where he lived the rest of his life. His son, Aristobulus I, took his place.
Aristobulus I entered into matrimony with a woman by the name of Salome Alexandra. Aristobulus I fell ill and, aware of his impending fate, made preparations for Salome Alexandra to marry his brother. She speculated that his brother might prefer a spouse who is younger and went as far as considering the possibility that he would harm her in order to pursue a relationship with a younger woman. She set him up, and he died. Afterward, she married Alexander Jannaeus, following the Jewish tradition of marrying the brother of one’s deceased spouse.
Alexander Jannaeus was known for his persecution of anyone who challenged him, which heavily involved the Pharisees. This group came about during the Maccabean Revolts. A certain group, known as the Hasideans, stood their ground, fighting alongside the Maccabees, who shared their desire to uphold religious devotion and obedience to the Torah. Their cause was driven by the looming threat posed by the Hellenistic influence. Some theories suggest that this group may have developed in the Jewish sect known as the Pharisees. The Pharisees included men that the Sadducees neglected, laymen, scribes, and lawyers. “He managed to salvage the situation, however, and again took revenge on those Jews who had opposed him, crucifying eight hundred of them and slaying their wives and children while they looked on.” On his deathbed, he told his wife, Salome Alexandra, to give more power to the Pharisees because no one could rule peaceably without their support.
She took the advice of her husband and gave the Pharisees more power than they had ever had previously. Salome Alexandra and Alexander Jannaeus are the parents of two sons, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II. Befo’ death, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II were given roles: one was to be King of the Jews, while the other was to be the high priest. When Salome Alexandra died, the two brothers went to war.
Knowing that many years prior to this, the Jews made an alliance with the Romans, so the warring factions of the Jews, the Sanhedrin, reached out to Rome. When Pompey, a Roman general, responded a year later, he fought alongside Hyrcanus and the Sanhedrin. Two months in, the Romans killed over 12,000 Jews defending the Temple.
Josephus recounts that Pompey entered the Holy of Holies, the most sacred part of the Temple. Nevertheless, he refrained from taking any loot or disrupting the Temple's activities. The following day, he decided to withdraw his army from the Temple Mount and hand over control to the Jewish authorities. Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II had children who married each other, sealing the family’s fate. Their children had a daughter named Mariamne I.
Still, Judea was under the domination of Rome. They made a deal with the devil.
Pompey returned to Rome expecting to be given the title of Emperor. The only problem was a young general who had matched his accomplishments but in the West. His name was Julius Caesar. These two agreed that Rome and its empire would be run by a Triumvirate (more than one leader). This only lasted for five years.
Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon marked the beginning of a tumultuous civil war. According to Roman law, crossing the river was seen as a hostile act and was strictly forbidden. Caesar emerged victorious and assumed the role of emperor in Rome. Caesar decided to adopt his great nephew, Octavius, since he didn’t have any legitimate children of his own. Afterward, the Roman senate carried out the assassination of Julius Caesar. Octavius, his adopted son, and Marc Antony, his loyal companion in battle, rose up against the Roman senate in a powerful rebellion. These individuals assumed the role of Rome’s new leaders. Marc Antony frequently visited Egypt, where he often accompanied a woman named Cleopatra. Octavius took on his uncle’s name and became Caesar Augustus.
Marc Antony appointed a man who married Mariamne I to rule over Judea. His name was Herod the Great.
