Voorspel, Gospel & Naspel ... {continuing story!?}


~****~

Where did we
come from and
where did we go??
{Babylon & Mordechai
continued!!!!}

~****~

DURING
the 3rd century BCE
the rulers of Yerushayim and Judah
maintained a largely pro~Ptolemaic policy,
but Palestine had been long regarded by the neighbouring
Greek kingdom of the Seleucids, based in Syria {and at first, in Babylonia too}, as its own, and after the Battle of Panion in 200 BCE Judah
became part of that kingdom.

=

THE CHANGEOVER
was accompanied by conflicts
between Jews who took different sides.
It must be remembered that large Jewish communities
also existed in the territories of the Seleucids
{especially Babylonia}
and Ptolemies.

-

While the descendants
of many Judaeans deported by Nebuchadnezzar
remained in Babylonia, many others had at the time fled to Egypt {including the prophet Yirmeyahu/Jeremiah}.

=

THESE
and other communities
were probably swollen by voluntary immigrants,
traders & mercenaries.

-

Thus,
most of the population of Judah
probably had relatives or friends in one of these two regions,
and would tend to favour belonging to one
or the other kingdom.

=

ALTHOUGH
the victorious Seleucid king Antiochus III
reaffirmed the rights of the Jews to live according to
their traditional ways, a serious crisis built up under his successer, Antiochus IV.

-


A STRUGGLE
broke out for
political control in Jerusalem between
the traditionally priestly class {and most of the rural population} and a properous and powerful lay class {allied to junior priestly families}
in favour of a more cosmopolitan definition of Judaisme
{and a desire for control of the Temple,
the treasury of the Jewish people,
is not to be overlooked}.

=

EACH SIDE
began bidding to Antiochus
for the office of high priesthood,
and among the bribes offered was the establishment in Yerushalayim
of a Greek~type city,
with its typical institutions,
such as gymnasium and school.
{TO THIS ferment one may add external difficulties
faced by the Seleucids in the challenge from ROME for supremacy
in the region.}

=

IN THE PROCESS,
one high priest {Onias III} was killed and his son fled to Egypt
with his supporters where he founded
a temple!

=

A COMBINATION
of factors led to Antiochus banning traditional Jewish religious practices
AND installing an altar to ZEUS
on the Temple hill!

-

A WAR began
that was BOTH a civil war
and a war of resistance against the Seleucids.
EACH SIDE was composed of an alliancy of parties and interests,
and the victors were led by a minor priestly family who achieved by stages
an independence for their traditional religion {as THEY saw IT}
and then a political
independence.

=

THIS FAMILY,
the HASMONAEANS, {also called the MACCABEES, after the nickname of their first leader, Judas}, assumed first the high priesthood
and then also the kingship.

=

THE RISE AND FALL
of the Hasmonaean DYNASTY,
form the middle of the 2nd century to the middle of the 1st century BCE,
provides the context in which the majority of the Dead Sea Scrolls
were written, and probably for the formation of the sects that inspired,
produced, copied and
owned them.

-

THE RULE
of this dynasty
saw the territory of Judag gradually expand
under successive rulers into the whole of Palestine, including Galilee,
parts of Transjordan, Edom
and Samaria.

-

The Samaritan temple
was destroyed by Yochanan Hyrcanus who,
having largely annexed the territory once ascribed to King David,
plundered the alleged
"King David's
tomb".

-

MILITARY success
was accompanied by internal religious conflicts,
as Jewish parties vied for the patronage of the Hasmonaeans,
which moved from one to the
other.

-

Hyrcanus' successor,
Alexander Janneus {NOTE that the Hasmonaeans took GREEK & SEMITIC names}, had on one occasion as many as
800 of his opponents crucified {an event alluded to in the QUMRAN Cave 4 commentary on the book
of NAHUM}.

=

THUS
arrived the ROMAN PERIOD!
Internal rivalries between Hasmonaean claimants to the throne
eventually contributed to the downfall of this dynasty as the Roman general POMPEY arrived in Jerusalem
in 63 BCE to arbitrate.

-

DURING HIS VISIT,
he is said to have entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple,
the place reserved only for the high priest
ONCE A YEAR!

-

JEWS
were already divided
in their attitudes towards the Romans,
and THIS act was never forgotten. {The role of one of the envoys, M. Aemilius Scaurus, in the Roman intervention is actually referred to in a Qumran text, 4Q324.}

=

UNDER THE ROMANS
Jewish territory was again limited to Judaea,
a portion of Idumaea, east Jordanian Peraea, and Galilee.
A ROMAN governor was set up in Jerusalem
and Judaea was forced to pay
an indemnity.

-

BUT when
Caesar succeeded Pompey,
having been helped by the Idumaean {Edomite} Antipater,
he repaid the debt by appointing Antipater as governor of Judah
{alongside a high priest of
Hasmonaean
descent}.

-

ANTIPATER
made his son PHASAEL
governor of Jerusalem and his other son HEROD governor of Galilee.
Several years of renewed civil war ensued,
and an invasion from the Parthians, a Persian race who now controlled Babylonia and much territory east of
the river Jordan.

-

DURING ALL THIS,
Herod escaped to ROMA
where he was made king of Judaea
in 40 BCE.

-

Three years later
he claimed his throne,
and for 34 years reigned
peacefully and successfully,
though NOT with great popularity
among all his people,
since he remained a loyal
ally of ROMA and,
despite his efforts to marry successfully
into the Hasmonaean family,
in the end he had many
of his family
executed.

-

ROMAN
land grants
increased his territory to embrace
Judaea, all of Idumaea, Samaria, Galilee,
Peraea and territories to the east
and north of the Sea
of Galilee.

-

HEROD
was probably
the greatest builder of HIS age.
HE constructed the harbour city of Caesarea AND built numerous fortresses
and residences for himself, such as Masada, Herodium, Machaerus
and Jericho.

-

HE
also had the Jerusalem Temple
massively renovated and enlarged!
HOW 'devout' a "Jew" this Idumaean was
remains disputed:
his own residences have NOTHING that would offend a Jew,
but he did install an eagle over the entrance
to the Jerusalem
Temple.

-


HE
restored the Temple,
provided water for Jerusalem and food in times of famine.
But he also patronized GREEK cities, including their athletic contests.
Most Jews outside Palestine probably admired him and recognized his Judaism as valid.

-

But
Judaea itself
had long been a nest of religious zealotry and hatred,
at least among certain sects
and parties.

=

Any way
{for the moment}
THIS is the background to the Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran,
Yeshua 'haMashiach', Shaul/Paul, the final destruction of the Temple and the Land, 'christianity' & 'rabbinacal Judaism' &
'islam'.

=~~~~=

Sleep well &
lots of sweet
dreams!?!

#~~~~#

liefdesverdrietverliefdliefdesverdriet

~****~
engel
12 feb 2005 - bewerkt op 20 feb 2008 - meld ongepast verhaal
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