What Happened Between the Old and New Testaments?
Pick up an Old Testament and turn to the end, you’ll find Israel under Persian domain. Fortunately, after years of exile, king Cyrus gave the Israelites permission to return to their land to rebuild it and worship as they pleased. You can read about this rebuilding period in Ezra and Nehemiah. But then the Old Testament comes to an abrupt end. Israel, a mere shadow of its former self, trying to reestablish their nation.
Yet when you turn to the New Testament, which begins 400 years later, Israel looks drastically different. It’s no longer under the domain of Persia, but the Romans. Furthermore, it has a massive temple — something it didn’t have at the end of the Old Testament. A lot must have transpired during those four hundred years — often called the intertestimental period.
Despite the Bible’s silence, it’s important for Christians to have some basic knowledge of this era because it sheds light on the New Testament. For example, it answers questions such as where did synagogues and Pharisees come from? Why is the New Testament written in Greek? Why do the Jews celebrate Hanukkah? How did that massive temple get there? etc.
To provide answers for the questions, I’ve given a summary intertestimental period below.
PERSIAN PERIOD (424-331 BC)
For the Israelites, life continued in much the same way as we see it at the end of the Old Testament. Persian rulers from Cyrus to Artaxerxes and beyond, more or less, gave the Jews space to rebuild and worship as they pleased.
During this period, however, it appears the Jewish people recognized God’s punishment on them for their failure to follow the law (Deut. 28). For this reason, they appear to recommit to more rigorously follow the Torah. Furthermore, they established what’s called the oral law — applications of the written law. For example, the Torah commanded that they keep the Sabbath holy. The oral law outlawed walking a certain number of steps on the Sabbath. Turn to the Gospels, and you see the Pharisees strictly adhering to the oral law, while at the same time condemning Jesus for ignoring it.
Also during this period we see the rise of the synagogue since the Babylonians had destroyed their temple. The synagogue, therefore, became their new place of worship. The emphasis shifted from blood sacrifices to prayer, repentance, and good works. It was their belief that only after the nation had repented of their idolatry and turned to Yahweh that he would deliver them from their oppressors and restore their kingdom.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD (331-167 BC)
Born in 356 BC and educated by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, and expanded the Greek empire from Northern Africa in the west to India in the east and Russia in the north. Most historians consider him the greatest military commander ever.
Since Alexander conquered the Persians, Israel, at this juncture, is under Greek rule. Fortunately for Israel, Alexander allowed them the same kinds of freedoms of worship and government they had under the Persians as long as they remained loyal subjects to Greece. Alexander, however, wished to incorporate the Greek (Hellenistic) culture wherever he went.
As a result, Greek became the common language — the lingua franca — used throughout the entire empire. Most Jews, therefore, would have learned minimal Greek for business or political involvement. Later, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, this common language made the spread of the Gospel more feasible since people could communicate easier.
The Greek language was so wide-spread and pervasive among Jews, that it became imperative to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek. This translation, known as the Septuagint (LXX), came about in Alexandria, Egypt — a city formed by Alexander himself.
In addition to the language, Greek customs made a significant impact on the Jewish culture. For example, Greek philosophy, religions, forms of dress, and athletic competitions all infiltrated Israel. The Jews were forced to make a decision either to compromise their religious beliefs and participate in pagan activities, or remain faithful to Yahweh.
THE PTOLEMY AND SELEUCID PERIOD (323-167 BC)
Alexander died young at the age of thirty-two and didn’t leave a successor to his kingdom. Therefore, a power struggle ensued between two groups — the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria. Since Israel was located on the only piece of fertile ground between the two powers, it found itself perpetually involved in the struggle.
For a majority of this period, Israel remained under the Ptolemies where they experienced relative peace and freedom. The development of a tax, however, began during this time which sets the stage for Jewish tax-collectors — something that continued into the Roman times.
In 198 BC, though, the Seleucids snatched Israel away from the Ptolemies leaving Israel under Syrian rule. Again, Israel experienced relative peace until Antiochus IV came to power in 175 BC. His rule for the next eight years was a living nightmare for the Israelites.
His first move was to raise taxes substantially. Then he forced the Jews to abandon their religion. He renamed the temple for Zeus Olympius, setting up a pagan alter where he sacrificed pigs — the most unclean animal in Jewish eyes. Additionally, he prohibited Sabbath observances, burned copies of the Torah, forbade circumcision, and ordered Jews to sacrifice to pagan gods. If that wasn’t bad enough, he confiscated the equivalent of billions of dollars of sacred objects from the temple, and slaughtered forty thousand Jews in one day.
He declared himself a god by taking the title Antiochus Ephiphanes (“manifest”), but the Jews called him Antiochus Epimanes instead (“madman”). Fitting title indeed.
THE HASMONIAN PERIOD (167-63 BC)
Things eventually reached a boiling point when Antiochus forced an older priest, named Matthias, to sacrifice on a pagan altar. He refused. When a fellow Jew came forward to make the sacrifice instead, Matthias killed both him and the Syrian soldier standing guard. Soon Matthias and his five sons fled into the countryside.
The small group, adopted a guerrilla warfare mentality, and repeatedly attacked Syrian military outposts at night with much success. Matthias eventually died, but his son Judas, nicknamed Maccabeus (“the hammer”), continued to lead the revolts.
By 164 BC, Judas successfully took control of the Jewish temple and cleansed it of all pagan artifacts. To this day, Jews celebrate Hanukkah in honor of this successful campaign. The Syrians eventually left Israel, and the Jews enjoyed their independence for roughly one hundred years.
After Judas’ death, his family started the Hasmonian dynasty. One Hasmonian, John Hyrcanus set the stage for the Jewish/Samaritan rivalry when he destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim (Jn 4:20). Even though Israel was independent, they didn’t return to a strict adherence of God’s law.
This led the Hasidim — a group committed to following the Torah scrupulously — to protest the Hasmonian’s leadership and residual Hellenistic practices. It’s from this group that the Pharisees emerged. Sadly, the Hasmonians ended up being just as corrupt as their Syrian counterparts. One Hasmonian ruler — Alexander Jannaeus — even ordered the execution of eight hundred Pharisees who protested his reign.
THE ROMAN PERIOD (63 BC-NEW TESTAMENT ERA)
All the while, Rome was slowly gaining strength and building their empire. Before the dust had settled from their century long civil war, Roman commander Pompey invaded and defeated Israel. Before departing, he established “puppet kings” to rule the region for Rome. One ruler he appointed was Antipater who ruled for twenty years. He proved beneficial to Julius Caesar, which resulted in fewer taxes for the Jewish people. Furthermore, Caesar gave permission for Israel to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls and worship as they please.
After Antipater’s death and a short struggle with rivals, Herod the Great — Antipator’s son — became the next puppet king over Israel. This was the same Herod we find in the beginning of the Gospels who wanted to kill baby Jesus. His reign lasted from 37-4 BC.
He’s most known for two things — the construction of the massive Jerusalem temple and his eratic, paranoid behavior. Throughout his tenure, he ordered the deaths of his wife, several sons, and other potential successors. His maniacal reputation preceded him as evidenced by the fact that Caesar Augustus said he’d rather be Herod’s pig than his son. This picture is consistent with Matthew’s claim that Herod ordered the death all the baby boys in Bethlehem because he felt threatened by them.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INTERTESTIMENTAL PERIOD
A basic knowledge of the intertestimental period aids us in our understanding of the New Testament. It explains things like the Jews hatred for the Gentiles and the rivalry with the Samaritans. Additionally it helps us make sense of the Pharisees and other Jewish customs. While Christians should spend more time getting to know the Old and the New Testament, it’s helpful to know what happened in between too.
