BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS: New Testament - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New Testament - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The New Testament is a story already in progress when the reader begins at its beginning—Matthew 1:1. Much had taken place during the intertestamental period between the end of what Christians call the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. The Kingdom of Israel had reached its height under King David a thousand years earlier but was no longer in existence as a political entity.





In 587 BC, the southern Kingdom of Judah with its capital Jerusalem had been conquered by the Babylonians who destroyed the First Temple and forced the Jewish population into exile, known as the Babylonian exile. Fifty years later, Cyrus of Persia permitted the Jews to return and build yet a new temple, the Second Temple, only to have it destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. Thus, the span of Jewish history from 515 BC to AD 70 is often referred to as the Second Temple period. Within it are four subdivisions:

The Persian Period (c. 537 – 332 BC).

• Jewish nation ruled by high priests
• Minimal interference from the Persian kings
• Synagogues became significant sites for teaching and worship
• The Torah became the focal point of their religion

• The Hellenistic Period (c. 332 – 167 BC)
  • The Holy Land came under Greek control during conquests by Alexander the Great
  • 198–167 BC was a reign of terror during which Jews suffered persecution from Antiochus IV Epiphanes, King of Syria, who sought to exterminate Judaism by force

• The Hasmonean Period (167–163 BC)
  • Jewish rebels nicknamed "Maccabees" ("hammers") led revolt against Antiochus and won independence. Rededication of the Second Temple (defiled by Antiochus) is the origin of Hanukkah. Two important Jewish sects, Pharisees and Sadducees, emerged.

• The Roman Period (beginning in 63 BC)
  • Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC
  • Herod the Great appointed as client king of the Jews by the Roman Senate (37 – 4 BC)
  • Census of Quirinius and Roman Judea (AD 6 – AD 135)
  • Includes the time of the ministry of Jesus and the Apostolic Age
  • Also the story of what happens among Jews who lived in the Holy Land and what happens to the Roman Empire as a result.^[6]