by Geoff

July 2025

As the Summer Holiday/Vacation season is upon us, I thought I'd bombard you with a little light reading for the beach or wherever . Please feel free to ignore it, delete it or even read it; however your fancy takes you.

It's entirely my own work (not copied from anywhere) although I have tried to ensure that it is as accurate as possible. The first instalment will be with you shortly. I hope you find it interesting and entertaining.

As promised - this is part 1 of a three part series of short essays on a subject of relevance to early Christianity and the Bible in general.

I thought it might be helpful to look at a topic that you may have come across before - Second Temple Judaism, but possibly don't know much about. It has been said that having some knowledge of it helps us to understand Christianity a little better as Christianity emerged out of Second Temple Judaism.

The period of the Second Temple runs roughly from when it was built, circa 516 BC, until 70 AD, when it was destroyed by the Romans following a major rebellion by the Jews of Galilee and Judaea. The original Temple, built by King Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in around 586 BC and a new, second temple was built after the Persians, who had conquered the Babylonians, allowed the Jews to return to their homeland, from around 535 BC onwards.

The Second Temple period was an extremely vibrant period for Jewish culture and thought. It produced the Pharisees, the Essenes (who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls), the Sadducees and the Zealots. It also produced a certain itinerant rabbi, called Jesus of Nazareth.

But it was also a particularly turbulent period, historically. The Jews were ruled, in turn, by Persians, Greeks and Romans and, for a brief period, they ruled themselves with Kings (and one Queen) from a Dynasty known as the Hasmoneans*. These Jewish kings gradually increased the size of their kingdom, returning it, roughly, to the dimensions enjoyed under David and Solomon. They invaded and annexed Galilee, parts of Transjordan, Edom (Idumea) and coastal areas, including Gaza. In some cases, they forcibly converted the local population to Judaism - the only time, as far as we know, that Jews have been guilty of this practice.

Under the Romans, the Jewish people initially had some autonomy. The most famous of the client Kings of this period, Herod the Great, was responsible for substantially refurbishing and enlarging the second temple to the point that it became one of the most impressive buildings in the entire Graeco-Roman World (more on this later). Herod, incidentally, was the son of one of the Idumeans who had been forcibly converted to Judaism.

One of the tensions of the Second Temple period was that between traditional Jewish customs and values and the Hellenisation (or 'Greekification') of the Jewish state. Many Jews took Greek names and spoke Greek as their mother tongue (eg. St Paul). In fact, the term 'Synagogue' derives from two Greek words. The famous Septuagint**, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was necessary because so many Jews had lost touch with their Hebrew roots and embraced Hellenism, eg. the philosopher Philo, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. Others, like the Essenes, wanted a purer Jewish culture and religion, but the invasiveness of Greek is demonstrated by the presence of some Greek texts, even among the Essenes' own Dead Sea Scrolls.

Ultimately, these tensions, which also included a desire for freedom from Gentile rule, exploded into open warfare with the Romans in 66 AD.

The Second Temple period ended with the capture of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Without a temple as the focus for national worship, the synagogues became more central to Judaism and what we know today as Rabbinical Judaism developed largely through the subsequent activities of the Pharisees.

Finally, another, important aspect of Second Temple Judaism was the emergence of Apocalypticism as a means of making sense of the fact that Davidic kings no longer ruled Israel. Even the Hasmoneans were not of the line of David. Apocalyptic thought is also evident in some of the writings of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Essentially, Apocalypticists argued that God had temporarily lost control of the world to the Devil, which was was why good people suffered and the wicked prospered. However, He would soon restore control through a Messiah - a descendant of David, and perhaps a priestly Messiah too, from the line of Levi (according to some texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls).

In some scenarios, a heavenly or divine judge, known as the Son of Man, (from a phrase used in the Book of Daniel) would also be sent to establish God's Kingdom on Earth and all of this would happen soon, when bad people would finally get their comeuppance and the righteous their reward.

Some scholars (most famously Albert Schweitzer) saw Jesus as a prophet in the apocalyptic tradition but this is very much a matter of debate and others, such as John Dominic Crossan, offer quite different opinions***. But, either way, the legacy of Second Temple Judaism is very much a part of the Christian movement.

Notes

* the Hasmoneans ruled Israel from 140 BC to 37 BC, although, from 63 BC, Rome began to exercise an increasing level of influence and control over Jewish affairs.

** the Septuagint was produced by Jews living in Ptolemaic Egypt around 250 BC. The Legend goes that 72 scholars (hence 'septuagint', which is Latin for 70) working independently each produced an identical Greek translation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The remaining books were translated over the next 100 years or so.

*** Crossan argues that Jesus was more like a Greek cynic philosopher. Cynics may have been active among the Greek population of Galilee and believed in living strictly virtuous lives, devoid of virtually all material possessions.

Part 2

Most of what we know about the Jerusalem Temple comes from the works of the Jewish historian, Josephus*, who was from a priestly family. Little remains of the Temple itself, apart from some paving stones, inscriptions and sections of the outer walls, so Josephus's account is of great importance. The total area covered by the Temple and its courts was about half a kilometre by 300 metres. Its rebuilding, inaugurated by Herod the Great, began in 20 BC. The Temple itself was completed in around 2 years but the building and decoration of the outer courts was finished only when Jesus began his ministry (c. 26 AD), which was less than 50 years before it was finally destroyed by the Romans. The main function of the temple was the offering of sacrifices by priests at an outdoor altar near the entrance to the sanctuary. Offerings could be animals, vegetables or incense. Sacrifices took place more or less continuously but especially on festival days and at the Sabbath. Individuals could arrange to have sacrifices offered by the priests on their behalf. This might be for various reasons, such as the fulfilment of a vow. Poor people could usually only afford to sacrifice birds. Certain parts of the animal were always burned. The blood of the victim belonged to God and was sprinkled on the altar. The rest was eaten by the priests and the person making the offering. Traders at the Temple sold birds in wicker baskets. Occasionally, the authorities had to step in and control prices in order to protect customers, ie. those making the offerings. Around 18,000 priests (yes, really that many) were employed at the Temple and served on a rota basis, to ensure that there was always a sufficient number on duty around the clock. Priests were drawn from the tribe of Levi, wore white robes and were occasionally required to interpret the Mosaic law. They were fed, clothed and housed at public expense, hence the temple tax, which is mentioned in Matthew (17: 24-27) and was levied on all male Jews over 20.

A priest's day began before dawn and involved ritual bathing to avoid impurity. Their duties, which were assigned by lot, included offering sacrifices, lighting lamps, cleaning the altar, attending lengthy ceremonies, keeping the altar fire burning and patrolling the Temple and its courts as guards. Priests were even trained as builders so that they could construct the holiest parts of the Temple complex. The High Priest was a political appointment** and came from an aristocratic family. His vestments were far more elaborate than those of the ordinary priests. The High Priest only officiated on Sabbaths, new moons and national festivals. Parts of the temple complex were off limits to women and Gentiles and the death penalty could be imposed (in theory) for transgressors. A notice giving warning of this has been discovered and it was, as you've probably guessed, written in Greek.

The Sanhedrin,*** the court where Jesus was tried, met in one of the halls of the Temple. It was originally a legislative as well as a judicial body and had about 70 members who acted as judges. Local sanhedrins also existed elsewhere in Judaea. By Jesus's time, the Sanhedrin's remit had become confined to purely religious matters.

In the final part, I'll look at the various Jewish sects and groups (such as the Sadducees and Pharisees) who helped shape the cultural landscape of the Second Temple period.

Notes

* Josephus fought as a commander on the Jewish side, during the uprising against Rome in the 60s AD. He then defected to the enemy and became a friend of the Emperor Vespasian. He ended his days living in Rome, where he wrote histories of the Jewish people, in Greek, mainly for Gentile consumption. He was not a Christian and was regarded as a traitor by most Jews.

** High Priests should, in theory, have been direct descendants of Zadok, the priest at the time of King David but this was probably no longer the case by the time of Jesus. Caiaphas, for instance, who was High Priest at the time of the Crucifixion, may have been of the family of Zadok but not necessarily a direct descendant. The Roman Emperor would have had a say in the High Priest's appointment.

*** Sanhedrin is another Greek loan word, like synagogue. Sanhedrin means 'sitting together' and the 'hedrin' part of the word comes from the same root as 'hedral', as in cathedral, which also means 'seat', ie. bishop's seat.

Part 3

The four main groups/sects/movements - call them what you will - in Second Temple Judaism (other than Christianity) were the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots and the Essenes. The first three are mentioned in the NT and the Essenes are best known for their connection to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Sadducees and the Pharisees emerged in the 2nd century BC as two divergent forms of Judaism. Both groups numbered a mere few thousand members so most Jews belonged to neither group. However, the Pharisees, who were made up of reasonably well educated, middle class men, probably had the greatest influence on the population as a whole. They believed that the Torah was a living code that needed constant interpretation. This has led to them being characterised, especially in the NT, as nitpickers. But this is not entirely fair. They believed in an afterlife and in many respects they were close to Jesus, theologically. They were also, in the main, Jewish patriots, resenting Roman rule, but they were not as extreme as the Zealots who we'll get to shortly. Pharisaic Judaism ultimately led to the rabbinic form that is most prevalent today.

The Sadducees were an even smaller group made up mostly of aristocratic families, usually with a priestly connection. (The name Sadducee is probably derived from Zadok, the name of the high priest in David's time). Their preoccupation with the Temple and their collaboration with the Romans made them remote and often unpopular with the common people. They followed a 'by the numbers' approach to Judaism, ignoring everything except the Torah (ie. The five books of Moses). Consequently they didn't believe in an Afterlife as this is mentioned elsewhere in the OT and took a very literalistic approach to Scripture. They were also highly ritualistic.

The Essenes have been compared to a prototype monastic community although the scholarly jury is still out on that. But they were similar to monks in some ways, living in the desert, spending their days copying manuscripts and living an ascetic, celibate lifestyle. The Dead Sea Scrolls* give us an insight into their way of life and beliefs. They followed a very strict interpretation of the law, and had an apocalyptic philosophy (see Part 1). They expected the end times to arrive very soon. The Essenes are not mentioned in the NT but, before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, we knew about them from the ancient writers, Josephus, Philo and Pliny the Elder.** There has been speculation that John the Baptist had links with the Essene community because of his austere life style. Excavations at Qumran, the site most associated with the Essenes, which is near the Dead Sea, have led to various controversies. The discovery of graves containing female skeletons has cast doubts on the Essenes' supposed celibacy and other scholars have also challenged the widely held view that the sect produced the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were found in caves nearby.

The Zealots were a group of religious Jews, who believed that armed resistance was necessary in order to free God's people from foreign rule.*** They were also referred to, by Josephus, as the Fourth Philosophy. A subgroup of the Zealots was known as the Sicarii, who were terrorists by our standards. The Sicarii were named after the sica or dagger that they carried (so their name actually means 'daggermen'), which they used to stab to death, often in public, known Jewish collaborators. One intriguing possibility is that the name Iscariot is a corruption of the word 'Sicarius' and that Judas had at one time been a daggerman.**** After the failure of the Jewish Revolt in 70 AD, the last stand of the Zealots took place at the famous siege of Masada three years later. According to Josephus, they took their own lives rather than fall into Roman hands.

Conclusion

The Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots all ceased to exist in the years following the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The Pharisees did continue as a movement for several centuries but eventually evolved into modern Rabbinical Judaism. The only Second Temple Jewish movement that has continued into the modern era and still exists today is one that you have all heard of. No prizes for guessing its name .

Notes

* The Scrolls consist of copies of all the books of the OT (apart from Esther), copies of some of the Apocrypha (eg. The book of Jubilees, Sirach and Tobit) and texts specific to the Qumran community itself, setting out its rules and beliefs. The copies of the OT books are, apart from a few fragments, the oldest we have.

** Pliny died during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. His nephew, Pliny the Younger, gave us our first account by a Roman of a new religious sect called the Christians. Philo mentions another ascetic Jewish group called the Therapeutae, who lived in Egypt. Very little is known about them, but it is possible that they were linked in some way to the Essenes.

*** some of the Dead Sea Scrolls suggest that the Essenes also had an anti-Roman, militaristic outlook.

**** it is more likely that Iscariot is derived from Ish-Kerioth, ie. man from Kerioth, an obscure town in Southern Judaea. However, if that's true, it makes Judas the only non-Galilean among Jesus's disciples.