Second Temple Judaism

[1][2] According to Jewish tradition, authentic prophecy (נְבוּאָה‎, Nevu'ah) ceased during the early years of the Second Temple period; this left Jews without their version of divine guidance at a time when they felt most in need of support and direction.

[3] Under Hellenistic rule, the growing Hellenization of Judaism became a source of resentment among Jewish traditionalists who clung to strict monotheistic beliefs.

From c. 170 BCE to 30 CE, five successive generations of the Zugot headed the Jews' spiritual affairs; it was during this period that several factions, such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, and early Christians were formed.

[5] The Temple is commonly said to have been rebuilt in the period 520–515 BCE, but it seems probable that this is an artificial date chosen so that 70 years could be said to have passed between the destruction and the rebuilding, fulfilling a prophecy of Jeremiah.

[11] The Jewish exiles in Babylon were not slaves or prisoners, nor were they badly treated, and when the Persians gave permission for them to return to Jerusalem the majority elected to remain where they were.

[14][15] There was also a significant Egyptian diaspora, although the Jews of Egypt were immigrants, not deportees, "... attracted by Hellenistic culture, eager to win the respect of the Greeks and to adapt to their ways.

[17] In addition to these major centres there were Jewish communities throughout the Hellenistic and subsequently the Roman world, from North Africa to Asia Minor and Greece and in Rome.

[28][29] In recent decades it has become increasingly common among scholars to assume that much of the Hebrew Bible was assembled, revised and edited in the 5th century BCE to reflect the realities and challenges of the Persian era.

[30][13] The returnees had a particular interest in the history of Israel: the written Torah (the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), for example, likely existed in various forms during the Monarchy (the period of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah), but according to the documentary hypothesis (disputed by some Christians)[31] it was in the Second Temple that it was edited and revised into something like its current form, and the Chronicles, a history written at this time, reflects the concerns of the Persian Yehud in its almost exclusive focus on Judah and the Temple.

[30] In the Hellenistic period, the scriptures were translated into Greek as the Septuagint by the Jews of the Alexandrian diaspora in Egypt, who also produced a rich literature of their own covering epic poetry, philosophy, tragedy and other forms.

[33] The Hebrew Bible represents the beliefs of a small sector within the Israelite community who were exiled by the Babylonians and emphasized on orthodox worship, genealogical purity and adherence to the codified law.

[34][35] In the earliest stages of the Persian period, the returnees insisted on a strict separation between themselves ("Israel") and those who had never gone into exile ("Canaanites"), to the extent of prohibiting intermarriage; this was presented in terms of religious purity, but there may have been a practical concern for land ownership.

[36][37][38] Ethnic markers for Israelite (or later, Jewish) identity were radically reformed, with increased emphasis on genealogical descent and/or faith in Yahweh, compared to circumcision.

[40][38][41] Whilst the Zealots shared beliefs with the Pharisees, the latter were more democratic, respected the status quo, and believed Jewishness was a matter of choice than birth.

[51] The priesthood under the High Priest, which was unheard of in earlier times, became the governing authority, making the province of Yehud a de facto theocracy, although it seems unlikely that they had significant autonomy.

[50] In the Hellenistic period, the High Priest continued to play a vital role with both cultic and civic obligations, and the office reached its height under the Hasmoneans who made themselves priest-kings.

[64] The Persian period saw the development of expectation in a future human king who would rule a purified Israel as God's representative at the end of time – that is, a messiah.

1 Maccabees, for instance, focuses on Judean affairs, generalizes all gentile rulers as being evil, believes Jewish martyrs were "pious fools", makes little mention of God and prayer, and attributes events to blind chance.

[67] In his seminal Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels, Julius Wellhausen argues that Judaism as a religion based on widespread observance Torah law first emerged in 444 BCE when, according to the biblical account provided in the Book of Nehemiah (chapter 8), a priestly scribe named Ezra reads a copy of the Mosaic Torah before the populace of Judea assembled in a central Jerusalem square.

More recently, Yonatan Adler has argued that in fact there is no surviving evidence to support the notion that the Torah was widely known, regarded as authoritative, and put into practice, any time prior to the middle of the 2nd century BCE.

[70] Adler explores the likelihhood that Judaism, as the widespread practice of Torah law by Jewish society at large, first emerged in Judea during the reign of the Hasmonean dynasty, centuries after the putative time of Ezra.

You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are",[73] is evidence of Jewish proselytism during the time period.

However, scholars such as Martin Goodman, for instance, argue that phrase relates to the Pharisees' attempt to persuade Jews to join their school of thought rather than their efforts to convert non-Jews.

[81] The doctrines of the apostles of Jesus brought the early church into conflict with some Jewish religious authorities (e.g., the Book of Acts records a dispute over the resurrection of the dead, which was rejected by the Sadducees) and possibly later led to Christians' expulsion from synagogues (see Council of Jamnia for other theories).

Some Christians began to believe instead that Christ, rather than simply being the Jewish messiah, was God made flesh, who died for the sins of humanity, marking the beginning of Christology.

[85] Some scholars additionally note the role of Hellenistic Judaism in Christianity and believe that the doctrine of Jesus's death for the redemption of mankind was not possible without Hellenism.