Hellenism & Judaism

hellenism & judaism

"The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, different from all the others; It shall devour the whole earth, beat it down, and crush it." - Daniel 7:23

A Clash of Worldviews | Jewish Responses to Hellenism | Essay Questions | Related Links | Sources for this page

a clash of worldviews

Hellenism, simply put, is the name given to ancient Greek culture.

However, thanks to the imperialism of Alexander the Great, Hellenism became a mix of Greek culture and the various cultures the Greeks/Romans encountered,
including the cultures of the Ancient Near East (i.e. Palestine).

It is therefore appropriate to distinguish between Hellenic, or Greek, culture, and Hellenistic, or Greek-influenced, cultures.

Jews living in Judea and the surrounding regions began being influenced by Hellenism in the 4th century BC, after being conquered by Alexander.
The Greek worldview caused a crisis for Jews, because it was fundamentally different from their own.

To Jews, the world was a place in which God's immediate presence and direct intervention was a reality.

Because of this, Jews interpreted the world and their own history as a story in which God was constantly and actively involved.

Hellenism, in contrast, was based on logic and reason, or on scientific explanation- at least on a philosophical level.

Reasonableness (to the human mind) was the ultimate test of the truth or falsehood of something, including, eventually, mythology and religious belief.
On the "popular" level, the gods of the Greek and Roman pantheons were still worshipped- along with the local gods of the various regions of the empire.
But the cultured Greek and Roman elites saw religion more as a way of inspiring and testing loyalty among the masses. To this well-educated minority, the only divinity believed to exist was an abstract and disinterested one- not directly involved in life in this world.

Factors that aided the spread of Hellenism throughout the Mediterranean:

The practice of "Religious Syncretism." The "mingling" of religions.

When the Greeks encountered another culture, they would seek to identify the gods of that culture with their own pantheon.
During the reign of the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes IV, the Greeks attempted this with the Jews, trying to identify Yahweh with Zeus, but failed causing tension between both cultures.
Example:

When the Ptolemies reigned in Egypt, they took the title of Pharaoh, so that their leadership would be respected by the Egyptians.

The Greek Language.

As Greek rulers took control of foreign territories, they didn't bother to learn the local language (often Aramaic- the language of the Persian and Babylonian empires and likely the language of Jesus as well).

In order to participate in trade between regions, one needed to learn the language of the empire.

As a consequence, Greek became the language of the empire (even after it is conquered by Rome) and its territories.

Language became characteristic of social class, with wealthier cities being populated by Greek-speakers, while poorer cities and regions retained local languages.

The "polis" or Greek city.

When the Greeks would conquer a foreign territory, they would basically leave the local inhabitants alone (or at least they wouldn't "force" their way of life on them- they just overwhelmed them), and establish their own cities in the area.
These cities were populated by inhabitants of the overcrowded Greek isles who were encouraged to move by the promise of free land in exchange for military service.

The polis became the symbol of Hellenistic civilization and culture, and each one possessed certain institutions that promoted this culture:

The Gymnasium- a school for the education of the very young, with study of the Greek curriculum in the morning and athletics in the afternoon.
The Academy- a school for the philosophical training of wealthy youth, usually under the instruction of a famous teacher.
The Stadium- for public display of athletics.
The Theater- for the performance of plays.
Examples of great Greek cities relevant to the NT:

Alexandria, built by the Ptolemies in Egypt.
Antioch, built by the Seleucids on the coast of Syria.
Sepphoris, which was only four miles away from Jesus' hometown of Nazareth (in the Galilee).
The Decapolis, a string of ten Greek towns between Galilee and Syria.
Caesaria Maritima, built on the coast of Palestine and named after the emperor.

The presence of Greek towns in the Promised Land caused a problem for the Jews, because with these cities came the established worship of pagan gods, which, to the Jewish mind, "polluted" the land. Some Jews wondered how God would react.
There was also tension between Greeks and Jews who lived in Hellenistic cities outside of Palestine,

Those Jews saw themselves as full citizens of the empire, equal to the Greeks but not obligated to worship the Greek gods.
In other words, they were entitled to all of the rights of a citizen without having to assimilate.

The repeated religious insults of the Romans against the Jews caused much tension, particularly those of Pompey, who had entered the temple sanctuary (only the high priest was allowed to enter it) when he took control of the city for Rome in 63 BC.

Pompey had expected to find a statue or image of Yahweh in the temple- but the Jews did not believe in making graven images of God.
He declared to the Jews that they had been fooled by the priests, and there was no God in their sanctuary.
Because of him, the Jews sided with Julius Caesar when Caesar and Pompey engaged in civil war for control of the empire.
Caesar and the Jews wound up having a very positive relationship.

Caesar made Judaism a legal religion within the empire, and excused the Jews from emperor worship.

They were also exempted from certain taxes that would have been spent on temples to foreign gods.

At this time, Jews in the Roman Empire were relatively much more numerous than today, making up about ten percent of the population, or 7 million out of 70 million.

Additionally, there were many Gentile "God-fearers" who respected the monotheism of the Jews and worshipped the "one God" with them, but did not convert to Judaism, for two reasons:

They wanted to remain members of their own nation, and abide by the laws of their own nation. Full conversion would have required abiding by the laws of the Torah or Judaism.
They particularly opposed circumcision and the Jewish dietary laws.

These God-fearers may well have been the people Paul was trying to reach with his law-free message.
These were also the gentiles who were allowed into the "court of gentiles" in the temple.

These tensions caused by the Hellenization of Jews resulted in several conflicts between Jews and Romans:

The "First Revolt" from 66-70 AD, primarily in Jerusalem.
A full scale war between the Jews and Romans from 115-117 AD, fought outside Palestine and primarily in Alexandria, Egypt.
The "Second Revolt" or the "Bar Kochba Revolt" fought in Judea from 132-135 AD.

It was led by Simon Bar Kochba, who claimed to be the Messiah.

jewish responses to hellenism

How did the Jews respond to Hellenism?
In diverse ways, from one extreme to the other- .

At one extreme there were the Zealots, who were willing to use violence to uphold the law and preserve their religion (or the even more extreme Sicarii, a militant guerrilla wing of Zealots that went so far as to kill other Jews if they thought they were abandoning the law).

St. Paul, incidentally, calls himself a "Pharisee, zealous for the law" which many have interpreted to suggest that he himself was a zealot before his call to be a Christian.

There were three major "sects" or distinct and competing groups within Judaism (or perhaps three competing "Judaisms").

These groups probably started during the era of the Maccabees and became prominent about the time Jesus was alive a few centuries later.
When the temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, many of the sects died with it.

The sects included:

the Sadducees, wealthy priests who embraced Hellenization while trying to preserve the traditional interpretation of scriptures.

They did not believe in such doctrines as:

The existence of angels and bodily resurrection, which had been introduced into Judaism relatively recently (since the Maccabees and Daniel).
Divine providence- that God took an interest and an active role in human affairs. There was no divine punishment or reward, and no afterlife. Death is final.

The Sadducees were important primarily because, as priests, they controlled the temple, and the high priest was a Sadducee.

the Pharisees, who were working class (not priestly) and learned in the law (and probably developed from the Hasidim).

They were critical of the Sadducees and the way the temple was run.

They were popular and respected by the "common" Jews (Am Ha'Aretz or "People of the Land") as authorities on scripture.
They were not in favor of Hellenization, but they appreciated the Pax Romana, which prohibited any nation in the empire from warring against another.
The Pharisees believed in an “oral” Torah- or a code of law passed down orally from generation to generation that was as legally binding and divinely inspired as that found in the scriptures (books of Moses).
The Pharisees were the only sect to survive the revolt against the Romans in 66-70 AD, and they paved the way for Rabbinic Judaism.
Generally, the Pharisees took the middle ground on the subject of divine providence, seeing some things, esp. the decision to abide by the Torah, as being left totally up to individual free will.

They also accepted the doctrines of bodily resurrection and angels.
It is important to realize that, although the gospel authors are particularly critical of the Pharisees, Jesus' teachings are more like those of the Pharisees than any other Jewish sect existing at the time.

And finally the Essenes, who were so thoroughly opposed to the Hellenizing of Judea that they abandoned Jerusalem and formed a strictly observant and monastic community in the desert near the Dead Sea, at Khirbet Qumran.

They led a celibate life, although they also operated several satellite communities where members were allowed to have families so that the community could continue.

They saw themselves as the true temple priesthood in exile.
They were an apocalyptic community, awaiting the end time when God would judge them as the one sect that had remained true.

They were also Messianic- expecting at least two messiahs to appear before preceding the end times:

One was to be a descendent of Aaron- a priestly messiah who would cleanse the temple in Jerusalem.
The other was to be a Davidic messiah- who would lead the war against foreign oppression.

They believed completely in divine providence.

It has been argued that John the Baptist was an Essene,

because of the apocalyptic nature of his message ("Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand")
and his reputation for preaching his message in the desert, a favorite locale for prophets.
Each of these groups considers itself the "true" form of the religion, and each one is active during the life and ministry of Jesus.
See Mk 12:18-27

During Herod the Great's reign,

the Jews still maintained their own customary governing institutions,

and it was the high priest of the temple that the Jews considered to be their real leader,
and the temple itself was seen as the central institution of the Jewish government.

The high priest could be appointed by Herod,
but always had to be drawn from the priestly class, or Sadducees.

The Jews also had their own judicial system, headed by the Sanhedrin, or high court.

The Sanhedrin had 71 members,
drawn from the leadership of the two major sects- the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

Being the larger group, it was the Pharisees that had majority representation in the court.
They were also the more popular sect among the common Jews, and so the Sadducees, even the high priest, usually could not defy their rulings.
It is likely, though, that the Sanhedrin, even its Pharisaic element, came from the wealthy, aristocratic segment of Jewish society, and so was generally interested in maintaining the status quo.

essay questions

List and describe the three factors that aided the spread of Hellenism throughout the first century Mediterranean world- include an example from history for each factor.
Discuss why the influence of Hellenism caused a crisis for Jews in the first century AD. Describe the major sects of Judaism in the first century, and explain how each was a response to the Hellenization of Palestine.