BACKGROUND TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

In Old Testament times, the kings Saul,

David, and _____________ ruled over all

twelve tribes of Israel. Then the nation

split into the ten-tribe ____________

kingdom of _________ and the southern

kingdom of ________, with the tribe of

Benjamin absorbed into the tribe of

_________.

Solomon

Northern

Judah

Judah

Israel

The ____________ conquered the northern

kingdom and took most of its inhabitants

as __________ into Assyria.

Next, the ______________ took control of the

Middle East from the Assyrians,

conquered the _____________ kingdom of

Judah, and took most of its inhabitants as

exiles into _____________.

Assyrians

Exiles

Babylonians

Babylonia

Southern

The ___________ then took control from the

Babylonians and King ________ let exiled

peoples, including ______, return to their native

lands if they wished. Some did. Others did

not.

Under the Persians there began the

__________________ period, sometimes called “the

_________ __________ ________ years” because of a

_____ in Biblical record (though non-biblical

records have survived).

Persians

Inter-Testamental

Hundred

Four

Jews

Silent gap

Cyrus

During this gap, ______________ ______

__________ came from _________- Macedonia

and conquered the Middle East by inflicting

successive defeats on the __________ at the

battles of Granicus (334 B.C.), Issus (333

B.C.) and Arbela (331 B.C.).

Alexander

Great

Persians

The

Greece

400 Years of Prophetic Silence

400 Years

70 Years

from page 24 of Survey of the New Testament, by Paul Benware

The Historical Background to the New Testament

I. The Political BackgroundA. The Persian Period - 538 B.C.B. The Greek Period - 333 B.C.C. The Egyptian Period – 323 B.C.D. The Syrian Period – 204 B.C. E. The Maccabean and Hasmonean Period –

165 B.C.F. The Roman Period – 63 B.C. to Christ

II. The Religious BackgroundA. The Pharisees and SadduceesB. The ScribesC. The EssenesD. The HerodiansE. The Zealots F. The SynagogueG. The SanhedrinH. The Temple

Head of Gold (Nebuchadnezzar)BABYLON (605-539 B.C.,

Daniel 2:37-38)

Chest and Arms of SilverMEDO-PERSIAN (Beginning with

Cyrus the Great; 539-331 B.C.,Daniel 2:32,39)

Belly of BronzeGRECO-

MACEDONIAN (Established by

Alexander the Great; 331-168 B.C., Daniel 2:39)

The Image of Daniel,

Chapter 2

Legs of Iron

ROMAN EMPIRE (Beginning with

Pompey and Julius Caesar; 168 B.C. – 476

A.D., Daniel 2:40)

Feet and Toes of Iron and ClaySTRONG AND WEAK

GOVERNMENTS OF THE ENDTIME (476 A.D. to present;

Daniel 2:41)

I. The Political BackgroundA. The Persian (Medo-Persian) Period - 538 B.C.

The Persian rule over Palestine continued

until Alexander the Great and his Greek

empire in 333 B.C. This was the 2nd empire

mentioned by ___________. This means

that the Jews were under the Persian rule at

the end of ___________ and remained under

them for the first 60 years of the

________________ Period.Inter-Testament

Daniel

Malachi

Cyrus the Great, the first king of Persia

Darius II, king of Persia 423 to 405

I. The Political BackgroundB. The Greek (Greco-Macedonian) Period – 333 B.C.

Alexander the Great, at ______ years of age, transformed

the face of the world in _____ years. He is spoken of by

Daniel in his prophecy in Daniel 7:6; Daniel 8:1-7 and 21-23.

Alexander's conquests caused the rapid spread

of ___________ (Greek culture). This culture permeated life

everywhere, including Palestine. Greek became the

common language; this factor had a significant impact on

the spread of the _________ of Jesus Christ in ______

___________times. 

20

10

Gospel

Hellenism

New

Testament

The 4 Kingdoms of The Greek Empire

after 301 B.C.

I. The Political BackgroundC. The Egyptian Period - 323 B.C.

This was the longest of the six periods in the Inter-Testament

Period. The death of Alexander the Great resulted in

_________ falling into the hands of the first Ptolemaic ruler,

Ptolemy Soter (Ptolemies were the line of Greek kings over

________). The second Ptolemy (Philadelphus) founded the

_______________ library and the famous Septuagint

translation of the Old Testament was made from the

__________ to the __________ during this reign.

Alexandrian

Judea

Egypt

Hebrew Greek

I. The Political BackgroundD. The Syrian Period - 204 B.C.

In 198 B.C. Antiochus III, a Seleucid of Syria, defeated the

Ptolemies and drove them back into Egypt. Antiochus IV, or

Epiphanes (175-163 B.C.) replaced the Jewish ______ priest

Onias III with Onias’s brother Jason, a Hellenizer who started

making Jerusalem into a ________ city.

Before launching an invasion of Egypt, Antiochus Ephiphanes

replaced his own appointee in the Jewish high priesthood with

Meneluas, another Hellenizing Jew, who offered to collect for

Antiochus higher ______ from his subjects in Palestine.

high

Greek

taxes

I. The Political BackgroundE. The Maccabean and Hasmonean Period - 165 B.C. – 63

B.C.

One day, a royal agent of Antiochus visited Jerusalem and urged an

elderly priest named Mattathias to offer a pig as a sacrifice to the

Greek gods. Mattathias r_________. When another Jew stepped

forward to comply, Mattathias ________ him and the royal agent,

demolished the altar, and f_____ to the mountains with his five

______ and other sympathizers. Thus, the Maccabean Revolt began

in 167 B.C. under the leadership of Mattathias’s family. We call this

family the Hasmoneans, after Hasmon, great-grandfather of

Mattathias, or the Maccabees (which means “the Hammer”), from the

name given to Judas, one of Mattathias’s sons who led the rebels in

guerrilla warfare to defeat the S_______.

efused

killed

led

sons

yrians

I. The Political BackgroundE. The Maccabean and Hasmonean Period - 165 B.C. –

63 B.C.

The Maccabees had enough of the excesses of Antiochus

Epiphanes. But, this was not just a war against the

________, it was a c_____ war; the Jews who were loyal to

Judaism were fighting other Jews who had become

H__________ and who were siding with the Greeks.

Ultimately, the Maccabees expelled the Syrian troops from

their citadel in ___________, regained religious freedom,

rededicated the _________, and conquered Palestine.

Greeks ivil

ellenized

Jerusalem

Temple

I. The Political BackgroundE. The Maccabean and Hasmonean Period – 165 B.C. -

63 B.C.

The subsequent history of the Hasmonean dynasty (142-37 B.C)

tells a sad tale of internal strife caused by ambition for

_________. The political aims and intrigues of the Hasmoneans

alienated many of their former supporters, the Hasideans, who

_______ into the Pharisees and the Essenes. Some of the

Essenes produced the _______ _____ Scrolls from Qumran. The

aristocratic and politically minded supporters of the Hasmonean

priest-kings became the S___________. Finally, the ________

general Pompey subdued Palestine (63 B.C.). Throughout New

Testament history, then, Roman power d__________ Palestine.

power

split

Dead Sea

adducees Roman

ominated

I. The Political BackgroundE. The Roman Period - 63 B.C. to Christ

Judea became a province of the Roman Empire. When the

______________ line ended, Antipater was appointed over Judea

by _________ _________ in 47 B.C. Antipater appointed

H_______, his son, governor of Galilee. He was appointed king of

the Jews by Rome in 40 B.C. He ____________ almost half of his

own family including his wife and _______. This was the “Herod

the Great” who was king when our Lord was ________.

This is the political background of the Jews during the 400

year period.

Maccabean

Julius Caesar

erod

murdered

sons

born

Antipater prepared the list of seven man-made ancient

wonders of the world.

The list that was initially prepared in 2 A.D. had

included the Walls of Babylon on the seventh position.

However, The Lighthouse on the Pharos Island near the Alexandria port gained the

seventh position in the list of the ancient Seven Wonders

of the World.

This Lighthouse was 122 metres (400 feet) tall and the

light at the peak was reflected via the convex glass

and could be seen by the ships sailing even at a

distance of 450 kilometres.

The Historical Background to the New Testament

II. The Religious BackgroundA. The Pharisees and SadduceesB. The ScribesC. The EssenesD. The HerodiansE. The ZealotsF. The SynagogueG. The SanhedrinH. The Temple

II. The Religious BackgroundA. The Pharisees and Sadducees

The Pharisees held that the Oral Law was given orally to _________,

to Joshua, to the elders, to the ___________ and then to the men of

the Great Synagogue. The Pharisees were the i____________ of the

Oral Law.

The Sadducees rejected all this, holding to only “the law,” meaning the

P___________. They denied the spirit world of a _______,

immortality, and _____________ from the dead (Acts 23:8) while the

Pharisees affirmed all of these doctrines.

Pharisee means “separatists,” and Sadducees means “righteous

______.”

Moses

prophets

nterpreters

entateuch ngels

resurrection

ones

II. The Religious BackgroundB. The Scribes

From the time of the ______________ Captivity, there developed a

new line of scribes who were not just transcribers or

_______________, but a new body of men who became the

expounders, guardians and teachers of the S___________. They

became a distinguished order in the nation. They must be

distinguished from the priests and the ____________, but this does

not mean that they were alike or even together in function.

Our Lord denounced the scribes because of their c___________

and outward p___________ (Matthew 23:13-18).

Babylonian

secretaries

criptures

Pharisees

orruption

iousness

II. The Religious BackgroundC. The Essenes

The Essenes originated during the days of the Maccabees.

They were known for their strict, r_______ lifestyle; a lifestyle

far more burdensome than the one created by the

P__________. Although they aren’t mentioned by name in

the New Testament, some believe that John ______

___________ may have had some contact with them.

igid

harisees

Baptist

the

II. The Religious BackgroundD. The Herodians

The Herodians were more of a ___________ party than a

religious sect. They accepted Hellenization and desired the

political power and worldly benefits that came to loyal

supporters of H________ family. Because they both

considered Jesus an enemy, the Herodians united with the

____________ to bring charges against Him.

political

erod’s

Pharisees

II. The Religious BackgroundE. The Zealots

The Zealots were Palestinian groups who advocated to

violently overthrow R_______. They were responsible for a

number of revolts in the first century, and it was their

activity that brought about the terrible Roman wars of A.D.

66-72 in which _____________ was destroyed and tens of

thousands of Jews were __________.

ome

Jerusalem

killed

II. The Religious BackgroundF. The Synagogue

There is not a word about synagogues in the ______ _____________, but

as soon as we start the New Testament we find them everywhere. The

synagogue did not exist before the ___________ but it seems to have

originated during that time – when the Jews totally turned away from

i__________.

There was no longer a Jewish _________ and they longed for the reading of

the Scriptures. This is the way the synagogue came into being. The

synagogue was congregational and not _________. The institution of

preaching had its beginning in the synagogue. It was from this background

that the early Christian church, as organized by the apostles, took its main

form of __________. The titles given to the New Testament church leaders:

Elders, Bishops, _________ are all carried over from the synagogue.

Old Testament

Captivity

dolatry

Temple

priestly

worship

Deacons

II. The Religious BackgroundG. The Sanhedrin

There is another Jewish institution called the Sanhedrin, which in

New Testament times was the supreme civil and ____________

tribunal of the Jewish nation. It had the idea of a council or

_____________ body and also included the idea of a court. The

Great Sanhedrin was something like a Jewish “supreme court.” It

was the Great Sanhedrin that found itself in conflict with

_________. Members attempted to arrest Him on several

occasions; they desired to kill Him; they participated in His arrest;

they broke their own laws and code of ethics in their trial of Him;

and they are held accountable by ___________ for their actions.

religious

Jesus

Scripture

governing

II. The Religious BackgroundH. The Temple

The Temple was the focal point of Jewish religion and

___________. This is where the __________ sacrifices were

made and the _________ of the Jews were celebrated.

The Temple in Jerusalem was originally built by King

___________. The Temple of Christ’s day was rebuilt by

________ the Great, but it was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the

__________. The Herodian Temple complex had 3 courts: the

large outer “court of the Gentiles,” “the court of the _________,”

and the “court of Israel.” Israelite women could enter the inner

court area, but could not go into the court of ________. The

_________ formed a police force to stand guard at the gates and

constantly patrol the courts.

worship

feasts

Solomon

blood

Herod

Romans

women

Israel Levites