Deck 3: The Jewish World of Early Christianity

Question 1

Judaism was one of the religions in the Greco-Roman world. How was it similar to other (pagan) religions? How was it different?

Answer 1

Judaism was similar to pagan religions in the following ways: belief in a higher realm with a powerful deity; belief god favors humans who worship him; worship includes cultic acts such as prayer and sacrifice; priests perform rituals in sacred spaces; belief that God dwells in the temple; and belief that divine beings sometimes appear in human form. Judaism differed from paganism in the following ways: They were monotheistic; they asserted that they were specially chosen by God; they believed in the covenantal relationship with God; they believed in the divinely given law; Jews outside of Palestine worshipped the god of a foreign land instead of a local deity; and the Jewish God had only one Temple.

Question 2

Discuss the events leading up to the Maccabean revolt. Was the revolt successful? What did it mean for Judaism at that time? What repercussions did the revolt have for Judaism in Palestine?

Answer 2

In 721 BCE Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, and in 586 BCE. Babylon conquered Judah and brought Israelite self-rule to an end. Under the Babylonians, the Jews were exiled. The Persians conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Jews to return to Palestine. Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) conquered the Persians and expanded his empire throughout the Mediterranean region. As he conquered the lands, he spread Greek culture, a process called Hellenization. Over time, Hellenistic culture took over and became a dominating force in society. A Syrian ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes, forced Hellenism onto the Jews in Palestine in an attempt to unify his subjects. Antiochus outlawed circumcision, turned the Jewish Temple into a pagan sanctuary, and forced the Jews to sacrifice to the gods. Many Jews refused to follow Antiochus' laws and revolted. Judas Maccabeus led the successful Jewish revolt against Antiochus in 167 BCE. The Maccabees reestablished a Jewish state and rededicated the Temple. This Jewish state lasted until the Romans conquered it in 63 BCE. In response to Hellenism and the Maccabean revolt, the four philosophies of Judaism, mentioned by Josephus, arose.

Question 3

Discuss how the four known Jewish sects differed.

Answer 3

The Pharisees insisted on knowing and obeying God's law to the fullest extent. This entailed specific interpretations to disambiguate the Torah and ensure total obedience, eventually known as "oral law," which established how to follow the written Law. Much of this oral law was eventually written down in the Mishnah, which later became the foundation for the Talmud. The Jewish priesthood was composed largely of Sadducees. They accepted only the Torah (i.e., the five books of Moses) as authoritative. They rejected the doctrine of the future resurrection of the dead and the existence of angels. The Essenes believed that the Jews of Jerusalem had gone astray, particularly by appointing a non-Zadokite high priest, so they segregated themselves in the wilderness and strove to live in purity. The Essenes of Qumran were probably the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The fourth Fourth Philosophy was a sect that believed in active, usually militant, resistance to Israel's foreign domination. Two well-known subsects of the Fourth Philosophy were the Zealots and the Sicarii.

Question 4

What set the Jewish Temple apart from other Greco-Roman temples? Discuss the significance of this difference and how it helped define the Jews as a people.

Question 5

Diaspora means _____.

A) Palestine
B) spread of Greek culture
C) dispersion
D) law

Question 6

The Septuagint is _____.

A) the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible
B) a Roman Emperor
C) a region of the Greco-Roman world
D) a god

Question 7

Which of the following was not unique to Judaism?

A) covenant
B) Torah
C) animal sacrifice
D) synagogue

Question 8

"Torah" means _____.

A) guidance
B) separation
C) Judaism
D) dispersion

Question 9

The Pentateuch refers to _____.

A) the first five books of the Bible
B) the dispersion of Jews
C) an early group of Judaism
D) a household god

Question 10

Ancient Jews believed that the special place of God's presence was the _____.

A) synagogue
B) Torah
C) Holy of Holies
D) Dead Sea

Question 11

Who was allowed to enter the Holy of Holies?

A) Essenes
B) Josephus
C) Jesus
D) high priest

Question 12

The high priests of the Jerusalem Temple trace their lineage to which ancient priest?

A) Zadok
B) Josephus
C) Antiochus Epiphanes
D) Herod the Great

Question 13

Which of the following activities did not take place in synagogues?

A) gathering of Jews
B) reading of scripture
C) offering of sacrifices
D) praying

Question 14

Which of the following groups is not mentioned in the New Testament?

A) Pharisees
B) Sadducees
C) Essenes
D) Jews

Question 15

Which group believed in the authority of the oral law?

A) Pharisees
B) Fourth Philosophy
C) Essenes
D) Sadducees

Question 16

Which group left Jerusalem because they believed the Jewish leadership had gone astray?

A) Pharisees
B) Fourth Philosophy
C) Essenes
D) Josephus

Question 17

Which group urged armed rebellion against foreign powers in Palestine?

A) Pharisees
B) Fourth Philosophy
C) Sadducees
D) Josephus

Question 18

Which group was aristocratic and ran the Temple?

A) Pharisees
B) Fourth Philosophy
C) Sadducees
D) Essenes

Question 19

Who among the following was not a Jewish holy man?

A) Honi the circle-drawer
B) Jesus
C) Hanina ben-Dosa
D) Apollonius of Tyana

Question 20

Jews in Palestine disliked the Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes because _____.

A) he was not of the right priestly line
B) he required men to remove the marks of circumcision
C) he made infant circumcision illegal for Jews
D) he destroyed the temple

Question 21

The Jewish response to Antiochus Epiphanes' actions was _____.

A) a silent protest
B) the Maccabean revolt revolt
C) the diaspora
D) conversion to Christianity

Question 22

The Maccabean revolt began around the year _____.

A) 167 BCE
B) 167 CE
C) 586 BCE
D) 721 BCE

Question 23

The Jewish holiday Hanukkah celebrates _____.

A) the Jews' return to Palestine
B) the rededication of the Temple
C) the destruction of the second Temple
D) the right to circumcise baby boys

Question 24

After eighty years of self-rule, the Hasmoneans were defeated in 63 BCE by the _____.

A) Greeks
B) Romans
C) Persians
D) Syrians

Question 25

Who among the following did not rule in Palestine during the Roman period?

A) Zadok
B) Antipas
C) Pontius Pilate
D) Herod the Great

Question 26

Who discussed the Jewish groups that emerged in the first century BCE?

A) Paul
B) Philo
C) Josephus
D) Tacitus

Question 27

Most Jews in Palestine were _____.

A) Pharisees
B) Sadducees
C) Essenes
D) unaffiliated

Question 28

Which Jewish group wielded the most political power during Jesus' life?

A) Pharisees
B) Sadducees
C) Essenes
D) Zealots

Question 29

Most of the Jews in the diaspora stopped speaking the ancient tongue of Judea, which was _____.

A) Greek
B) Arabic
C) Aramaic
D) Hebrew

Question 30

Which Jewish group disavowed the notion of the future resurrection of the dead?

A) Pharisees
B) Sadducees
C) Essenes
D) Fourth Philosophy

Question 31

The group of texts used by the Essenes is called _____.

A) the Nag Hammadi Library
B) the Dead Sea Scrolls
C) the oral law
D) the Torah

Question 32

Which of the following is not a major tenet of apocalypticism?

A) pessimism
B) militarism
C) vindication
D) imminence

Question 33

The Jewish group that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls lived near _____.

A) Caesarea
B) Nazareth
C) Bethlehem
D) Qumran

Question 34

The word "sicarii" comes from a word meaning _____.

A) zealot
B) dagger
C) Pharisee
D) traitor