The History and Literature of the Palestinian Jews from Cyrus to Herod 550 BC to 4 BC 9781487577858

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w . STEWART MCCULLOUGH is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Toronto. From the time of Cyrus to the time of Herod, except for a brief period of independence in the second and first centuries BC, Judea was subservient to either the Persians, the Hellenistic kingdoms, or the Romans . Only in the area of religion did the Jews maintain their freedom almost without interruption. Their greatest tangible achievement in these centuries was in literature. During this period Israel's Scriptures emerged in their final form , summing up a thousand years of Israel' s religious history and becoming the foundation of all subsequent Judaism and of early Christianity. This book examines Jewish history against the background of the successive kingdoms which controlled Judea . The author discusses the political situation in Judea and the social and economic conditions in so far as we can know them, and the early literary and religious developments. He then moves on to a discussion of the literature of the second and first centuries BC: the scholarly and pietistic traditions, apocalyptic and historical writings, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the completion of the canon. A brief general bibliography is appended. The author makes excellent use of the sources available, and assesses them with a finely critical eye. He writes not only for students of early Judaism, but also for the general reader. An extremely concise, well-organized , and succinct account of its subject. Choice

W. STEWART McCULLOUGH

THE HISTORY AND LITERATURE OFTHE PALESTINIAN JEWS FROM CYRUS TO HEROD 550 BC TO 4 BC

University of Toronto Press Toronto and Buffalo

© University of Toronto Press 1975 Toronto and Buffalo Reprinted in paperback 1977 Reprinted in 2018

Printed in Canada Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data McCullough, William Stewart, 1902The history and literature of the Palestinian Jews from Cyrus to Herod, 550 BC to 4 BC Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Jews-History-586 Bc-70 AD 1. Title. DS121.65.M3 933 74-80889 ISBN 0-8020-5317-3 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-8020-6324-3 (paper)

CONTENTS

PREFACE /

ix

ABBREVIATIONS / X MAPS I

xiii, xiv

PART ONE

The Late Babylonian and Persian Periods Judah circa 550 BC The political scene in western Asia ; 3 The internal life of Judah 1 4 The Babylonian exiles ; 12 II

From Cyrus to Malachi The Persian empire, 559-330 BC I 17 Conditions in Judah in the late sixth and early fifth centuries ; 19 The rebuilding of the temple ; 24 Prophetic voices I 29 I II

The Age of Nehemiah and Ezra The last century of Achaemenid Persia ; 36 Troubles in Judah prior to Nehemiah's time ; 37 Nehemiah ; 38 Ezra ; 43

IV

The Fourth Century to 330 BC General history 1 50 Literary and cultic developments 1.51 The Samaritans: Part 1 , 76 PART TWO

The Hellenistic Age and the Beginning of Roman Rule V

The Beginnings of the Hellenistic Age: From Alexander the Great to 200 BC The history of the Near East as it relates to Palestine 1 83 The history of Judea from Alexander to 200 BC 1 86 Literary and religious developments I 91 The Samaritans: Part II 1 102 VI

Palestine under the Seleucids, 200-143 BC Some aspects of Seleucid history, 223-129 BC 1 105 Judea, 200-143 BC 1 110 VI I

Judea's Independence, 1431142--63 BC Simon, 143-134 BC 1 126 John Hyrcanus, 134-104 BC 1 129 Aristobulus, 104-103 BC 1133 Alexander Jannaeus (Jannai), 103-76 BC 1 134 Queen Alexandra, 76--67 BC t 137 Aristobulus II, 67--63 BC 1 138 The consequences of Pompey's intervention 1 141 VIII

Judea under the Romans, 63-4 BC From 63 BC to the coming of the Parthians 1 143 The Parthian interlude and the emergence of Herod as king, 148 Herod, king of the Jews, 37-4 BC 1 152 Epilogue 1 165

PART THREE

Literature, 2oer4 BC IX

The Scholarly and Pietistic Literary Traditions and Early Scriptural Exposition The scholarly tradition 1 169 The pietistic tradition 1174 Early scriptural exposition (excluding the Dead Sea Scrolls) 1187 X

Apocalyptic and historical writings Apocalyptic writings I 196 Historical writings 1 207 XI

The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Completion of the Canon The Dead Sea Scrolls 1 215 The completion of the canon of Israel's Scriptures I 231 NOTES /

235

BIBLIOGRAPHY / INDEX /

247

245

PREFACE

The aim of this volume is to present a general survey of the history and literature of the Palestinian Jews in the last five centuries BC for students and others concerned with the later parts of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and early Judaism. The shortness of the bibliography at the end is congruent with the author's purpose, the list being confined to books likely to be accessible to the ordinary reader. These titles can be supplemented by the works mentioned in the notes. In order to keep the study within manageable limits, it is confined to the Jews of Palestine, thereby excluding the Jews of Egypt and of Babylonia, although both of the latter groups had, or were destined to develop, considerable significance in the Jewry of the ancient world. The importance of the period 550 to 4 BC in Jewish history has long been recognized. It is in this span of time that we witness the completion and consolidation of the literary and religious achievements of ancient Israel. Not only were the Scriptures assembled, but Jewish values and customs, including acceptable expressions of piety, were firmly established, and upon this foundation all subsequent Judaism was to be built. Since the Christian Church was initially the child of the Synagogue, it too stands in debt to these centuries, for much of Israel's legacy was appropriated by the early Christians and became in fact basic for the Christianity of the New Testament. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities Research Council of Canada, using funds provided by the Canada Council, and a grant from the Publications Fund of University of Toronto Press. It remains for me to thank Joan Bulger, assistant editor at University of Toronto Press, for her great care in editing the manuscript and seeing it through the process leading to publication. W.S.McC. September 1974 ix

ABBREVIATIONS

OLD TESTAMENT

Gen Genesis Ex Exodus Lev Leviticus Num Numbers Deut Deuteronomy Josh Joshua Judg Judges 1 Sam 1 Samuel 2 Sam 2 Samuel 1 Kgs 1 Kings 2Kgs 2 Kings 1 Chr 1 Chronicles 2 Chr 2 Chronicles Neh Nehemiah Est Esther Pss Psalms Pro Proverbs

Eccl Ecclesiastes Song Song of Solomon Isa Isaiah Jer Jeremiah Lam Lamentations Ezek Ezekiel Dan Daniel Hos Hosea Obad Obadiah Jon Jonah Mic Micah Nah Nahum Hab Habakkuk Zeph Zephaniah Hag Haggai Zech Zechariah Mal Malachi APOCRYPHA

Esd 1 Esdras 2 Esd 2 Esdras Tob Tobit Jud Judith Add Est Additions to the Book of Esther Wisd Sol Wisdom of Solomon Ben S Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) Bar Baruch

Lett Jer Letter of Jeremiah Prayer Azar Prayer of Azariah and the Song of the Three Young Men Sus Susanna Bel Bel and the Dragon Prayer Man Prayer of Manasseh 1 Mac 1 Maccabees 2 Mac 2 Maccabees

1

X

Abbreviations PSEUDEPIGRAPHA

Jub Book of Jubilees Enoch 1 Enoch T Reub Testament of Reuben TSim TestamentofSimeon T Levi Testament of Levi T Jud Testament of Judah T Iss Testament of Issachar T Zeb Testament of Zebulun T Dan Testament of Dan

T Naph Testament of Naphtali T Gad Testament of Gad T Ash Testament of Asher T Jos Testament of Joseph T Ben Testament of Benjamin Assump M Assumption of Moses 2 Bar 2 Baruch Pss Sol Psalms of Solomon

NEW TESTAMENT

Matt Matthew Mk Mark Lk Luke

Acts Acts of the Apostles Rom Romans Rev Revelation

Ancient Near Eastern Texts, edited by J.B. Pritchard, third edition, Princeton 1969 Ant Josephus, Jewish Antiquities A OTS Archaeology and Old Testament Study, edited by D.W. Thomas, Oxford 1967 Apion Josephus, Against Apion Aristeas Letter of Aristeas BA Biblical Archaeologist, American Schools of Oriental Research BAS OR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research c circa, about CAH Cambridge Ancient History cf confer, compare chap chapter

Charles R.H . Charles, editor, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, 2 volumes, Oxford 1913 Cowley A.E. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C., Oxford 1923 DOTT Documents from Old Testament Times, edited byD .W. Thomas, London 1958 oss Dead Sea Scrolls ed edition, edited by Eissfeldt 0. Eissfeldt, The Old Testament, an Introduction, translated by P.R. Ackroyd, New York 1965 Gk Greek

ANET

xi

Abbreviations

Interpreter's Bible, 12 volumes, New York and Nashville 1952-7 id idem, the same

no. number Old Testament p, pp page, pages Ps, Pss Psalm, Psalms rev revised RSV Revised Standard Version of the Bible Rule Rule of the Congregation (oss) sect section Thank Pss Thanksgiving Psalms (oss) trans translated by vol, vols volume, volumes vs, vss verse, verses War Josephus, The Jewish War War Scroll War of the Sons of Light, etc (oss) Z Docs The Zadokite Documents

1B

OT

Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 4 volumes, New York and

IDB

Nashville 1962 King James Version of the Bible Life Josephus, Life Ii t Ii terally Loeb Josephus in the Loeb Classical Library, 9 volumes, London KJV

1926-65 Septuagint M Mishnah Manual Manual of Discipline (oss) MS, MSS manuscript, manuscripts n note NEB New English Bible LXX

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