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Concordia Theological Monthly

Publication Date

2-1-1956

Document Type

Article

Keywords

intertestamental period, hebrew, jewish, maccabees, apocrypha, apocalyptic, greek, pfeiffer, judith, pseudepigrapha, schuerer, tobit

Submission Type

Bible Study; Lecture; Sermon Prep

Abstract

Modern Biblical studies stress the importance of an acquaintance with the era between the Testaments as a necessary aid in understanding the New Testament. It is the time span from the Medo-Persian to the Roman period. Between these two epochs is the Grecian period. During these four centuries the seat of world empire moved from the East to the West, from Asia to Europe. These years witnessed the rise of cities with Greek names in Palestine and gave us the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. It was in the Grecian period that the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes arose and that the Sanhedrin came into being. At the beginning of this epoch the temple of Zerubbabel was the center of worship, but in the days of Jesus the temple of Herod had replaced it. Synagogs, so prominent in the New Testament, had their origin in intertestamental times. The fourteen Apocrypha are in part the products of these years. The two Maccabees, the Wisdom of Solomon, and Ecclesiasticus are of great literary, historical, and religious importance, and their study should not be neglected by Biblical students. In this period God prepared the world for "the fullness of the time," when the Messiah would come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

Disciplines

History of Christianity

Scripture References in this Resource (separated by semi-colons)

Luke 10:1;

Submission Cost

Free

Submission Audience

Laity; Ministers; Scholars

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