Theological Essay: The Effect of Hellenism on Judaism ②

4) Maccabean Revolution and Apocalyptic Literature, Origin of Hanukkah

The nucleus of the protest movement against the king's policy was a group known as Hasidim (who were faithful to the law), perhaps from the Pharisees and Essenes. It is not known how many Jews died through persecution, but it was probably a small number. It was an incredible persecution that humans could not think of. It was inevitable that the Jews were brought to an uprising. The flames of the Maccabean Revolution soared in this era.

The revolution exploded shortly after the infamous decree was issued to a village called Mordein in a rural mountain village. A man from the priest's household called Mattidadia killed the man who said he would follow the king's name in the place where the king's official came to Mordein to forcibly enforce the decree, and sacrificed to the pagan gods. He had five sons, with hundreds of warriors around them joining the gap in which the main force of Epiphanes was missing, winning the grand victory, and in December 164 BC, when the temple was just three years from the desecrated moon, the temple was in great joy at the festival. Was dedicated again. In the end of the Old Testament, the Jewish struggle for religious independence was a successful start. It was not only moments of glory, but a long struggle, marked by a lot of frustration and disappointment, but it eventually brought religious freedom and political autonomy to the Jews and ruled by the Hasmon dynasty for 79 years.

Daniel's book, the latest in the Old Testament, speaks in response to this terrible emergency. The author of Daniel must have been one of Hashim. The author feels that he must resist the king's policy in every way he can, and encourages the Jews to resist and stick to their laws and Jews in God's conviction of salvation and adhere to their faith. I tried to give. This seer was trying to convince his people that everything was in God's hands, everything was going according to schedule, that there was no lapse, and that the present suffering is that God's purpose is nearing the day of raising the dog. In this conviction of God's intervention, the seer encouraged his compatriots to stand firm. Indeed, it can hardly be suspected that the reflection of the fate of heroic martyrs played a major role in establishing faith in the afterlife in Jewish thought [1]. If we are certain that the story of the lion's den or the bellows in Daniel's story was built by historical necessity, it would be strong counter-argumentary evidence to prove the error of the biblical interpretation of the Bible.

In the middle of the Old and New Testaments, another feast took place, a memorial day (John 10:22) commemorating the history of cleansing the temple. This day of the feast (Hanuka), which often overlaps with the Christmas season we observe, is still an important feast for the Jews. After finally recapturing Jerusalem and cleaning the temple in B.C. 164, they tried to light the temple candlestick. It was said that the holy olive oil only lighted the day, but, surprisingly, the daily olive oil was lit for eight days. The Hanukkah season was created to commemorate this, and is called “the season of light”. These feasts after the captivity helped strengthen Jewish nationalism [2].

5) Secularization of Hasmon monarchy and transition of Judaism

Simon, who opened the Hasmon dynasty, was B.C. It was murdered by Ptolemy in 135, and his son, John Hilkanus, became the Jewish chief and high priest. Johann Hilcanus put down Hasidim, a legalist, and made use of the Sadducees, a realist. The Hasidims who were kicked out at this time later became Pharisees. B.C. In 104, after Johan Hilcanus died and his son Aristobulos succeeded to the throne, at the end of the twist, Alexander Yanai ascended to the throne, but the former Pharisees protested and 800 people were crucified. The remnant flee to the Judean Wilderness and join Essenae. Upon his death, his wife, Salome Alexandria, has the eldest son Hilcanus II as high priest. His younger brother, Aristobulos II, who rallyed the Sadducees, became king, and Hilcanus II rallyed the Pharisees and remained high priesthood. However, it was Idumain Antipatros who removed these two brothers and rose to the throne with the help of Rome. In B.C.37, Rome appointed his son Herod to be the bonbon king, and Judah became the Roman bonbon. This is Herod the Great, who built Herod's Temple by imitating the Solomon Temple.

Although Judaism was said to have been influenced by Hellenism, it was unacceptable for most Jews to degenerate into a Hellenistic offer. Depending on how they respond to Hellenization, Judaism is largely divided into four sects, and the most opposing group is the Pharisees, who continue the tradition of Hashimpa, a group that was zealous for the law and did not tolerate any compromise with Hellenism. received. The Pharisees were neither aristocratic nor priestly factions, but they were widely respected among the people because they were morally sincere. Aristocratic classes and secular aristocrats who joined the Seleukos dynasty and the secular factions were the background of the forces of the Sadducees. Because they recognized only the authority of the Torah and gave no authority to a set of oral laws developed by scribes. They also generally rejected new concepts such as resurrection faith, posthumous punishment, demons and angelism, and apocalyptic literary speculation. There were sects like Essenes who lived in apocalyptic tensions waiting for the impending end, and the Qumran sects were Essenes. They may have inherited the tradition of Hashimpa, but they took an undisputed position for kings who served as high priests of the Hasmon dynasty. Those who were hardened by the apocalyptic literature, which regarded the Hasmonian priesthood as illegal and apostate, partnered with them. They were convinced that all prophecy was being fulfilled in their time and lived like a monastery in the wilderness. Some thought that the way of Judaism was to follow an aggressive nationalist line. These were the backbone of the Maccabean Revolution and transformed the struggle from simply a struggle for religious freedom to an all-out war for national independence. As they reached the New Testament era, they emerged as partisans called Zealots. These were enthusiastic and reckless people who were confident that God would come to help them and were ready to attack any enemy for national independence.

However, it should be noted that the people belonging to these four factions were fewer than the Jewish wards at the time. Of Jesus' total population of 560,000 at the time, about 30,000 to 35,000 people belonged to these four factions. Because the number of Pharisees was about 5% of the total population and about 2% of the Sadducees and Essenes combined, they were not representative of the entire Jews [3].

Judaism was not completed during the Hellenistic period, but seems to take shape in all its essentials. Epiphanes' persecution appears to have firmed the definition of Satan by turning the logic that even innocent people can suffer, and this later affects Christianity. It also seemed to have had a decisive influence on the faith of the resurrection, and it would have been possible to overcome that pain by believing that God would repay the ruthless suffering suffered for no reason in reality. Hellenism, on the other hand, would have promoted Judaism's legalism. It is likely that godly Jews who were unable to yield to the compulsive Gentile religions would have clung to the law, and this was fixed by legalism in the presence of God that man's position was entirely determined by the act.

 

[1] John Bright, 「Israel History」 Park Moon-jae, 584~88

[2] Jaekyung Ahn, “Following the Church History: The Bible Feast – Is It Still Valid?” Magazine Re (175, Chungmin-ro, Yeosu, Jeonnam: Gratia, 2015), 63

[3] D.S Russel, 「Between the Testment」 (USA: SCM Press Ltd., 1965), 48-9

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