Historical Background

The Maccabean Revolt

In 175 B.C.E. Antiochus IV Epiphanes took the Seleucid throne. Antiochus was an eccentric despot who sought to enforce Hellenization throughout his empire. When Jason, a priest who was pro-Greek offered a huge sum of money for the High Priesthood and promised to turn Jerusalem into a Greek city, Antiochus accepted and Hellenization proceeded at a rapid pace. But Jason was soon out-bought by Menelaus, a rival for the post. Eventually civil war broke out among the various rival factions. Antiochus, disgruntled because of his setback in the war with Egypt, interpreted the civil strife in Jerusalem as a revolt against his Hellenizing efforts. He attacked Jerusalem, exterminated all males who resisted, and sold women and children into slavery. The city walls were torn down and the old citadel of the Temple was fortified as a Greek garrison (the Akra). 

Then Antiochus attempted to obliterate the Jewish religion by forbidding Temple sacrifices, traditional festivals, Sabbath worship, and the rite of circumcision (the sign of the covenant), upon pain of death. Torah scrolls were ordered destroyed, and every town in Judea was commanded to sacrifice to the Greek gods. An altar was erected over the altar of burnt offering in the Jerusalem Temple; sacrifices were offered to the Olympian high god, Zeus. This event was etched on the memory of the Jews as “the abomination of desolation” (1 Macc 1:54, 59; Dan 11:31; 12:11). This was no mere assimilation of Greek ways; it was a threat of the annihilation of traditional Judaism.

The response to these events was the Maccabean Revolt in 167 B.C.E.. When Antiochus’ emissary came to the little town of Modein and demanded that the people offer sacrifices, Mattathias, of priestly stock, refused. Seeing one of the Jews about to comply, he rushed forward and slew him at the altar and then killed the king’s emissary, “acting zealously for the law of God, as Phinehas had done” (cf. Num 25:6-15). Then he and his sons fled to the hills and were joined by many others. At his death, his son Judas Maccabeus took charge and waged a successful guerilla war against the Seleucids, retook Jerusalem, and in 164 restored and rededicated the Temple, giving birth to the Feast of Hanukkah (“Dedication”) or “Lights.” Thus began a long war which, despite great odds, ended in victory and the establishment of the Maccabean, or Hasmonean kingdom, an independent kingdom which lasted until 63 BCE.

In summary, the Greek period (333-63 B.C.E.) was marked by two trends: the Hellenization of Palestine, and the reaction of the Jews to forced Hellenization resulting in the Maccabean Revolt and the independent Hasmonean kingdom. From this history we can see several forces at work: the tendency of some to come to terms with Hellenization; the tendency of others to hold onto the traditional ways; and the willingness of still others to revolt because of “zealousness” for the Law when the traditions are severely attacked. Similar responses will occur in the first century. Moreover, in the period of the independent Hasmonean kingdom, three religious movements appear for the first time: the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes. 

The Arrival of Rome in Palestine and the Jewish revolt

In 63 B.C.E. the Roman general Pompey was invited to settle a dispute between two Maccabeans. He sided with Hyrcanus II and his supporters, one of whom was Antipater II, the ruler of Idumea. However, from this point forward, Palestine was considered to be controlled by Rome, and in the reorganization by Augustus it fell under the administration of the imperial province of Syria. Unlike senatorial provinces, imperial provinces were governed by a military governor called a “Legate” (who, in this case resided at Antioch), and Roman troops were stationed to keep order. There were also “districts” that were testy enough to be governed directly by the emperor through his “prefect” (later “procurator”). The chief responsibilities of the governors were civil order, the administration of justice (including the judicial right of life and death), and the collection of taxes. This last responsibility was often farmed out to local tax companies whose income was what they collected in excess, a system open to abuse. The Roman army–in the legions only Roman citizens, in the auxiliary units, local recruits–policed the system. 

The Romans were sensitive enough to permit the Jews some special privileges: exemptions from military service, from going to court on the Sabbath, from being required to portray the emperor’s head on their coins (hence, the need for money changers at the Temple), and from having to offer sacrifices to the emperor as a deity (this being replaced by sacrifices “for Caesar and the Roman nation” twice daily). Furthermore, the Romans were not to represent the image of the emperor on their military standards in areas of heavy Jewish population. Yet, it is also clear that these concessions were not always carried out in practice, and in Palestine there were a number of occasions when more restless elements in the population resisted Roman abuses and followed the tradition of “zealousness for the Law.”

In the meantime, the Idumean Antipater and especially one of his sons, Herod the Great, were crafty enough to shift allegiances to a succession of Romans–Pompey, Julius Caesar, Cassius, Anthony, and finally Octavian–and by this means Herod emerged as a powerful puppet king (ethnarch) under the Romans (ruled 37-4 B.C.E.). Herod proved to be an extremely capable tyrant. To consolidate his power, he had numerous opponents and relatives executed, including his wife Miramme, thus eliminating the possibility of the return of the Hasmoneans. To win the favor of the emperor he became an ardent Hellenizer. He surrounded himself with Greek scholars and undertook many building projects, including a magnificent and fortified palace. He rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem with a fortress on its corner (Antonia), and in other non-Jewish areas he built whole cities with the usual manifestations of Greek culture such as theaters, baths, and amphitheaters. Herod also built many military fortifications, the most famous of which was the fortress of Masada along the Dead Sea. In his final years, Herod was plagued by domestic problems. He died unloved and unmourned by both family and nation. Before he died, Jesus of Nazareth was born.

By the time of Jesus' birth, the Romans had established a two-tiered system of government consisting of Roman overseers and Jewish leaders who exercised control in the name of Rome. This was the system of power in which the family of Herod the Great grew to prominence. Although half-Jews, the Herodian family was detested by the Jewish people for its tyrannical rule and also because of its key role in selling out the Jewish heritage to a foreign power. One of Herod's sons, Archelaus, was so brutal in his exercise of power in Jerusalem, that Rome replaced him with one of its own governors, Pontius Pilate, who was to play a significant role in the crucifixion of Jesus. Another of the sons, Herod Antipas, was responsible for the beheading of John the Baptist. It was the same Antipas who is accredited with the mocking of Jesus at his pre-crucifixion trial.

In the year 70 AD. The Sadducees biggest fear came true. Jewish Zealots rose up in revolt and the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. The temple has never been rebuilt since then. It does show that fears of Jesus as a political and militaristic revolutionary were not totally unfounded.