The Beginning of the Second Temple Phase in Jewish History
(21 June, 2018, 8 Tammuz, 5778)
Contents:
1. The Ten Tribes are Exiled by Assyria
2. The Exile of Judah to Babylon
3. Cyrus the Great and Zerubabel
4. The Second Temple. The Successors of Cyrus in Conventional and Greek Accounts
5. Rabbinical Chronology
6. The Return of Judah. Ezra and Nehemiah
7. The End of the Prophets and the Great Assembly
8. Achievements of The Great Assembly
9. Aftermath. Rome and Herod
======================
1. The Ten Tribes are Exiled by Assyria
After the death of King Solomon the Kingdom of Israel was divided into two separate entities, "Israel" and "Judah."
According to Conventional Dating the Ten Tribes were exiled by the Assyrians in ca. 730-720 BCE. Jewish Traditional Dates says it was in ca. 580 BCE. The Jewish Chronology may be correct but for the sake of convenience we use that which is conventionally accepted. The Ten Tribes were exiled in stages. Those who were exiled included most of the Ten Tribes as well as many from Judah.
On the other hand they who remained in Judah were the Tribes of Judah, Benjamin, most of Levi, and many refugees from the Ten Tribes. One Midrash (Yalkut Shimeoni) says that ca. one in eight i.e. 12% of the northern Tribes remained. Another source (Midrash Seder Olam) indicates ca. 20% of Judah were actually mixed remnants from the north. Nevertheless, in Biblical Terms, "Judah" represents the Jews as we know them and other names such as "House of Israel" (depending on the contrext), "Samaria," "Joseph," "Ephraim," refer to the Ten Tribes.
Meanwhile the Ten Tribes were exiled to different sections of the Assyrian Empire. Some were used as colonists for overseas settlement. Others became part of the Assyrian administration and army and reached high positions whereas some were slave laborers. The Assyrian Empire began to fall apart and the Israelite Exiles gained their independence. They moved onwards, re-coalescing and settling in distant areas eventually reaching Western Europe, Scandinavia, and the British Isles. Assyria was destroyed by the Medes, Scythians, and Babylonians. The Scythians included Israelite exiles. They were betrayed by their allies, the Medes, and began to move northward. The Medes and Babylonians divided the Assyrian Empire between them. The Babylonians were the pre-eminent party.
======================
2. The Exile of Judah to Babylon
After the Exile of the Ten Tribes Judah had been made subservient to Assyria. King Josiah son of Amon asserted the independence of Judah. Josiah was killed (in 609 BCE) by the Egyptians who continued northwards where the Babylonians defeated them at Carcamish in northern Syria in 605 BCE. After that the Babylonians first subjugated Judah and then exiled its inhabitants to Babylonia.
Babylonian captivity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_captivity
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem, resulting in tribute being paid by King Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim refused to pay tribute in Nebuchadnezzar's fourth year, which led to another siege in Nebuchadnezzar's seventh year, culminating with the death of Jehoiakim and the exile of King Jeconiah, his court and many others; Jeconiah's successor Zedekiah and others were exiled in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year; a later deportation occurred in Nebuchadnezzar's twenty-third year. The dates, numbers of deportations, and numbers of deportees given in the biblical accounts vary. These deportations are dated to 597 BCE for the first, with others dated at 587/586 BCE, and 582/581 BCE respectively.
======================
3. Cyrus the Great and Zerubabel
The Medes were junior partners in the Assyrian Empire. One of the nations subject to the Medes were the Persians. The Achaemenid Dynasty ruled over the Persians. Herodotus says that the Persian Cambyses was married to the daughter of the King of the Medes. He begat Cyrus who overthrew his maternal grandfather and took over Media as well as Persia. Another version says that Cyrus was not related to the King of media but fought agaisnt him and after that married his daughter. After media Cyrus the Persian conquered Lydia, then Elam (Susiana), and finally Babylon itself. A year later, in ca. 538 BCE Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Judah.
Cyrus issued an edict allowing the Jews to return and ordering that assistance be given them to rebuild the Temple. Cyrus appointed Zerubabel (also known as Sheshbazzar) a descendants of David as political ruler and Joshua as High Priest. Zerubbabel led the first group of Jews, numbering 42,360, back to Judah somewhere between 538 and 520 BC. Zerubbabel also laid the foundation of the Second Temple. In the reign of Cyrus this was stopped. The return of the Jews to Judah and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple was contested by the peoples around them such as the Samaritans, Ammonites, Moabites, Philistines, etc. There were also opponents within Persia.
One account says that Cyrus the Great was killed in battle against the Massagetae in 529 BCE. Another version says he died peaceably.
======================
4. The Second Temple. The Successors of Cyrus in Conventional and Greek Accounts
Conventionally accepted (though disputed) accounts say that Cyrus was followed by his son Cambyses, then came Bardiya who was claimed to be an impersonator, and then Darius, in 522 BCE. Darius increased the authority of Zerubabel. Work on Jerusalem and building the Temple was resumed. It was completed in ca. 516 BCE. [Later in the time of the Hasmoneans (Maccabees) some changes were made to the Temple structure and then Herod rebuilt it altogether.]
The period of construction of the Second Temple is given as 521-516 BCE.
Darius was followed by his son Xerxes-1. Then came Ataxerxes-1. In the reign of Ataxerxes Aramaic replaced Elamite as the major language and Zoroastrianism became the official religion. Then came Darius-2, Ataxerxes-2, and Ataxerges-3. Then came Ataxerges-4, followed by Darius -3 in his reign the Persian Empire was v=conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedon.
======================
5. Rabbinical Chronology
All of the above is according to conventional history as accepted today in academic circles. It is based on a reconstruction from Greek sources and other factors.
Rabbinical Accounts use a different chronology, see the Brit-Am article:
Rabbinical Historiography
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/16/chronology/jtime.html
# There is a discrepancy of about 170 years between conventionally accepted academic dating and that of traditional Jewish sources.
The Jewish dates for such events as the Exile of the Ten Tribes are much later.
Conventionally the Ten Tribes were exiled in ca. 730-722 BCE. The Midrash Seder Olam places it in about 555 BCE. #
# Conventional History lists 10 Persian Kings over a space of 208 years.
Rabbinical dating of the Sages ("Chazal") says there were only 4 Persian Kings whose combined reigns lasted 52 years. #
See Also:
Fixing the History Books. Dr. Chaim S. Heifetz's Revision of Persian History
By Brad Aaronson
http://www.starways.net/lisa/essays/heifetzfix.html
Rabbinical Chronology says that Darius the Mede was followed by Cyrus the Great who freed the Jews, then came Ahaserus, followed by Darius the Persian and then the conquest by Alexander the Great.
======================
6. The Return of Judah. Ezra and Nehemiah
Ezra and Nehemiah overlapped. - Which of the two came first is not clear.- They were both sent by kings of Persia to renew the building of the Temple, Fortification of Jerusalem, and consolidation of the Jewish settlement.
The following two extracts give a general idea of their activities.
Ezra HEBREW RELIGIOUS LEADER
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ezra-Hebrew-religious-leader
It is said that Ezra came to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes (which Artaxerxes is not stated) of the Persian dynasty then ruling the area. Since he is introduced before Nehemiah, who was governor of the province of Judah from 445 to 433 BC and again, after an interval, for a second term of unknown length, it is sometimes supposed that this was the seventh year of Artaxerxes I (458 BC), though serious difficulties are attached to such a view. Many scholars now believe that the biblical account is not chronological and that Ezra arrived in the seventh year of Artaxerxes II (397 BC), after Nehemiah had passed from the scene. Still others, holding that the two men were contemporaries, regard the seventh year as a scribal error and believe that perhaps Ezra arrived during Nehemiah's second term as governor. But the matter must be left open.
Second Temple
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple
The book [of Ezra] tells how Nehemiah, at the court of the king in Susa, is informed that Jerusalem is without walls and resolves to restore them. The king appoints him as governor of the province Yehud Medinata and he travels to Jerusalem. There he rebuilds the walls, despite the opposition of Israel's enemies, and reforms the community in conformity with the law of Moses. After 12 years in Jerusalem, he returns to Susa but subsequently revisits Jerusalem. He finds that the Israelites have been backsliding and taking non-Jewish wives, and he stays in Jerusalem to enforce the Law.
======================
7. The End of the Prophets and the Great Assembly
The Period of the Prophets continued with Jeremiah through the Babylonian Conquest and Exile. The Babylonians conquered Judah and exiled the Jewish inhabitants. After 70 years the Persians conquered Babylon and allowed the Jews to return.
The last Prophets mentioned in the Bible are Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. All of these lived at the end of the 70-year Babylonian exile. [One opinion hold that Malachi and Ezra were one and the same person.] The Talmud (Sanhedrin 11a) states that Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi were the last prophets.
These prophets were members of the Great Assembly. This was an expanded version of the Sanhedrin. Usually the Sanhedrin had 70 members, the Great Assembly had 120. The Great Assembly marks the transition from Prophetical revelation to that of the Sages. The spiritual ability of mankind for both good and evil was reduced. On the one hand, the attraction of idolatry was diminished. Against that the ability to achieve Prophecy was also curtailed. Henceforth the Divine Will was to be revealed through study of the sources and received tradition. Divine Inspiration was still given but in a different way than previously. In the future Prophecy will be renewed.
======================
8. Achievements of The Great Assembly
Achievements attributed to the Great Assembly include: The fixing of the Jewish Biblical canon, including the Books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther, and the Twelve Minor Prophets; the introduction of the Feast of Purim (Book of Esther); and the institution of the synagogue prayers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Assembly
http://www.aish.com/jl/h/cc/48939022.html
======================
9. Aftermath. Rome and Herod
Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire and other areas. When he died his Empire was divided among his generals. The area of Judah was the border area between Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria. Both were mixed Greek Hellenistic and Middle Eastern bodies. At times one of the two had the greater influence over Judah and at other times the other side held sway. Usually the Seleucids prevailed. Meanwhile the power of Rome was rising and was encroaching on the region. Perhaps out of fear and a desire to make their Empire more homogeneous the Seleucids attempted to force the Jews of Judah to accept Helenist (Greek) culture and religion. There was a strong body of secular type Jews who supported the Helenist cause. A family of Priests known as the Hasmonaeim rejectede the Hellenist faction and encouraged a revival of Jewish Belief and practice. The Hasmoneans led the Macabee revolt against the Seleucids. They were eventually successful and enjoyed a degree of independence. The Hasmoneans also served as High Priests. They conquered neighboring areas and induced some of the populations to accept a type of Judaism, or to convert altogether. According to the Commentary of Abarbanel the existence of a large body of converted Gentiles, or only half-converted ones, laid the ground for Christianity. Two Hasmonean brothers were in dispute over the succession. They appealed to Rome who had already established its suzerainity over adjoining regions. This resulted in Rome gaining control and setting up the Edomite dynasty of Herod Antipater over part of the area.
For a continuation of Jewish History see our articles:
Macabees. The Hasmonean-Maccabees. An Historical Outline.
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/daniel/macabees.html
Extracts:
The death of Alexander the Great of Greece in 323 BCE led to the breakup of the Greek empire as three of his generals fought for supremacy and divided the Middle East among themselves. Ptolemy secured control of Egypt and the Land of Israel. Seleucus grabbed Syria and Asia Minor, and Antigonus took Greece. Palestine was sandwiched between the two rivals and for the next 125 years Seleucids and Ptolemies battled for the prize. The former finally won in 198 B.C.
.... Antiochus IV, who inherited the throne in 176 B.C. resumed his father's original policy without excepting the Jews. A brief Jewish rebellion only hardened his views and led him to outlaw central tenets of Judaism such as the Sabbath and circumcision, and defile the holy Temple by erecting an altar to the god Zeus, allowing the sacrifice of pigs, and opening the shrine to non-Jews.... When civil war broke out between her sons Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II after her death, the conflict was eventually resolved by the Roman general Pompey the Great who designated Hyrcanus as high priest and ethnarch (a lesser title than king). The Hasmoneans continued to rule a much-reduced territory as clients of Rome until 37 B.C., when Herod, who was only related to the family by marriage, was made client king.
Romans in Judea
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/quora/judaism/romans.html
Extract:
There was a revolt [against the Hellenian Syrians] as a result of which Judah was ruled by a dynasty of Priests (Cohens) known as the Maccabees and headed by the Hasmonean family.
The Hasmoneans founded many cities and expanded the boundaries of Judah.
The community of Jews who returned from Babylon had included Prophets among them, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Their successors became known as the Pharisees and developed the Oral law from which we have the Talmud.