Keith Essex
Introduction: The Background to the Gospels and Acts

New Testament Studies
Dr. Keith Essex

Keith Essex's correlating video lecture(s) from The Master's Seminary:

• Lecture 1: The Gospels and Acts - Historical Background;
• Lecture 2: The Gospels and Acts - Literary and Religious Background, Part I; and
• Lecture 3: The Gospels and Acts - Religious Background, Part II.

1. Introduction: The Background to the Gospels and Acts, Act 1-12 [MSB, 1337-40; ESVSB, 1783-91, 1799-1800; NIVZSB, 1892-1903; RSB, 1659-62; CCC, 63-89]
   1. The Historical Background: The Second Temple Period in Palestine {Judea} (c. 538 BC {BCE} - AD {CE} 70) [BNTH, 1-40; JREC, 47-56; RFW, 25-55; CBCNT 52-53; DNTB, 616-24]
      1. The Persian Period (c. 538-332 BC) [DNTB, 574-76]
         1. The Dominance of the Persian Empire (c. 538-404 BC)
         2. The Weakening of the Persian Empire (c. 404-332 BC)
      2. The Hellenistic Period (332-142 BC) [DNTB, 570-74, 464-73; DJG 376-79]
         1. Alexander the Great (332-323 BC) [DNTB, 20-23, 278-81, 421-26]
         2. The Ptolemies of Egypt (320-198 BC) [CBCNT, 67; DNTB, 870-73, 23-29, 473-77]
         3. The Seleucids of Syria (198-142 BC) [CBCNT, 68; DNTB, 1092-93, 34-37]
      3. The Maccabean / Hasmonean Period (166-63 BC) [CBCNT, 69-71]
         1. The Maccabean Revolt (166-142 BC)
         2. The Hasmonean Rule (142-63 BC) [DNTB, 438-42]
      4. The Roman Period (63 BC onward) [DNTB, 576-80, 485-94, 584-88; DJG, 379-82, 810-19]
         1. The Rise of Antipater and his Sons (63-37 BC) [JREC, 66-68]
         2. The Reign of Herod the Great (37-4 BC) [JREC, 68-86; CBCNT, 63]
         3. The Rule of Herod's Sons and Grandson, Herod Agrippa I (4 BC-AD 44 [JREC, 109-21; CBCNT, 72]
         4. The Rule of Roman Governors (AD 6 onward) [JREC, 133-37, 143-48; CBCNT, 66; DNTB, 978-84]
            The Five Major Crises of the Jews in the Second Temple Period (cf. CCC, 83)

            1. The Reestablishment of an Israelite population in the Persian province of Yehud {Judea} and the Rebuilding of the Temple and Renewal of proper Temple Worship in Jerusalem in the midst of continuing Opposition (cf. Ezra 4) [538-424 BC]

            2. The Collapse of the Persian Empire and the Influence of Hellenism after Alexander the Great [332-168 BC]

            3. The violent Persecution by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (cf. Dan 8; 11) [168-4 BC]

            4. The Domination of Palestine by Rome [63 BC-AD 70]

            5. The Roman Destruction of the Jewish State and the Second Temple [AD 66-73]
   2. The Literary Background [CCC, 89-98; DNTB, 1289-99]
      1. The Septuagint (LXX) (c. 250-125 BC): a translation of the OT in Greek {NIV} [DNTB, 1099-1106]
      2. The Apocrapha and Pseudepigrapha: collections of Jewish writings from 200 BC – AD 100 {(N)RSV; Charlesworth} [CBCNT, 58; DNTB, 58-64]
      3. The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS): documents from the Qumran Community {Garcia Martinez; Vermes} [CBCNT, 82-4; DNTB, 252-66, 883-88; DJG, 166-72]
      4. Philo (c. 20 BC-AD 50): Jewish philosopher {Yonge} [DNTB, 789-93]
      5. Josephus (c. AD 37-100): Jewish historian {Whiston} [DNTB, 590-600; DJG, 444-48]
      6. The Mishnah (c. AD 200): the written codification of the sayings of the Rabbis {Danby} [CBCNT, 85; DNTB, 889-902, 909-17; DJG, 757-67]
      7. The Targums: Aramaic translations and paraphrases of the OT [DNTB, 902-9; DJG, 931-34]
   3. The Social Background
      1. Palestine [BNTH, 56-68; RFW, 65-75; DNTB, 303-8, 311-13; DJG, 484-92]
         1. The Aristocracy:
            • "elders" (Matt 16:21; 21:23; 26:3, 47, 57; 27:1, 3, 12, 20, 41; 28:12) [DJG, 226-28]
         2. The Religious Establishment:
            • "chief priests, priests, scribes" (Matt 2:4; 16:21; 20:18; 21:15; 21:23, 45; 26:3, 14, 47, 59; 27:1, 3, 6, 12, 20, 41, 62; 28:11; John 1:19; Matt 5:20; 7:29; 9:3; 12:28; 15:1; 17:10 23:2, 13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29, 34) [DNTB, 824-27; 1061-65; 1086-89; DJG, 96-705, 840-45]
         3. The People of the Land:
            • "multitude" (Matt 4:25; 5:1; 7:28; 8:1, 18; 9:8, 23, 25, 33, 36; 11:7; 12:23, 46; 13:2, 34, 36; 14:5, 13, 14, 15, 19, 22, 23; 15:10, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 39; 17:14; 19:2; 20:29, 31; 21:8,9,11,26,46; 22:33; 23:1; 27:15, 20, 24) [DJG, 669-73]
      2. The Diaspora [BNTH, 135-37; 146-150]
         1. The Hebraists (see Acts 6:1; Phil 3:5) [DNTB, 86-91, 459-63]
         2. The Hellenists (see Acts 6:1; 9:29) [DNTB, 477-82]
         3. The Proselytes (see Acts 2:10; 6:5; 13:43) [DNTB, 835-47]
         4. The God-fearers (see Acts 10:2, 22, 35; 13:16, 26, 50; 16:14; 17:14, 17; 18:7)
   4. The Religious Background [CCC, 98-104]
      1. The Places [BNTH, 138-46]
         1. The Temple [DNTB, 1167-83, 1036-50; DJG, 939-47]
         2. The Synagogue(s) [DNTB, 1145-53; DJG, 903-11]
      2. The Parties [ESVSB, 1799-1800; BNTH, 69-121; RFW, 57-65; CBCNT, 73-75; DNTB, 1221-30]
         1. The Sadducees [JREC, 140-43; DNTB, 1050-52; DJG, 823-25]
         2. The Pharisees [JREC, 137-40; DNTB, 782-87, 914-17; DJG, 673-79]
         3. The Essenes [JREC, 54-57, 199-200; DNTB, 342-48; DJG, 239-42]
         4. The Zealots [JREC, 53-54; DNTB, 936-47; DJG, 789-99]
      3. The Unifying Beliefs of Second Temple Judaism [see NIDOTTE, 4:394-406, 718-23; DNTB, 603-16, 1241-45; DJG, 452-58]
         1. The One True God – Monotheism
            1. Creational Monotheism
            2. Providential Monotheism
         2. God's Choice of Israel – Election
         3. God's Provision of a Way to Live – The Torah, God's Wisdom
         4. God's Gift to Israel of a Land, Focused on the Temple
         5. The Hope for the Future
         6. 1. The Restoration of Israel
            2. The Conversion, Subjugation, or Destruction of the Gentiles
            3. A Purified Temple
            4. A Purified Worship
      4. The Practice of Second Temple Judaism [RFW, 77-81, 87-95; DNTB, 796-803]
         1. Circumcision
         2. The Sabbath [DNTB, 1031-35]
         3. The Prayers
         4. The Feasts [DNTB, 371-78]
      5. The Messianic Hope [BNTH, 122-134; RFW, 97-121; DNTB, 698-707; DJG, 232-33]
         1. In the Old Testament
         2. In Second Temple Judaism

Used with permission by Dr. Keith Essex. Redistribution without express permission from Dr. Keith Essex is prohibited.