Jesus And The Maccabean Revolt

Words: 1394
Pages: 6
Open Document
The point of this essay is to illustrate the political, social and economic context in which Jesus was born, did his ministry and died in. Before Palestine became part of the Roman Empire, several rulers included Palestine in their empire in order to bring Roman presence into the land. Alexander the Great of Macedonia was the first to bring his ruling into Palestine in 332 BCE. Following, Syria ruled Palestine, which led to the religion of Hellenism to spread and the pollution of the Temple in 167-164 BCE. This causes the Maccabean revolt to occur and the Temple to become clean again from 142-63 BCE, along with some independence for the Jewish people in Palestine. But, in 63 BCE General Pompey makes Palestine part of the Roman empire and several …show more content…
During his reign he enlarged and embellished, and in turn, desecrated the Jewish Temple by placing a golden eagle on top of it, which was the symbol of the Roman Empire. The only problem with that was that Herod was half Jewish, so many Jews during this time period came to despise him because he was being a traitor by working with the Romans. Herod’s reign was anything but good for the Jewish people because he left them in complete poverty and killed thousands of them in order to take their land and profit off of it. After his death, his land was split between his three sons: Archelaus, Antipas and Philip. Archelaus got the regions of Judea, Samaria and Idumea, Antipas got the regions of Galilee and Perea and his third son Philip, the regions of Iturea, Trachonitis, Gaulanitis, Auranitis and Batanea. Pontius Pilate replaced Archelaus later, because Archelaus was too cruel and incompetent to rule, for example, killing three thousand Jewish people in the Temple during the time of Passover. This made the region of Judea the first to come under direct Roman rule. The Romans believed that they were inferior to the Jews and …show more content…
Everyone helped each other out and if someone else was suffering within the community, others would give them more money because no one would have more money than someone else. After the prosbul was enacted, and people weren’t paying each other back within the seven years of a loan, people stopped loaning each other money because they knew there was a chance they might not get their money back. Everything turned into disorder with the Roman occupation. There became three separate economic classes, the Emperor which made up 1% of society, the retainer class which included the people who worked for the Emperor and were considered elite, which was 4% of society and the other 95% of society were the slaves, peasant farmers and subsistent farmers, who owed everything they made to the Emperor in order to keep his power going. Because of these differences in economic levels, Jewish people became tenants to their own land, like subsistent farmers. If these farmers couldn’t pay their dues, they entered into debt slavery and either had to offer up themselves, or their family members. Agriculture though, flourished during this time period bringing crops like wheat, barley, rice, vegetables and figs. It was a good thing that crops were so abundant during this time period because of the need to get as much from the land as farmers could in
Show More

Related Documents: Jesus And The Maccabean Revolt

Jesus and Gospels Essay example

helpful person. Key Terms Second Temple Judaism- was the era that shaped the Jewish communities of Jesus’ day. Alexander the Great- defeated the Persian forces of Issus and gained control of their vast holdings, Israel included. Victory allowed the export of Hellenistic culture. Hellenization- outlawing circumstances in 167 BCE clashed with their religious interests and triggered the Maccabean revolt. Sadducees- A Jewish sect that was priestly and focused on the Jewish Temple. Pharisees- the name…

Words 341 - Pages 2

Hasmonean and Herod Essay

the Jewish people. His was brought into the spot light when he was appointed as the governor of Galilee; the position was influenced by his father, Antipater. During his career as a governor, his brutality was noticed when he crushed a revolt in Galilee. His rise to power is the roman civil war which initiated Rome being ruled by Caesars and emperors. It all started during the battle of Actium in 31 BC which was between Anthony and Octaviun. Initially Herod sided with Anthony…

Words 945 - Pages 4

Essay on Rel 1300

anti-Christian edicts? 43. Which early Christian martyr was said to be burned in the arena but gave off a sweet fragrance? 44. What does “the Way” in Confucianism refer to? 45. True of False: In Islam, Mary is a virgin when she gives birth to Jesus. 46. What is the Shahadah? 47. What does Judith Butler say about gender? 48. What model does Thomas Laqueur propose for studying gender in the ancient world? 49. What is the Code of Manu? 50. What is the Indian custom of Sati?…

Words 1115 - Pages 5