How does a Samaritan differ from a Jew? A Jew is member of the people and cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism and a Samaritan is A charitable or 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 given to a Jewish sect that encouraged observance of the purity laws of the Torah.
Essenes- apocalyptic and ascetic Jews who are often connected with the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Zealots- first century CE Galilean Jews who used violence as a means of ending the Roman occupation of Israel.
Polis/Ethnos- A polis was autonomous and democratically governed, ethnos was usually governed by a monarch or an aristocracy.
Sanhedrin- Greek word meaning council. Refers to a body of Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day that enforced religious and civil law among Jews.
Hillel/Shammari- two main schools in Jesus’ time. Hillel was more lenient than Shammai on most occasions.
Qumran-Essenes- Jewish scrolls dating to the time of Jesus and earlier. Discovered in 1947. These scrolls are usually associated with a Jewish sect