MAP C: THREE CENTERS OF JUDAISM DURING THE SILENT CENTURIES This rst centre of Jewish life in Babylon was marked, then, by the creation of the traditional law and theology, and the dominance of a cultured class of scribes and rabbis who, in their zeal to preserve the laws and traditions of Israel, reduced the Jewish religion to a mass of outward ordinances and forms.6 Exercise: Refer to an exhaustive concordance7 and note how often the word scribe appears in the New Testament Do the same for rabbi; tradition; and synagogue (Include the plural forms in this word study.) ( ) Alexandria A large number of Jews migrated to Egypt a few months after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.8 When Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in 3 B.C., the Jews constituted an eighth of the population of Egypt — in Alexandria, almost a half He favored them very highly and assigned them a special section of the city Alexandria became the capital of the Jewish Dispersion (Diaspora), and the events and movements of that city a ected the life of Judaism for centuries to come Since Alexandria was a Greek-speaking city, the Jewish population gave up its Palestinian Hebrew vernacular as it began learning Greek Eventually the Jews were without Scripture in their new vernacular, so the need arose for a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament Such a translation (later called the Septuagint) was soon made — the Pentateuch by 280 B.C., and the whole Old Testament by 180 B.C The Jews prospered and multiplied in Egypt during the silent years, such that by New Testament times there were almost one million Jews residing there Egypt was not far from Judea, and the contacts between Jews of both lands were very close (Read Matthew 2:13-18, one of the rst stories of the New Testament, which is about baby Jesus’ parents’ escape with Him to Egypt, to ee Herod.) The contributions of the Greek background, including the Septuagint translation, to the New Testament setting will be discussed later (3) Jerusalem Approximately 450 B.C Ezra and Nehemiah had led about 50,000 Jews back to Judea from exile in Babylon Those remained in the land, rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and trying in small measure to preserve their religious heritage But before long the people gave up their allegiance to God and, in their vain pursuit of holiness, surrendered faith for works The one bright note was that there always remained a faithful remnant in the land who awaited the Messiah.9 It was during those silent years that two ruling classes of the Jewish religion appeared: the Sadducees and the Pharisees As rival religious sects, they became rival political parties by New Testament times The Sadducees were the political party of the Jewish aristocratic priesthood They were not popular with the common people Among their false doctrines were: (a) denial ... highly and assigned them a special section of the city Alexandria became the capital of the Jewish Dispersion (Diaspora), and the events and movements of that city a ected the life of Judaism for... Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament Such a translation (later called the Septuagint) was soon made — the Pentateuch by 280 B.C., and the whole Old Testament by 180 B.C The Jews prospered... Matthew 2:13-18, one of the rst stories of the New Testament, which is about baby Jesus’ parents’ escape with Him to Egypt, to ee Herod.) The contributions of the Greek background, including the