History of the Bible
Text: Matthew 3
19 May 2013
IMPORTANT HISTORICAL DATES IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL
1. Fall of Israel 2 Kings 17 (722 BC – Assyrian period)
2. Fall of Judah 2 Kings 24 (586 BC – Babylonian period)
3. Destruction of the temple (with the fall of Jerusalem) 586 BC
4. Return of the Jews to Israel in the reign of Cyrus the Persian Isaiah 41, 45 (537 BC Persian period)
5. Completion of the 2nd Temple (Ezra 515 BC)
6. New state of Israel
a) No longer a monarchy
b) Temple – the main ministry (the priests arose as the dominant party)
c) Rabbis/teachers emerged
7. Conquest of the Persians by Alexander the Great 332 BC (Greek period)
a) Death of Alexander 323 BC
b) Israel ruled by Ptolemy empire until 198 BC
c) Israel under the direct rule of Syrian Seleucid Empire 167 BC (Antiochus III)
d) Imposition
i) Hellenization
ii) Temple practices stopped
8. Revolt of the Maccabeans
a) Jerusalem liberated 165 BC
b) Temple restored
c) Simon Maccabeus established as high priest and leader of the nation
d) Known as the Hasmonean dynasty 152 BC
i) A kind of monarchy
ii) The priests ruled
iii) Judicial
iv) Cultural/Social
v) Religious