Page 245 - History of The Quranic Text | Kalamullah.Com

EARLY HISTORY OF JUDAISM: A BRIEF LOOK 225

One curious aspect of this era of Hellenistic assimilation appears
in the fact that one high priest, Onias IlL, deposed by the Seleucid
authorities, went to Egypt and established at Leontopolis in the
name of Heliopolis a dissident temple to Yahweh, which existed
there for a hundred years.??

Antiochus Iv, King of Syria, was particularly zealous in imposing Greek
fashions and Greek religion on this conquered realm. Becoming suspicious
ofJewish loyalty he commanded, in 168 B.C., that altars to Zeus be erected
throughout the land, and especiallywithin the Temple atJerusalem. Although
fear of the Syrian army secured widespread obedience to this decree,Judas
Maccabee, a warrior, revolted and was able to defeat Antiochus' generals
in several successive battles, raging from 165-160 B.C. He cleansed the
Temple from Syrian influences and established a dynasty which survived
until 63 B.C., though he himself was killed in 160 B.C. 80

v. The End of The Maccabaean Dynasty (63 B.C.), the Roman Rule
and the Destruction of the Second Temple (70 C.E.)

The Maccabaean dynasty ended with the Roman conquest of Jerusalem,
and just over one century later, in 70 C.E., Roman troops destroyed the
Second Temple. "The second destruction proved final.?"
Here are some of the dates which Neusner provides as cornerstones of
Jewish achievement, in the centuries following the Second Temple's collapser"

Table if dates
F80-110 Gamaliel heads academy at Yavneh
Final canonization of Hebrew Scriptures
Promulgation of Order of Prayer by rabbis
120 Akiba leads rabbinical movement
132-135 Bar Kokhba leads messianic war against Rome
Southern Palestine devastated
c.220 Babylonial academy founded at Sura by Rab -1
c.250 Pact betweenJews and Persian king, Shapur I:Jews to keep
state law; Persians to permitJews to govern selves, live by
own religion ~

79 Dictionary of the Bible, p. 442.
80 ibid, pp. 603-4.
81 Neusner, The Wqy of Torah, p. xiii.
82 ibid, pp. xxi-xxii. Neusner's claim that the [rna! canonisation of the Hebrew Scrip-
tures occurred between 80-!10 C.E. is highly inaccurate. See this work pp. 252-6.