Prior to the intertestamental period, the span of time between the Old and New Testaments, the kingdom of Israel had split into two kingdoms, as was mentioned previously. The southern kingdom consisted of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and came to be known as the Kingdom of Judah. The other ten tribes of Israel (Asher, Dan, Ephraim, Gad, Issachar, Manasseh, Naphtali, Reuben, Simeon, and Zebulun) were called the Kingdom of Israel, the northern kingdom.

The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 722 BC and many Hebrews were taken north as captives. They came to be known as the “lost ten tribes of Israel,” but these “lost” tribes were not exactly “lost.” More on that later. Those who remained in the geographic kingdom of Israel came to be known as the Samaritans, according to Samaritan tradition.

The Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BC and a few thousand inhabitants were taken captive to Babylon, while the rest stayed in the land.

The Beginning of Jewish Tradition

Those who were deported from the Kingdom of Judah to Babylon were known as yehudiy (belonging to Judah), the origin of the English word “Jew.” During this intertestamental stay while in Babylon, the synagogue, siddur (the prayer book), mikveh (a ritual washing) and many other Jewish “traditions” were born as a type of replacement for those commands within the Torah that they could no longer observe while outside the land of Israel. It was also at this time that the Rabbis and Pharisees who developed these new traditions became the new teachers of the Jews, replacing the Levites as their roles and responsibilities became limited due to the loss of the Temple.

The Maccabees

Two books of the Apocrypha, First Maccabees and Second Maccabees, give insight about the life and times of the Jewish people during the intertestamental period.

While it is generally accepted by Christians that the Jews spoke Greek during the New Testament period, the books of the Maccabees paint a very different picture.

The Maccabees preserve the story of the Jewish revolt, about 150 years before the time of the New Testament. The Greeks, led by Antiochus Epiphanes, conquered the land of Israel and forced the Jews to forsake their national heritage and Torah to begin adopting the Greek culture. Because of the Jews’ hatred for all things Greek, including the culture and language, Judah Maccabee led a revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes, expelling the Greeks and slaughtering those Jews who had adopted the Greek language and culture. This revolt demonstrated the extent of the Jews’ deep hatred for the Greek culture and language. Furthermore, it dispels the assumption that the Jews freely adopted the Greek language leading up to the New Testament period.

Josephus

Josephus, a 1st century Jewish historian, recorded Jewish life and sentiment during the time of the New Testament. In his work, Antiquity of the Jews, he writes the following:

“I have also taken a great deal of pains to obtain the learning of the Greeks, and understanding the elements of the Greek language, although I have so long accustomed myself to speak our own language that I cannot pronounce Greek with sufficient exactness: for our nation does not encourage those that learn the languages of many nations.” (Josephus, Ant.20.11.2)

Josephus makes it very clear that the Jewish culture had a strong aversion to the Greek culture and language, and we learn that most Jews could not speak Greek, contradicting the notion that the Jews universally spoke Greek in the 1st century AD.

The approximate 450 years between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament was not void of any written texts. It is during this time that many of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha were written. However, because these works are not part of most denomination’s “canon” of scriptures, they are considered “extra-biblical,” not biblical. Regardless of how these texts are regarded, they provide insights into the history and culture of the people of the New Testament period.