Alexander the Great led Hellenization into the theocracy of King Saul and King David and Solomon's territory, and just about destroyed it. He was king of Macedonia from 356 to 323 BCE, and swept into Judea with his great personality that made a deep impression on the Jews. Josephus describes his visit to Jerusalem where as he was invading the country, he made the people feel he was honoring them. First he honored the high priest, Jaddua and praised him with flattery. He showered the Jews with privileges to all Jews of Judah and the Diaspora. The cause of Alexander the Great's death is debated by historians. He died in Babylon on June 11, 323 BC at the age of 32.
Saul (11th century BCE) son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin had been selected for rule by the Prophet, Samuel out of great leader possibilities from the 11 other tribes. It was at a time the people were being attacked by the Philistines and Ammonites and Saul was an organizer. He organized a trained army and inflicted defeats on the enemy. Internally, he carried out a purification of religion by eliminating witchcraft, but he kept arguing with Samuel. This caused Samuel to go against Saul and he selected David as his successor who was becoming very popular with the people for his army fighting. Saul became jealous, rightly, of David, and drove David out of the country.
Then the Philistines launched a united attack and Saul fell with his 3 sons including Jonathan in the battle on Mt. Gilboa. Saul's death led to a temporary domination of the Philistines, but the groundwork he laid for national unity eventually proved effective in establishing a strong and independent Israelite monarchy. Solomon was king after his father's death and the line continued for Israel till Hoshea in 730-721 BCE, while Judah continued to Zedekiah in 597 to 586 BCE.
Greeks and Minoans and their lives
Jews during Greek and Roman days not faring well at all unless complying with Hellenization. But in 332 BCE a young Alexander the Great led a Greek and Macedonian force that swept through the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt and extended east to include Persia and part of India. He died in the process, and as a result his empire splintered into successor kingdoms. Judah, now called Judea, lay at the boundary between two of these Greek successor kingdoms, the Seleucids in Asia Minor and the Ptolemies in Egypt. Fortune favored first one and then the other, and Judea remained a buffer state between them.
How Judea ceased to be the pawn in this imperial struggle and achieve independence is a compelling story, treated in 1, 2, and 4 Maccabees and texts of the Ethiopian Bible, and that kingdom was “comparable in Jewish history only with the kingdom of David.” Under the Persians, religious worship had remained a matter of local custom, generally protected by the benign paternalism of the imperial rulers. But the form of Hellenization in Syrian-ruled areas imposed a new kind of local administration. Greek colonization, coupled with the philosophical ideals of a universal world order, called for a more thorough transformation of local customs. Greek cities founded colonies or reconstituted older cities by imposing the nomima, laws and customs, of the parent city. These included laws and a constitution, rituals, and a religious calendar. A dēmos, or roll of citizens, was established; a boulē or city council of aristocratic leaders was appointed; and a gymnasium and ephēbeum were constructed for the education of elite boys. A universal Greek education would ensure the inculcation of Greek values, and even native texts became increasingly modeled on Greek literature.
Greek or Macadamia and Judah civilization were opposites with opposing goals, yet wherever Alexander went, he charmed the population and his Greek culture was diffused over the Mediterranean and the Middle East after the end of the 4th century BCE as a result of his conquests. It was about at that time that Judea (for it was not called Palestine until after 135 CE) fell under Greek rule and Judea was surrounded by a ring of hellenized cities. At the same time, the Jewish Diaspora was expanding rapidly in Egypt, Cyrenaica, Syria and Asia Minor, which were all in process of hellenization. By the 3rd century BCE, the Jews of Egypt had adopted Greek and the Septuagint translation of the Tanakh (Bible) had been completed.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
There was antagonism between the traditional and hellenizing Jews in Jerusalem that brought on Antiochus IV Epiphanes' attempt to suppress Judaism and the Hasmonean revolt.
The Emperor, Herod
Though John Hyrcanus and Alexander Yannai broke the power of the Greek cities in Eretz Yisrael, later these were restored and strengthened as a result of Roman intervention aided by Emperor Herod and his descendants.
By the Mishnaic Period, (70 to 200 CE) (legal codification of the Oral Law done by Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi; Jewish material life in Eretz was mainly Hellenistic even though it had ended to be the political program of any Jewish faction. Both the Mishnah and Talmud contain hundreds of Greek words that were absorbed into Hebrew and Aramaic and tomb inscriptions were in Greek, so that must have been the spoken language of the Period. The Mishnaic period generally refers to the time period spanning from the late first century CE to the early third century CE, during which the Mishnah, a collection of Jewish oral laws, was compiled by rabbis known as Tannaim;essentially encompassing the period where the Mishnah was being assembled and the related rabbinic traditions were being codified.
King Henry VIII of England
England was also ruled by Kings and was undemocratic. Since the office of Prime Minister evolved rather than being instantly created, it may not be totally clear-cut who the first prime minister was. However, this appellation is traditionally given to Sir Robert Walpole, who became First Lord of the Treasury of Great Britain in 1721.
The religious group of Pilgrims left Holland, who had been Englishmen, for America on the ship, the Mayflower, seeking a democratic life in 1620. The Mayflower carried 102 passengers in 1620, including Pilgrims, servants, contracted workers, and English families.The pilgrims who risked their lives to settle in a strange land were more – and less – than folklore heroes. They were extreme Puritans, that is to say they disapproved of several of the rituals and practices of the Church of England that had been established by parliament at the beginning of Elizabeth I's reign. They had no say in the matter if they stayed in England, so they up and left for better lives.
" You don't need Fema! " The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders on April 1, 1979.The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities.
Now we're almost back to a kind of kingship again with our President Trump, who is acting like one. He's trying to overthrow the 14th article in our constitution saying that a baby born in the USA is automatically a USA citizen. This is being used to eliminate Mexican Nationals who entered the US illegally, and he's sending them all back.
Yet, talk about opposing values, he has been the first president to treat Israel righteously, and they were at the point of needing some understanding badly. Sadly, there was a problem with Obama and his background, though he tried to be fair and square, his prejudice came through. It's my opinion that Trump's son -in law, Jerad Kushner, is the guide of Trump's understandings, as Trump is not known to be a reader or historian, but relies on his listening techniques to others, and then his gut opinions. Trump, in his first few days, has kept all his promises made when running for the office, so people should not be shocked. This part of history, Israel helped by the man least interested, though his daughter had married a Jewish man, would stand by Israel when criticized so much by his own country, defies all reason.
Hellenization became the fad, the favorite of a religious group, undoing much of their understanding and practice to "fit in" with others. Trump won the president's seat over people of much better character; in fact his was one of the worst. The Republicans and Democrats were almost divided 50-50. In both cases, people turned around and did a 180 which was astonishing!
Even in sex, opposites have been attracting each other. It may have started with Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens. In my own DNA, I carry 2.9% of Neanderthal genes. We've had soap operas of Abie's Irish Rose, and copy-cat versions since then-the Jewish and Catholic love stories.
I feel the whole theory of opposite attraction is to stir up the pot. Get opposing ideas. G-d must adore real debates; not the kind held during election time but real ones practiced in high schools and colleges. It's all to get us to see 2 sides of an issue, and the possible outcomes; trying to stretch our brains a little. Things adored and fought for must be worthy enough. Otherwise, why bother? Israel's history is full of being saved at the last minute in miraculous situations, and Trump is a part of that.
Battle at Mount Tabor in Judea: Roman troops, commanded by Gabinius, defeat the forces of Alexander, son of Aristobulus II of Judea, who is attempting to re-establish Judean independence. Some 10,000 Jews die at the hands of the Romans.
Ever making improvements in keeping up with time, Rabbi Hillel the Elder was born in the 1st century BCE but some time before Jesus. He was a scholar and founder of the school known as the "House of Hillel" and ancestor of a dynasty of patriarchs which held office until the 5th century. Hillel was born in Babylonia in a family that was taken as slaves there in 597 and again in 586 BCE from Judah by King Nebuchadnezzer. He was able to move to Palestine and was a manual labor worker while a student with the famous teachers, Shemaiah and Avialyon or Avtalion.
The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic (167 BCE – 73 CE) and Talmudic (70–640 CE) eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws (Sanhedrin). The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE.
King Herod the Great (73 BCE-4 BCE), killer of his own family...killer of many....
King of Judea, son of Antipater the Idumean by his Nabatean wife, Cypros, appointed governor of Galilee by his father, and immediately executed dissidents.
As to Herod's family line, Idumea was also on the land that Simeon was given by Joshua. Simeon was surrounded by Judah. Nabatea was on the land of Moab. Moab was on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. So Herod was not Jewish by birth but by living in Judah. No doubt he lacked any preliminary education on Jewish thought. He was a product of Rome.
For this Herod was brought up by the Sanhedrin and saved from a death decree himself by Hyrcanus and Sextus Caesar, governor of Syria. During his escapades he had fled to Rome and was appointed king of Judea by the Roman Senate.
He captured Jerusalem in 37 CE with the help of a large Roman force. Earlier that year he had married Mariamne, granddaughter of the high priest, a Cohen, Hyrcanus. Herod received a free hand in internal affairs, but was stopped from conducting an independent foreign policy. The people were attached to the Hasmonean rulers, their own people and dynasty, so he did a lot of suppressing his opposition, most likely a lot of killing, his style in solving issues.
Because of Palace intrigues, he put to death his wife, Mariamne, their 2 sons Alexander and Aristobulus, and in the end, his firstborn, Antipater, who was his son by his 1st wife, Doris in 5 BCE. Herod killed his own sons Alexander and Aristobulus in 7 BCE and Antipater was to succeed him but on discovering a plot to poison him, Herod ordered Antipater's execution 5 days before his own death.
They lived in the troubled times of Herod's reign. Shammai foresaw the dangers of Roman hegemony and therefore enacted many rules intended to keep the Jews from mixing with the heathen. He took a rigorous point of view in moral and religious matters, while at the same time, being of a friendly nature, teaching "receive everyone graciously."
His school of Shemaiah/Shammai was famous for its disputes with the School of Hillel. Shammai himself differed on only 3 points with Hillel. Very few halakhic teachings have survived in his name. Shammai is possibly identical with the Pharisee Sameas who rallied the Sanhedrin against Herod's attempt at intimidation in 47 BCE.
Hillel, born in Babylonia in 1st century BCE
Hillel became a great scholar, working his way with his school upward and was appointed president of the Sanhedrin, a body of 71 scholars who were the Supreme Court of their day. At the same time, he had made a friend who was his ideological opponent named Shammai who was his debate partner. They were the last of the pairs, called Zugot, of scholars in Debate, which was very popular at the time. As partners, Hillel was noted for his humility and tendency to leniency. What did they debate about? Points in the Torah and the extended additional pages making up the Tanakh or Bible. The Sanhedrin ended before the end of the 4th century CE. The thought was there to revive it in 1948, but dismissed.
The two men differed in their decisions only on a few halakhot; their schools ("House of Hillel) and "House of Shammai") diverged in many instances, but legal practice ultimately went in almost all cases according to the decision of the House of Hillel who laid down 7 rules of bible interpretation. Many stories illustrate his virtues and he is credited with the authorship in its negative form of the so-called GOLDEN RULE which is: "Do not do unto others that which you would not have them do unto you." Today on many campuses, we have a Hillel House for Jewish students. It was said to many people who wanted to know about Judaism while standing on one foot; who wanted a very short synopsis about our religion in how it was different from other religions like Christianity. Added to this quip was "and all the rest is commentary." It is the heart of Judaism. Hillel may have been called Rabbi Hillel.
Aluf (General) Simeon Bar Kokhba, born in Modiin, home of the Hashmoneans and 1st scene of Mattathias's rebellion against the officials of Antiochus Epiphanes. Today, a burning torch is carried to Jerusalem from Modiin each Hannukah by relay runners. They are 22 miles apart.
By the year 132-135, Aluf Bar Kokhba (Simeon ben Kokhba) had stepped up with his army to take back Jerusalem which he did for these 3 years, then was killed in battle. He was the nephew of Rabbi Eleazar of Modiin and of Davidic descent, meaning he was a Cohen. He led the revolt against Hadrian, said to be the Messiah for doing this, but not taken seriously. The revolt came about because Romans were rebuilding Jerusalem differently as a Roman colony; the prohibition of circumcision, with feelings against the Romans fermenting for a long time. Romans came after them with army of 35,000 under Hadrian and Julius Severus. Judaea fell into desolation; population was annihilated, Jerusalem became a heathen city, barred to Jews. Bar Kokhba had fought for 3 years against the best and largest army in the world.
Rabbi Rashi (Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki ben Isaac (1040-1105) came along over a thousand years later in France with new insights. He had to do his studying in the Rhineland but returned to his native Troyes where his school rapidly achieved a wide reputation. He earned his livelihood from his vineyard while teaching in his school. His chief contribution to Judaism was his lucid commentary on the Bible and Babylonian talmud. The commentary on the bible, particularly the Torah (5 books of Moses) became universally popular, while his notes on the Babylonian Talmud were responsible for making that writing like an open book.
His style was simple and concise, and his object, to present the direct rational meaning of the text, nevertheless the popularity of his commentary on the Torah can be partly attributed to the admixture of Midrash. His commentary on the entire Talmud made several outstanding contributions. His commentaries served as the basis for later scholars such as Nahmanides and Ibn Ezra in their interpretation of the Torah.
Rabbis of the 1st century CE
Shimon ben Gamliel (Gamaliel) (the Elder), was a sage and served as the nasi of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. (c. 10 BCE–70 CE), was grandson of Hillel. He corresponded with Jewish communities in Palestine and the Diaspora and framed several regulations at social improvements. He wanted a better legal position for women.
Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1164) scholar and poet, born in Spain, until 1140, journeyed visiting Italy, France, England, and maybe even Palestine; wrote in Hebrew, biblical commentary, close to biblical criticism. A Hebrew grammarian of importance, translated works from Arabic. A scientist and author of several studies on astrology in which he firmly believed.
Maimonides (Maimon ben Joseph)(1110-1165) scholar, father of of Maimonides, born in Cordova, Spain, author of Arabic commentary on the Bible, left Spain in 1148 because of persecution.
Abraham ben Moses ben Maimon (1186-1237) son of Moses Maimonides, Court physician to Sultan Alkamil, wrote encyclopedic work on Judaism--and commentaries on the Torah, the Talmud and his father's books. Acted as Nagid of Egyptian Jewry, in succession to his father, he issued ordinances to strengthen the community.
Nahmanides (Moses ben Nahman) (Rambam) very well known Rabbi, (1194-1270) a Rabbi in Gerona -Aragon, Spain; his range of knowldge was unrivaled in his day. Known as the foremost Spanish talmudist. He was opposed to the study of philosophy, athough not to Maimonides.
Yohanan ben Zakkai (1st century CE) 1st-century sage in Judea, key to the development of the Mishnah, the first Jewish sage attributed the title of rabbi in the Mishnah.The Mishnah was the legal codification containing the core of the Oral
Law. It was compiled by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi on the basis of previous
collections and arranged logically, divided into 6 Orders dealing primarily
with 1. the religious laws pertaining to agricultures and 2. dealing
with the laws of Sabbath, festivals, etc and 3. dealing with the laws of
marriage and divorce and vows; 4. treating of civil and criminal
legislation, 5. describing the laws regulating ritual slaughter, sacrifices
and consecrated objects, and the 6th laws of ceremonial purity. Orders
are divided into tractates, and tractates are divided into chapters, that are
divided into mishnayyot. It's amazingly well-organized.
Jesus, Greek for the Hebrew name of Joshua, was, as his biographers stated, a Jew, son of Joseph and Mary of Bethlehem. He's not mentioned in any Jewish resources, only by his biographers who were the Gospel writers of the New Testament.
Bethlehem was a little off-beat village back in the turn of the centuries, the time when BC became AD or as we Jews say when it turned from BCE to CE. This is when the numbers of years went from 10 to 1 and then switched to numbers from 1 to 10. It's because historians presumed that Jesus was born at this time, and that he died, as our Jewish historian wrote, in 29 CE. Christian historians say differently. AD 36 is used as the date of the crucifixion. Thus, scholars generally agree that Jesus was crucified between AD 30 and AD 36. Bethlehem is still a little off-beat town today, having been taken over by the Arabs of Bethlehem, mostly Christians, at least originally. I contend that Bethlehem of the day of Jesus, had become a Hellenized town of Jews. Here's how:
The Temple Mount during the Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods (332-37 BCE) Helenized implies that they were turning away from Jewish practices and beliefs and turning towards the Greek influences of philosophy and religion and politics.
In the late 330s BCE, Alexander the Great of the Greeks had invaded the Middle East (including the area which is now Israel), during his campaigns against the Achaemenid Empire. They came, conquered and started putting their idols in the Temple and forcing people to worship them, but Judah, the Maccabee, fought against them. Thus we have our Chanukah story, a part of history. Judah's sons became a dynasty of rulers after they forced the Greeks out. So from the 330's to 329, 328, etc, to 1, Jews were being affected by Greek influence even though they were no longer rulers.
The Emperor Alexander meeting the Grand Priest Jaddus. Painting by Jacopo Amigoni (c. 1675-1752), Issoudun, Musée de l’Hospice Saint-Roch. He brought with him his Greek culture.
Josephus wrote for Emperor Vespasian of Rome( 69-79) Nero had sent him to subdue the Judean rebellion so by 68 he had conquered the Galilee, Transjordan and the Judean Coast . In 69 he became emperor. Josephus, Jewish General who was Hellenized and captured by the Romans, "asked" to write the Jewish History for an audience of Romans, records in Ant.11.325–339 a visit to the Temple by Alexander the Great-King of Macedonia (356-323 BCE) after his capture of Gaza in 332 BCE. Here, the Jewish historian has him sacrificing in the Temple under the guidance of the High Priest.
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, said to be handsome and mesmerizing -- beloved by Jews and Macedonians. It was he who influenced Hellenization. Historians have been exploring possible parallels between the traditions surrounding Alexander the Great in Jewish eschatological thought and the mythology of Jesus. North Macedonia is situated in Southeastern Europe, bordering Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, Serbia and Kosovo to the north, and Albania to the westAlthough this may be mere legend, the story points to the perpetuation of the Temple services following their revival after the return from exile in Babylon. After the death of Alexander, Judea was governed by the Ptolemies of Egypt, who were tolerant of Jewish religious practice. Ptolemy I Soter was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Empire centered on Egypt and led by the Ptolemaic dynasty from 305 BCE – 30 BCE.
Simon Thassi established the dynasty in 141 BCE, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus(יהודה המכביYehudah HaMakabi) had defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt of 167 to 141 BCE. According to 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and the first book of The Jewish War by historian Flavius Josephus (37 CE–c. 100) Simon Thassi the Hasmonean High Priest of Judaea. The second & last surviving son of Mattathias of Modeinaided & consolidated the gains of his younger brothers. After rallying dispirited Jews to defeat the Syrian general who had killed Jonathan, he persuaded Demetrius II to exempt Jews from taxation or tribute. The Hasmonean dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity, from c. 140 BCE to 37 BCE. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire, and from roughly 110 BCE, with the empire disintegrating, Judea gained further autonomy and expanded into the neighboring regions of Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea. The Hasmonean rulers took the Greek title basileus ("king" or "emperor") (They showed this sign of becoming Hellenized-by using the language-basileus, for this). Forces of the Roman Republic conquered the Hasmonean kingdom in 63 BCE and made it into a client state;Herod the Great displaced the last reigning Hasmonean client-ruler in 37 BCE.Herod died in 4 BCE. New Testament names him as the cause of the Massacre of the Innocents, a copy-cat story of the pharaoh of Egypt's doing causing Moses to be hidden in the bullrushes. The Massacre (or Slaughter) of the Innocents is an incident in the nativity narrative of the Gospel of Matthew (2:16–18) in which Herod the Great, king of Judea, orders the execution of all male children who are two years old and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem. Herod had a bad reputation, and this is figured to just be a story; no evidence. Following the Greeks were the Romans. Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem and its surroundings by 63 BCE. The Romans deposed the ruling Hasmonean dynasty of Judaea (in power from c. 140 BCE) and the Roman Senate declared Herod the Great "King of the Jews" in c. 40 BCE. Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea became the Roman province of Iudaea (Judah) in 6 CE. The Romans also brought their religion which was a carbon copy of the Greek religion differing only with Roman names for the various gods instead of the Greek ones. Of course they also tried to force-feed the Jews with their religion, and what this caused was a lot of mixed up Jews running for the hills to live together in male-dominated kibbutzim-style quarters trying to figure it all out. Their grandparents and parents had been hit with Greek and Roman religious beliefs and they were the result. Their work has been discovered and named, The Dead Sea Scrolls in a part of Jordan's cave system. Mary was Jesus's mother; a typical Jewish mother but already Hellenized. She thought the world of this son who was so bright (same for Jewish mothers today). The highest position for a Jew was to be a rabbi, and he studied in Bethlehem evidently, He was not accepted in the important rabbinical circles, like at the Sanhedrin, though, because he was from a school on the level of Portland State, not like Yale or Harvard which were the Jerusalem schools. There was much his education had not impressed upon him with the whys and therefores or discussion on the debating sides. But for Bethlehem, he was fine. He would make a visit three times a year to Jerusalem and attend the Temple Services, and listen to the lectures then. Here's where being born in Jerusalem gave one the upper edge; they didn't have dorms in those days for schools and Jesus, as he preferred to be called, had no relatives there to stay with. Being only the gospels tell us about him, I'm using some of my own suppositions. Now as I've said, there is no bio from Jewish authors. We have to rely on the Gospel writers who wrote in Greek and were from the following generations. They received their research from 2nd hand research. But I'm relying on known historic facts of the history of Israel and Judah about the country. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were the Gospel writers, all born in different years, after the fact..They refer to Jesus as Jesus Christ. Evidently they were not trying to reach a Jewish audience or they would have written in Hebrew, but they didn't and most likely couldn't. They were not Jewish. However, they had heard about the Jews expecting the Messiah. It was a main concern during the Hellenistic days of Greek and Roman attacks and people dying. Κοριτσάκι, σήκω--Greek for Little girl, get up. Like the rest of the New Testament, the four gospels were written in Greek.Christ comes from the Greek word χριστός (chrīstós), meaning "anointed one". The word is derived from the Greek verb χρίω (chrī́ō), meaning "to anoint." In the Greek Septuagint, χριστός was a semantic loan used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Mašíaḥ, messiah), meaning "[one who is] anointed".So they are in Greek saying that Jesus was the Messiah. The Gospel of Mark probably dates from c.AD 66–70, Matthew and Luke around AD 85–90, and John AD 90–110. Despite the traditional ascriptions, all four are anonymous and most scholars agree that none were written by eyewitnesses. (I count 25 years as a generation). Three of the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—are quite similar to each other when compared to the fourth Gospel, John. They tell the story of Jesus in similar ways, frequently including the same stories and sayings and often using the same words.
That’s why these first three are known as the “synoptic” Gospels—because they offer a “shared view” of Jesus’ life (Greek, sun = “together” + opsis “seeing”). They are so similar that scholars have long tried to figure out why. This is known as “the synoptic problem.”Isn't it possible that the first writing acted as a resource for the 2nd and so on? These hand-written copies would have been passed around to known people who were involved or at least interested.
Let me put that in order:
1. Mark (66-70 CE) Greek--3 generations from the event; Mark the Evangelist, also known as John Mark or Saint Mark, is the person who is traditionally ascribed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark. Modern Bible scholars have concluded that the Gospel of Mark was written by an anonymous author rather than by Mark. However, people began to associate Mark’s boldness to that of a Lion after he delivered the Gospel message of Saint John the Baptist, which he received from Jesus and conveyed the same to Mark in the voice of the Lion in the wilderness.Mark was the primary witness of many miracles that took place at the time of Jesus Christ. He also mentioned a few in his Gospel. He was also the founder of the first Christian school in Egypt. He continued serving humanity until his death after he was tortured and imprisoned around 68 AD. Just thought you would like to know that the names Mark and Marcus have both Hebrew and Greek origins. Marcus is written this way in Greek:ΜάρκοςMarcus is written this way in Hebrew:מרקוס. Hebrew is read from right to left. Greek is read from left to right; the opposite of Hebrew.
2. Matthew (85-90 CE) Greek, written a good 15 years after Mark; Matthew the Evangelist, St. Matthew the Apostle, or Levi, (flourished 1st century ce, Palestine; Western feast day September 21, Eastern feast day November 16), one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and the traditional author of the first Synoptic Gospel (the Gospel According to Matthew).Early Christian TheologianOrigen(c. 184 – c. 253) indicates that the first Gospel was written by Matthew,and that his Gospel was composed in Hebrew near Jerusalem for Hebrew Christians and translated into Greek. The Hebrew original was kept at theLibrary of Caesarea. Sometime in the late fourth or early fifth century the Nazarene Community transcribed a copy forJeromewhich he used in his work.Matthew's Gospel was called theGospel according to the Hebrewsor sometimes theGospel of the Apostlesand it was once believed that it was the original to theGreek Matthewfound in the Bible.However, this has been challenged by modern biblical scholars such asBart D. EhrmanandJames R. Edwards.See also thetwo-source hypothesis.Most modern scholars hold that the Gospel of Matthew was written anonymously, and not by Matthew.The author is not named within the text, and scholars have proposed that the superscription "according to Matthew" was added sometime in the second century. Tells story of Massacre of Innocents-boys 2 yrs and younger killed by Herod I. In view of the lack of independent confirmation that the event ever occurred, many scholars consider it folklore inspired by Herod's reputation.
3. Luke (85-90 CE) Greek, written after Mark and Matthew, born in Turkey, died in Thebes, Greece. the most literary of the New Testament writers. Information about his life is scanty. Tradition based on references in the Pauline Letters has regarded him as a physician and a Gentile. He probably accompanied Paul on several missionary journeys. He is a patron saint of physicians and artists.
4. John (90-110 CE) Greek-the most anti-Semitic , the politics of the Romans are influencing his writing, Romans have been to Judah by now. John’s is the only one of the four not considered among the Synoptic Gospels (i.e., those presenting a common view). Although the Gospel is ostensibly written by St. John the Apostle, “the beloved disciple” of Jesus, there has been considerable discussion of the actual identity of the author.
Let's look at the Christian Arabs who have taken over Bethlehem. A man's DNA is traced back in time over 1,000 years and is called the Y (for male) haplogroup of DNA.
" Hasabneh:To prove this hypothesis, I had to test the largest clan in Bethlehem, the Hasbun clan, to which belong as well the Hitti,Shreim, and Masriyeh families. Originally from the Hasban Valley, located on the border of the territories Moab and Ammon (modern-day Jordan), they are said to have migrated to Bethlehem in the seventeenth century via Petra, ancient Idumaea–Nabataea (southern Jordan). In the Bible, Hasban is referred to as Heshbon, a Canaanite name meaning “little thinker.” This Heshbon also came from the lineage of Hur, whose descendants settled in Palestine along with the Amorite wave that invaded Jordan around 1350 BC, shortly before the arrival of the Israelites from Egypt into Moab and Ammon around 1200 BC. I tested the Hasbun family and found that they carry the same Y-DNA genes as the Khumsan and Farahiyeh families, which proves that they are of similar Hurrian origin, stemming from the Jebusites of the Jerusalem area who in the thirteenth century BC were led by the Amorite King Sihon.
It's interesting to know that the Arabs living in Bethlehem are evidently a line of native Arabs, because Abdullah of Jordan had brought in people with him from Arabia, today's Saudi Arabia.
It is said that Jesus never said he was "G-d." His biographers wrote that his 12 disciples said this. This is the big thing between Judaism and Christianity. First, we have no evidence that he existed to any extent. The Gospel writers wrote after the fact, as I am doing now, and were not known to be Jews. They were writing out of the country in foreign places. They were writing in Greek. A pseudonym is a fictitious name taken by a writer in place of their real name. The term "pseudonym" is a Greek word that literally means "false name." It's thought that a couple of them were writing under pseudonyms. A pseudonym is a fictitious name taken by a writer in place of their real name. The term "pseudonym" is a Greek word that literally means "false name." Our own language of English is full of Greek terms.
Egypt was ripe for a Roman take-over. Remember the history of Caesar and Cleopatra. In late 48 BCE, Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria, Egypt. He was pursuing his opponent, the statesman Gnaeus Pompey, with whom he was engaged in a brutal civil war. Upon Caesar's arrival, the young Egyptian king Ptolemy XIII presented Caesar with Pompey's severed head.
In 315, Constantine issued a law intended to stop those in the “dangerous sect” of Judaism (the Jews) from persecuting relatives or friends who converted to Christianity. It was also intended to discourage Christians from converting to the “abominable sect,” meaning the Jewish religion. Many Romans had converted to Judaism.
(Laws of Constantine the Great, October 18, 315: Concerning Jews, Heaven-Worshippers, and Samaritans)-Anti-Semitism's start.
From Constantine's rule of law against the Jews in 315 to publishing the New Testament only took 78 years.
The earliest known complete list of the 27 books is found in a letter written by Athanasius, a 4th-century bishop of Alexandria, dated to 367 AD. The 27-book New Testament was first formally canonized during the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) in North Africa.
The Jews were as much impressed from the time of Alexander the Great and Greek thinking as they were with the Romans, maybe more so. It all helped to bring much Hellenization to their culture.
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