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Paul was a Jewish man writing in the context of the Roman Empire

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writes to Jews and Gentiles who are interested in participating in Judaism

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four contextual stories of empire

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1. Babylonian and Persian Empires

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587: Jerusalem destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia

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many of the elites of Judah were taken into exile to Babylonia

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this is where the story of Daniel happened

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a story written during another time time of repression under Antiochus IV

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539 BC, Babylonian Empire taken over by Persian king Cyrus

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Persians allowed Jews to return

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some Jews stayed in Babylonia

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520-515 BC: Persians allowed the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem

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Judah became a typical client temple state

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2. Macedonian Empire

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had long been culturally allied to Greece

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considered itself a disseminator of Greek culture

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Alexander the Great

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well educated in Greek culture, Aristotle one of his teachers

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conquered Persian Empire

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333 BC: Battle of Issus, gained control of Palestine and Jerusalem

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327 BC: reached India

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323 BC: died in Babylon which he had chosen to be the capital of his empire

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a time of cultural mixing but also of the spread of Hellenism, i.e. Greek language, traditions, and culture mixed with local traditions to the east

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after he died, generals spent a lot of time fighting over the empire

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two dynasties that emerged from the successors of Alexander: Seleucids and Ptolemies which rushed up and down the Levant area conquering back and forth

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3. Ptolemies vs. Seleucids (300BC-30BC)

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Jewish high priest is allied to the Seleucids

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receives permission to constitute Jerusalem as a Greek city

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a time of Hellenization of the region, including the association of the Jewish God with Zeus

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this offended many Jews

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Jason was ousted

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169: Antiochus IV conducted campaigns against Egypt

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168: on way back, plundered Jerusalem temple in order to pay his soldiers

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Jews rebelled, Antiochus captured Jerusalem and turned it militarily occupied city

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Antiochus brought the sacred rock of Zeus Baal Shamayin into the temple

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annulled Jewish laws, told in Second Maccabees

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Hasmonean Jews retake Jerusalem

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Jews from the country took the temple from Jewish elite as well as from Antiochus

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force circumcisions and conversion on many inhabitants

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some Jews (Essenes) retreated to desert in disagreement with what they saw as corruption and improper rule of Hasmonean Jews

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awaited a day when two messiahs, a warrior and a priest would help them retake the temple

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4. Roman domination of Judea

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63 BC: Romans enter Jerusalem and end Hasmonean rule in Palestine

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Rome established a new dynasty loyal to Rome

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Herod the Great

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tried to be king over all, not just Jews

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built pagan cities, temples, as well as Jewish cities

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after Herod the Great, Roman administrators were even less sensitive to the needs of the populace

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brutality of Pontius Pilate, under whom Jesus was killed

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66 AD: Jews were revolting against the Roman power, but not very organized

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68 AD: chaos at the head of the Roman Empire, Nero committed suicide

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70 AD: Titus besieged and captured Jerusalem, destroyed the city and the Second Temple

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132 CE: Simon bar Kokhba, Jewish leader of a revolt against the Roman Empire, established an independent Jewish state which he ruled for three years as Nasi ("Prince"), his state was conquered by the Hadrian in 135 following a two-year war

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Rome printed coins to celebrate the victory over Judea

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587 BCE to 70 CE: Second Temple Period

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Paul's existing letters only take up a decade of that time in the mid-first century before the destruction of the second temple