Intertestamental period
Theintertestamental period(Protestant) ordeuterocanonical period(CatholicandEastern Orthodox) is the period of time between the events of theprotocanonical booksand theNew Testament.Traditionally, it is considered to cover roughly four hundred years, spanning the ministry ofMalachi(c. 420 BC) to the appearance ofJohn the Baptistin the early1st century AD.It is roughly contiguous with theSecond Temple period(516 BC-70 AD) and encompasses the age ofHellenistic Judaism.
It is known by some members of the Protestant community as the "400 Silent Years" because it was a span where no new prophets were raised and God revealed nothing new to theJewish people.[1]Many of thedeuterocanonical books,accepted as scripture by theCatholic ChurchandEastern Orthodoxy,were written during this time, as were manypseudepigraphal works,theBiblical apocrypha,theJewish apocrypha,and theDead Sea Scrolls.An understanding of the events of the intertestamental period provideshistorical and literary context for the New Testament.
Significant events
[edit] | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification.(July 2020) |
- Beginnings of theJewish diasporaandHellenistic Judaism
- Establishment of the firstsynagogues
- Change in common language fromBiblical HebrewtoAramaicandHellenistic Greek
- The events of theMaccabean Revolt,as documented in theBooks of the Maccabees
- Reign of theHasmoneanandHerodiandynasties, followed byRoman rule
- Production of the GreekSeptuagint,the first translation of the Hebrew scriptures into another language[2]
- Writing of theDead Sea Scrolls,the rediscovery of which became central to modern and contemporaryBiblical criticism[2]
- Writing of thedeuterocanonical books(biblical apocrypha) andpseudepigrapha
See also
[edit]- Babylonian captivity
- Dating the Bible
- Development of the Hebrew Bible canon
- Development of the New Testament canon
- Development of the Old Testament canon
- History of ancient Israel and Judah
- Kings of Judah
- Missing years (Jewish calendar)
- Samaritan Pentateuch
References
[edit]- ^Lambert, Lance."400 Silent Years: Anything but Silent".Archived fromthe originalon February 22, 2014.Retrieved2012-09-21.
- ^abBrown, S. Kent; Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel (December 2014)."The Lost 500 Years: From Malachi to John the Baptist".Ensign:56–60.
Further reading
[edit]- The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol 1, Page 457 "Literary Activity"
- Pfeiffer, Charles F.Between the Testaments.Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1959. 132 p.
- Carroll, Benajah Harvey.Between the Testaments (PDF)(PDF).Woodstock, VA: Grace Baptist Church. p. 9. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 7, 2015.