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Hellenistic Judaism

Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Hellenistic culture. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch in Turkey, the two main Greek urban settlements of the Middle East and North Africa, both founded in the end of the fourth century BCE in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Hellenistic Judaism also existed in Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period, where there was a conflict between Hellenizers and traditionalists.

The major literary product of the contact between Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic culture is the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible from Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic to Koine Greek, specifically, Jewish Koine Greek. Mentionable are also the philosophic and ethical treatises of Philo and the historiographical works of the other Hellenistic Jewish authors.[1][2]


The decline of Hellenistic Judaism started in the second century and its causes are still not fully understood. It may be that it was eventually marginalized by, partially absorbed into, or progressively became the Koine-speaking core of Early Christianity centered on Antioch and its traditions, such as the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.

Legacy[edit]

Widespread influence beyond Second Temple Judaism[edit]

Both Early Christianity and Early Rabbinical Judaism were far less 'orthodox' and less theologically homogeneous than they are today; and both were significantly influenced by Hellenistic religion and borrowed allegories and concepts from Classical Hellenistic philosophy and the works of Greek-speaking Jewish authors of the end of the Second Temple period before the two schools of thought eventually affirmed their respective 'norms' and doctrines, notably by diverging increasingly on key issues such as the status of 'purity laws', the validity of Christian messianic beliefs, and the use of Koiné Greek and Latin as liturgical languages replacing Biblical Hebrew, etc.[28]

First synagogues in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East[edit]

The word synagogue itself comes from Jewish Koiné Greek, a language spoken by Hellenized Jews across Southeastern Europe (Macedonia, Thrace, Northern Greece), North Africa and the Middle East after the 3rd century BCE. Many synagogues were built by the Hellenistai or adherents of Hellenistic Judaism in the Greek Isles, Cilicia, Northwestern and Eastern Syria and Northern Israel as early as the first century BCE- notably in Delos, Antioch, Alexandretta, Galilee and Dura-Europos: because of the mosaics and frescos representing heroic figures and Biblical characters (viewed as potentially conductive of "image worship" by later generations of Jewish scholars and rabbis), many of these early synagogues were at first mistaken for Greek temples or Antiochian Greek Orthodox churches.

Mishnaic and Talmudic concepts[edit]

Many of the Jewish sages who compiled the Mishnah and earliest versions of the Talmud were Hellenized Jews, including Johanan ben Zakai, the first Jewish sage attributed the title of rabbi and Rabbi Meir, the son of proselyte Anatolian Greek converts to Early Rabbinical Judaism.


Even Israeli rabbis of Babylonian Jewish descent such as Hillel the Elder whose parents were Aramaic-speaking Jewish migrants from Babylonia (hence the nickname "Ha-Bavli"), had to learn Greek language and Greek philosophy in order to be conversant with sophisticated rabbinical language – many of the theological innovations introduced by Hillel had Greek names, most famously the Talmudic notion of Prozbul, from Koine Greek προσβολή, "to deliver":

Egyptian Jewish scholar of the 2nd century BCE. One of the first known advocates of early Pharisaic (proto-Rabbinical) orthodoxy against the Samaritans.

Andronicus son of Meshullam

also known as Antigonos of Socho, was the first scholar of whom Pharisaic tradition has preserved not only the name but also an important theological doctrine. He flourished about the first half of the third century BCE. According to the Mishnah, he was the disciple and successor of Simon the Just. Antigonus is also the first noted Jew to have a Greek name, a fact commonly discussed by scholars regarding the extent of Hellenic influence on Judaism following the conquest of Judaea by Alexander the Great.

Antigonus of Sokho

(known in Hebrew as Matityahu) was the last Hasmonean king of Judea. Antigonus was executed in 37 BCE, after a reign of three years during which he led the national struggle of the Jews for independence from the Romans.

Antigonus II Mattathias

or Alexander Maccabeus, was the eldest son of Aristobulus II, king of Judaea[30]

Alexander of Judaea

(fl. 181–124 BCE), philosopher of the Peripatetic school who attempted to fuse ideas in the Hebrew Scriptures with those in Greek thought

Aristobulus of Alexandria

(fl. 3rd century BC), Alexandrian Jewish writer who wrote a history Concerning the Jews, quoted by Polyhistor and Eusebius[31]

Artapanus of Alexandria

Jewish historian referenced by Alexander Polyhistor and Josephus[32]

Cleodemus Malchus

an early Hellenic Jewish historian whose writings are known from Alexander Polyhistor and Eusebius Pamphili[33]

Eupolemus

Alexandrian Jewish poet who wrote a play Exagōgē, a paraphrase of the Exodus in iambic trimeter[34]

Ezekiel the Tragedian

Jason of the family, High Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem from 175 to 172 BCE

Oniad

High Priest in Jerusalem from 171 BCE to about 161 BCE

Menelaus

Jewish princess of the Hasmonean dynasty, was the second wife of Herod the Great.

Mariamne I

(Hellenized form of Hebrew name (Greek: Ὀνίας) from (Hebrew: Honiyya) was the son of Jaddua mentioned in Nehemiah.[35] According to Josephus, this Jaddua is said to have been a contemporary of Alexander the Great.[36] I Maccabees regards Onias as a contemporary of the Spartan king Areus I (309-265 BCE).[37] Onias I is thought to be the father or grandfather of Simon the Just.

Onias I

also known as Yesu'a son of Sirach, leading 2nd century BCE Jewish scholar and theologian who lived in Jerusalem and Alexandria, author of the Wisdom of Sirach, or "Book of Ecclesiasticus".

Ben Sira

or Simeon the Righteous (Hebrew: שמעון הצדיק Shimon HaTzaddik) was a Jewish High Priest during the time of the Second Temple.

Simeon the Just

(died 135 BCE) was the second son of king Mattathias and the first prince of the Jewish Hasmonean Dynasty. He was also a general (Doric Greek: στραταγός, stratagos; literally meaning "army leader") in the Greco-Syrian Seleucid army of Antiochus VI

Simon Thassi

hrsg. von W.G. Kümmel und H. Lichtenberger (1973), Jüdische Schriften aus hellenistisch römischer Zeit (in German), Gütersloh{{}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

citation

Delling, Gerhard (1987), Die Begegnung zwischen Hellenismus und Judentum Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt (in German), vol. Bd. II 20.1

Books that contain Bibliographies on the Hellenistic Judaism - Oxford Bibliographies