3 - Israel's Identity: Land, Narrative, Theology, Institutions, and Parties

Question 1

super slay israel map

Answer 1

oc galilee . Nazareth
ea samaria
n judea . jerusalem

Question 2

5 zones of land of israel

Answer 2

coastal plain, coastal hills, central mountains, jordan valley, eastern plateau

Question 3

coastal plain 2

Answer 3

mainly fishing villages, joppa and ceaserea main ones

Question 4

coastal hills 2

Answer 4

very fertile, eremaus

Question 5

central mountains 3

Answer 5

building material, 3000ft tall, includes jerusalem

Question 6

jordon valley 2

Answer 6

700-1200ft below sea level, runs length of the jordon river

Question 7

eastern plateau 3

Answer 7

cities of decapolis, john the baptist lived in this desert, other kingdom

Question 8

creational montheism

Answer 8

one God who created all things and actively involved in the world

Question 9

election 4

Answer 9

• choosing Israel as His special people
• from God’s covenant with Abe
• problem: israel implicated in the worldview and ongoing issue of sin
• jerusalem temple-based sacrificial system was intended to deal with israels sin, but sin was still a recurring problem

Question 10

eschatology

Answer 10

ultimate outworking of God’s will and work in the world, greatly awaited

Question 11

response to election

Answer 11

jews to obey God’s will as expressed in the Torah and repeating temple sacrifice to show faithfulness to covenent (covenantal nomism)

Question 12

God could be worshipped where 2

Answer 12

in jerusalem temple through sacrificial system or in local synagogue through prayer and study of scripture

Question 13

the temple general 4

Answer 13

geographic and spiritual center of Israel, destrpyed by babylon in 587 bc, rebuilt by zerabbabel after exile, developed by herod the great

Question 14

temple sacrifices 2

Answer 14

priests offered sacrifices, including high priest on behalf of the nation on the day of atonement

Question 15

other temple purposes 5

Answer 15

political, social, judicial, sanhedrin, bank and monetary exchange system

Question 16

sanhedrin 4

Answer 16

• jewish high court and leading decision-maker
• jewish nobility
• 70 to form a council
• also lower court of 20 elders for smaller issues

Question 17

synagogue 4

Answer 17

• local center for jewish life for jews scattered who couldn’t regularly worship at the temple
• worshipped at each sabbath
• also center for education, scribes, and community life
• decentralized jewish identity and made it more personal and accessible to average person

Question 18

herodians 3

Answer 18

• supporters of the house of herod
• herod’s family and supporters continued to have influence after his death
• didn’t like Jesus, so partnered with pharisee enemies when Jesus became a threat

Question 19

pharisees 5

Answer 19

• often seen as legalistic, but many were more moderate
• may have originated during maccabean or hasmonean period
• out of torah study and interpretation arose an extensive body of oral laws, whos interpretation led to internal and external debates
• key players in sanhedrin, numbering about 6000 in Jesus’ day
• law-centered approach may explain survival after 70ad as normative rabbainic judaism who codified into later jewish writings

Question 20

saducees 5

Answer 20

• closest to roman rulers, tried to keep things stable so roman rule doesn’t come in heavier, they had the most to lose
• may have originated during hasmonean period
• conservative, priestle, aristocratic, temple-centered
• rejected oral tradns and resurrection of pharisees
• leading figure was high priest and his predecessors (chief priests)

Question 21

the essenes 3

Answer 21

• could be behind the dead sea scrolls
• may have also originated in the hasmonean period, breaking away from temple establishment to form their own seperate “true Israel” in teh dead sea area at qumran
• destroyed by romans in 70ad

Question 22

essenes distinctives 5

Answer 22

• period of probation
• joint ownership of all goods
• obedience to community discipline
• observance of purity + ritual
• preservation and transmission of sacred texts

Question 23

revolutionaries/4th philosophy 3

Answer 23

• popular nationalist movements seeking socio-economic justice and the overthrow of roman rule
• foremost amongst these were zealots and the siccarie
• experienced internal disputes and eventual roman defeat with the fal of jerusalem and its temple in 70ad

Question 24

zealots

Answer 24

zeal for torah, temple, and land

Question 25

sicarie

Answer 25

those who carried daggers

Question 26

people of the land 3

Answer 26

• ordinary jewish artisans and peasants
• formed majority of jewish population
• little written record of them survived

Question 27

scribes 4

Answer 27

• aka teachers/rabbis
• professional class of lawyers, scribes, teachers of the law
• highly educated from various classes and contexts who ocupied official roles as copyists and teachers
• disciples (learners) would follow them, learning by observation and memorization

Question 28

sources on israel and judaism 7

Answer 28

• ot/septuagent
• apocrypha
• pseidepigrapha
• dead sea scrolls
• philo
• josephus
• rabbinic literature