1. It extends from the beginning of the Captivity at Bab´y-lon, B. C. 587, to the Birth of Christ, B. C. 4.[2]
2. During this period Ju-de´a was a subject land, except for a brief epoch. This may be called, therefore, the Foreign Administration, as the rule was through the great empires in succession.
3. This period may be subdivided into five epochs. For the first and a part of the second we have the Old Testament as our source of history; all the rest fall in the four centuries of silence between the Old and the New Testament.
1.) The Chal-de´an Supremacy. Fifty years from the captivity, B. C. 587, to the conquest of Bab´y-lon by Cy´rus, B. C. 536, by which the Chal-de´an empire was ended, and the Jews were permitted to return to their land (Ezra 1. 1-3).
2.) The Per´sian Supremacy. About two hundred years from the fall of Bab´y-lon, B. C. 536, to the battle of Ar-be´la, B. C. 330, by which Al-ex-an´der the Great won the Per´sian empire. During this epoch the Jews were permitted to govern themselves under the general control of the Per´sian kings.
3.) The Greek Supremacy. Al-ex-an´der's empire lasted only ten years, but was succeeded by Greek kingdoms, under whose rule the Jews lived in Pal´es-tine for about one hundred and sixty years.
4.) The Mac-ca-be´an Independence. About B. C. 168 the tyranny of the Greek king of Syr´i-a drove the Jews to revolt. Two years later they won their liberty under Ju´das Mac-ca-be´us, and were ruled by a line of princes called As-mo-ne´ans, or Mac-ca-be´ans, for one hundred and twenty-six years.
5.) The Ro´man Supremacy. This came gradually, but began officially in the year B. C. 40, when Her´od the Great received the title of king from the Ro´man senate. Thenceforth the Jew´ish province was reckoned a part of the Ro´man empire.
4. In each epoch of this period we select one important Person.
1.) In the Chal-de´an supremacy, Dan´iel, the prophet and prince (Dan. 2. 48; 5. 12).
2.) In the Per´sian supremacy, Ez´ra the scribe, the framer of the Scripture canon and the reformer of the Jews (Ezra 7. 6, 10).
3.) In the Greek supremacy, Si´mon the Just, a distinguished high priest and ruler.
4.) In the Mac-ca-be´an independence, Ju´das Mac-ca-be´us, the liberator of his people.
5.) In the Ro´man supremacy, Her´od the Great, the ablest but most unscrupulous statesman of his age. This Ro´man supremacy lasted until A. D. 70, when Je-ru´sa-lem was destroyed by Ti´tus, and the Jew´ish state was extinguished by the emperor of Rome.
Blackboard Outline
| I. Per. Hu. Ra. | II. Per. Ch. Fam. | III. Per. Is. Peo. | IV. Per. Is. Kin. | V. Per. Je. Prov. |
| C. M. C. A. | C. A. E. E. | E. E. C. S. | C. S. C. B. | C. B. Bi. Ch. |
| Dir. Adm. | Patr. Adm. | The. Adm. | Reg. Adm. | For. Adm. |
| Fa. Del. Dis. | Jou. Pat. Soj. Eg. Opp. Isr. | Wan. Wil. Con. Can. Ru. Jud. | Ag. Un. Ag. Div. Ag. Dec. | Ch. Sup. Per. Sup. Gk. Sup. Mac. Ind. Rom. Sup. |
| A. E. N. | A. J. J. | M. J. G. S. | D. E. H. | D. E. S. J. H. |
Review Questions
What is the closing period of Old Testament history called? With what events and dates did it begin and end? How were the Jews governed during most of this time? Name its five epochs. Under whom did the Jews obtain independence? Name one person in each epoch of the fifth period, and for what he is distinguished.
THIRD STUDY
The Beginnings of Bible History
Having taken a general view of Bible history from the creation to the coming of Christ, we now turn again to the record for a more careful study of each epoch. The aim will be not to give a mere catalogue of facts, but as far as possible to show the relation of cause and effect, and to unfold the development of the divine purpose which is manifested through all the history in the Bible.
I. We begin with the Deluge as the starting point of history. Back of that event there may be studied biography, but not history; for history deals less with individuals than with nations, and we know of no nations before the flood. With regard to the deluge we note:
1. The fact of a deluge is stated in Scripture (Gen. 7), and attested by the traditions of nearly all nations.
2. Its cause was the wickedness of the human race (Gen. 6. 5-7). Before this event all the population of the world was massed together, forming one vast family and speaking one language. Under these conditions the good were overborne by evil surroundings, and general corruption followed.
3. Its extent was undoubtedly not the entire globe, but so much of it as was occupied by the human race (Gen. 7. 23), probably the Eu-phra´tes valley. Many Christian scholars, however, hold to the view that the book of Genesis relates the history of but one family of races, and not all the race; consequently that the flood may have been partial, as far as mankind is concerned.
4. Its purpose was: 1.) To destroy the evil in the world. 2.) To open a new epoch under better conditions for social, national, and individual life.
II. The Dispersion of the Races. 1. Very soon after the deluge a new instinct, that of migration, took possession of the human family. Hitherto all mankind had lived together; from this time they began to scatter. As a result came tribes, nations, languages, and varieties of civilization. "The confusion of tongues" was not the cause, but the result, of this spirit, and may have been not sudden, but gradual (Gen. 11. 2, 7).
2. Evidences of this migration are given: 1.) In the Bible (Gen. 9. 19; 11. 8). 2.) The records and traditions of nearly all nations point to it. 3.) Language gives a certain proof; for example, showing that the ancestors of the Eng´lish, Greeks, Ro´mans, Medes, and Hin´dus—races now widely dispersed—once slept under the same roof. At an early period streams of migration poured forth from the highlands of A´sia in every direction and to great distances.
III. The Rise of the Empires. In the Bible world four centers of national life arose, not far apart in time, each of which became a powerful kingdom, and in turn ruled all the Oriental lands. The strifes of these nations, the rise and fall, constitute the matter of ancient Oriental history, which is closely connected with that of the Bible. These four centers were: 1. E´gypt, in the Nile valley, founded not far from B. C. 5000, and in the early Bible history having its capital at Mem´phis.