Table of Contents

PART ONE: THE LATE PERSIAN ERA 1.1 The History of the Late Persian Era 1.1.1 Brief Summary of the Early Persian Era (539–465 BC) 1.1.2 Yahwistic Communities in the ANE 1.1.3 Artaxerxes I and the Fragile Frontiers 1.1.4 The Mission of Ezra 1.1.5 The Mission of Nehemiah 1.1.6 The Emergence of the Samaritans 1.1.7 The Jewish Diaspora 1.1.8 The Final Century of Persian Rule 1.2 Theology During the Late Persian Era 1.2.1 Persian Imperial Religion 1.2.2 The Pillars of Israelite Identity 1.2.3 Reforming Israel 1.2.4 The Significance of the Land 1.2.5 Temple and the Presence of Yahweh 1.2.6 Temple and the Davidic King 1.2.7 Accepting Persian Hegemony 1.2.8 The Wisdom of Torah 1.2.9 The Consolidation of Monotheism 1.2.10 Eschatology and the Promise of Restoration 1.2.11 Jews and Samaritans 1.2.12 Diaspora and the Importance of Ancestry 1.2.13 Pilgrimage PART TWO: THE HELLENISTIC ERA 2.1 The History of the Hellenistic Era 2.1.1 The Rise of Alexander and the Fall of Persia 2.1.2 The Hellenistic Kingdoms 2.1.3 Ptolemy I and the Conquest of Jerusalem 2.1.4 Palestine: Between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids 2.1.5 Wrangling in the Priesthood 2.1.6 Antiochus IV and the Near-Death of Judaism 2.1.7 The Maccabean Revolt 2.1.8 The Hasmonean Dynasty 2.2 Theology During the Hellenistic Era 2.2.1 Political Disappointment and Eschatology 2.2.2 Political Disappointment and Eschatology 2.2.3 The Development of Apocalyptic 2.2.4 Messianic Expectation 2.2.5 Hierocracy 2.2.6 Torah Observance in a Hellenistic World 2.2.7 Development of a canonical consciousness Epilogue: The Beginning of the Roman Era 1. The Roman Conquest of Palestine 2. Caesar Augustus 3. Herod the Great