the Jews Smallwood, 1976: 1. The Jews in captivity were taken back to their homeland and rebuilt the temple of Salomon which was first destroyed. According
to Josephus, Cyrus was prophesied to be the king of the Jews and that by his grateful, the Jews could build the temple again Josephus, 2006: L.11, C.1.
Some scholars say that this period was the most fertile period of Jewish literature. Torah was composed during this era but without any understanding of
where and by whom it was spread. During this era also, most of the Jewish literature and tradition were edited by the power of the empire. In the bible, the
books that mostly described this era were Ezra and Nehemiah Grabbe, 2010: 3. In this era, Torah was embedded to the imperial authorization.
3. The Jews under Greek Rule
Two hundred years letter, Persian Empire was defeated by Greek Empire under the control of Alexander the Great Smallwood: 1976: 19. Darius III, king
of Persia failed to stop him at Issus. Hence, his armies submitted to Alexander Grabbe, 2010: 5. Grabbe adds that Alexander actually wanted to destroy
Jerusalem. However, he “prostrated” himself before the high priest there. This
was what made historians of Alexander curious about that Grabbe, 2010: 5. Alexander the Great was the pupil of Aristotle at the age of 16. He was the most
influential person at that time as he was eager to widespread his control over the ancient world Palmer, 2002: 1.
a. Hellenization of the Jews
Greek Empire, through the rule of Alexander the Great, gave much influence on the Jews. It was the Hellenism. Hellenism was the impact of
Alexander ‟s conquest.
This new culture – a blend of 1 Greek education and emphasis on the arts
with 2 elements from the oriental cultures which Alexander conquered Palmer, 2002: 1.
The process of applying Hellenism into the Jews culture was called as Hellenization. Alexander and his successors then tried to further spread this
culture using many tactics. Grabbe says that the Greek culture was actually spread not by
“cultural imperialism” but “osmosis”. Which means that there was no mandatory way of the empire to spread the culture, but people themselves were
influenced by the “superiority” of Greeks‟ “politics and culture” in the society
Grabbe, 2010:10. First, they establish Greek cities which adopted the Greek democratic model. The second one, the Greek language was imposed to be the
official language. This language was also used as de facto for the commerce. The third one was the establishment of Gymnasia; the Greek schools in order to spread
the Greek values of culture. The Greek education was gained mostly by the upper- class of the indigenous people. They also built Greek temples, stadiums and
theatre for that purpose Palmer, 2002: 1. In this time, the Jews then also gave Greek names to their children. The local styles of art and architecture also
imitated the Greek model. Not only that, some high priests of the Jews also took Greek names. Palmer, 2002: 1.
Grabbe adds that “Hellenistic culture was a synthesis of Greek and Near
Eastern” Grabbe, 2010: 11. This means that to be
