Page 91 - Biblical Backgrounds student textbook

Septuagint) were to be Jews fluent in both Hebrew and Greek. They were either already living in Egypt
or had to come from Jerusalem. This whole development led many to suspect that this particular
Ptolemy was a follower or at least an admirer of the Hebrew God. However, it is widely accepted that
the translation of the Hebrew scriptures was an effort to enrich the library at Alexandria.

Meanwhile, mystic religions were increasingly growing. The special appeal of the mystery religions lay in
their threefold provision: a personal involvement with a god, an emotional stimulation, and a promise of
a future life—none of which the official cults could offer. Oriental religions had a much wider appeal. We
know these religions as mystery religions because they had secret initiatory rituals into the cults
134
(mysterion comes from a root meaning “initiate”). Through that, in some mysterious way, the initiate
established communion with a god or goddess and obtained a promise of living in bliss with the deity
beyond the grave. Most of these religions were predominantly eastern and polytheistic. Their gods were
mythological. Jehovah on the other hand, historically revealed Himself and was personally involved with
the Jews.

Alexander the Great sat under the great philosopher Aristotle. It is not surprising therefore to see
philosophy and science rise with Hellenization. Greeks started divorcing the explanation of things from
religion. In science, they began to attempt questions on the origin of matter and carrying out various
computations especially geographical ones. In philosophy, they brought about a growing belief that
reason or intellect rather than revelation or the gods should serve as a guide to living. This propagated
naturalism. However, there was a distinction between those in the Ancient Near East and the Greeks.
For the Easterners, nature was personal (indwelt by a divine) and society was connected to it. For the
Greeks, nature was impersonal (in other words; it is all there is).

In any case, the naturalistic thought patterns of the Greeks eventually impacted Jewish thought.
Hellenistic ways as they developed in Ptolemaic Egypt affected Jews living in Egypt and those in
Palestine during the long period when the Ptolemies ruled Palestine. The non-supernaturalistic or
135
materialistic views of New Testament Sadducees and those they succeeded are a case in point.
For a traditional Jew of the day, nature is indeed impersonal, but it is not all there is. Beyond nature is a
transcendent God who has created and chosen to reveal Himself to His creation. Moreover, among all
other peoples, only the Jews held to moral absolutes—commands to observe a code of conduct with
details on what to follow or avoid. They alone had a concept of a totally holy or righteous God, who
exemplified the standard of conduct He expected human beings to attain.

Social Backgrounds

Among other Greek-center cities, Alexandria was increasingly becoming the hub of Hellenization. The
Jews did not escape the pan-Hellenism that engulfed the region. When Ptolemy captured Jerusalem in
301 BCE, he enslaved many Jews and carried them off to Alexandria. Josephus notes that many of the
captives were treated like Greek citizens and occupied respected ranks in Alexandrian culture

134 Vos, H. F. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible manners & customs: how the people of the Bible really lived (pp.
351–352). Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers.
135 Ibid. p. 350.

90