Intertestamental period
The intertestamental period (Protestant) or deuterocanonical period (Catholic, Orthodox) is a term for the period of time between the events of the protocanonical books and the New Testament. Traditionally, it is considered to cover roughly four hundred years, spanning the ministry of Malachi (c. 420 BC) to the appearance of John the Baptist in the early 1st century AD. It is roughly contiguous with the Second Temple period (516 BC-70 AD) and encompasses the age of Hellenistic Judaism.
It is known by some members of the Protestant community as the "400 Silent Years" because it was a span where no new prophets were raised and God revealed nothing new to his people.[1] Many of the deuterocanonical books, accepted as scripture by Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, were written during this time. This is also the time when many pseudepigraphal works were produced. An understanding of the events of the intertestamental period provides context for the New Testament.
Significant events
- Beginnings of the Jewish diaspora and Hellenistic Judaism
- Establishment of the first synagogues
- Change in common language from Hebrew to Greek and Aramaic
- The events of the Maccabean Revolt, as documented in the Books of the Maccabees
- Reign of the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties, followed by Roman rule
- Production of the Greek Septuagint, the first translation of the Hebrew scriptures into another language[2]
- Writing of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the rediscovery of which became central to modern Biblical criticism[2]
- Writing of the biblical apocrypha (ISBE, vol 1, p. 457) and pseudepigrapha (ISBE, vol 1, p. 457)
- Writing of the Book of Daniel
See also
References
- Lambert, Lance. "400 Silent Years: Anything but Silent". Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
- Brown, S. Kent; Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel (December 2014). "The Lost 500 Years: From Malachi to John the Baptist". Ensign: 56–60.
Further reading
- The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Vol 1, Page 457 "Literary Activity"
- Pfeiffer, Charles F. Between the Testaments. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House, 1959. 132 p.
- Carroll, Benajah Harvey. Between the Testaments (PDF) (PDF). Woodstock, VA: Grace Baptist Church. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2015.