John H. Hayes and Sara R. Mandell, the Jewish People in Classical Antiquity: from Alexander to Bar Kochba

Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998. Pp. xiv + 246. Paper, $28.00.

Probably the period of history least understood by the Church is the time between the Testaments. Yet the leaders, politics, wars, and religious schisms from this time shaped and molded the Second Testament period into what it became. Needless to say, understanding this history is vital to understanding the Second Testament period. Hayes and Mandell have put together a volume that systematically lays out this history, focusing specifically on events surrounding Judaism. The authors tell the reader that this is not just another book on the history of "normative Judaism," that is a Temple community where all the Judeans were of one mindset united under one God. Rather their position is that there was no "normative Judaism" at all, but rather various groups of Judeans divided by political or theological issues, including sect groups such as the Samaritans and Judean Christians (pp. 1-2). Their approach is that of a history of a people loosely connected by basic beliefs in the same one God, but not necessarily agreeing politically or religiously.

Hayes and Mandell have divided the book into four chapters, according to time (Ptolemaic and Seleucid Rule, Hasmoneans, Herodian Period, and Judean-Roman Wars), and then subdivided by topics. The authors do a superb job in each chapter of defining the power players (Rome, Greece, etc.) and how their administration affected vassal states, such as Judah. They also discuss in good detail how warring factions (such as Seleucids and Ptolemies, pp. 30-31) politically affected (and often divided) the Judeans. Basically, they give a world view, a history of the political situation in the Mediterranean area, before specifically focusing upon the Judean people and how those same political powers and influences affected the administration of the Judean (Temple) state. They also include theological influences that accompanied the political influences (pp. 19-20, for example). The authors identify their sources for writing a history (Josephus, 1 and 2 Macabees, Diodorus, Damascus Document, Philo, Tacitus, etc.) and comment upon the reliability of these sources. They have done a particularly good job of presenting the complex workings and influences of the Romans throughout the different periods covered in the book.

The writers have inserted several useful aids for the reader, including five relevant maps, eight charts outlining major historical events and other matters, and nine texts on related topics (such as Origins of the Qumran Community, Josephus's Description of Herod, and Accounts of the Second Judean Revolt). The book contains a general bibliography for the historical period and a detailed bibliography for each chapter, as well as scripture and subject indices.

Terry W. Eddinger
Houston Graduate School of Theology/
North Carolina Campus
High Point, NC 27262

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