A Study on the Inter-Testamental Period

You can now download the study using Box.file–look to the right.  Scroll down, click on Inter-Testamental Study and download the pdf file to your computer.

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I finished teaching a Sunday AM class on the Inter-Testamental Period last week.  A lot happened in that period that is relevant to studying the New Testament. I edited and put all the handouts in one file.  .

The Notes are mainly the handout so they don’t include everything and not even some of the good question.  I guess I should add that, huh?  Here are some thoughts, questions, and reasons to study this time period:

• It helps to understand the world (political and religious) that Jesus was born into.
• Synagogue, Sanhedrin, Pharisees, and Sadducees are not mentioned in the OT because they had not developed yet, but they are vital to the world Jesus lived in.
• Was God really silent and inactive for four years?
• What happened to the Jews during this time?
• The section on the Septuagint is helpful in discussion translations and versions.
• Did you know that Paul probably used the Greek OT more than the Hebrew?
• The section on the Apocrypha is helpful in thinking about the Canon.
• These writings, still found in the Catholic Bible, were included in all copies of the Bible until the 1500s.  Are we missing out?
• For teaching, definitely get a book like Victor Matthews “Manners and Customs in the Bible” or any NT Survey or Intro, and the link below to a Bible History site was very helpful.

Lesson 1–Important Gentiles in the Inter-Testamental Period

Lesson 2–God’s People during the Inter-Testamental Period

Lesson 3–Development of Synagogue and Sanhedrin

Lesson 4–Origin of Pharisees and Sadducees

Lesson 5–The Story of the Septuagint (LXX)

Lesson 6–Intro to a Survey of the Apocryphal Writings

Bibliography

Between the Testaments. Charles F. Pfeiffer. Baker House Books, 1959.

Detailed Intertestamental Timeline with Notes on Judaism. Rusty Russell
http://www.bible-history.com/resource/r_inter.htm

How We Got the Bible. 3^rd. Ed. Rev/Expanded. Neil R. Lightfoot. Baker Books, 2003.

The Inter-Testament Period. (Bible Study Textbook Series). William Smith (Rev. by Wilbur Fields). College Press, Joplin, 1972.

Manners and Customs in the Bible. Rev. Ed. Victor H. Matthews. Hendrickson, 2003.

New Testament Survey. Rev. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. Eerdmans, 1997.