Between the Testaments

In most Bibles the period between the Old and the New Testaments is represented by a single blank page which, perhaps, has symbolic significance. 'From Malachi to Matthew' has for long remained vague and unfamiliar to many readers of the Scriptures. Many mysteries remain, but in recent times much light has been cast on this whole period. Exciting new insights have been provided by the writings of numbers of scholars and by some remarkable archaeological discoveries. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls caught the popular imagination and engaged the attention of worldwide scholarship. In this small volume an attempt is made to review these years in the light of recent study and discoveries and in particular to assess the religious contribution made by that rather strange company of men known as 'the apocalyptists'. The purpose of this book is selective rather than exhaustive, indicating the part which the apocalyptists had to play within the religious development of Judaism and in the preparation of men's minds for the coming of Christianity.

"A brief but very helpful discussion of the Judaism of the inter-testamental period, of the literature of the times that has survived, and of the message of the apocalyptic writers…"
— Andover Newton Quarterly

"This book will serve as a valuable text for students engaged in a study of Judaism in the Christian era. It includes a brief bibliography and useful indexes."
— Interpretation

Preface

PART ONE: THE CULTURAL AND LITERARY BACKGROUND

1. Judaism versus Hellenism

1. The People of the Book
   A. Greeks and Romans
   B. The Septuagint and Hellenistic Literature
   C. Greek Culture in Palestine
   D. The Religious Influence of Hellenism
   
   
2. The Reaction against Hellenism
   A. The Hellenizing Party in Jerusalem
   B. The Vengeance of Antiochus
   C. The Maccabees and the Maccabean Revolt
   D. The Hasmonean House
   E. Herod and the Romans
   

2. The People of the Book

1. Torah Religion
   A. From Temple to Torah
   B. The Rallying Point of Revolt
   C. The Holy Covenant
   
   
2. The Torah and the Sects
   A. The Pharisees
   B. The Sadducees
   C. The Essenes
   D. The Zealots
   E. The Covenanters of Qumran
   

3. The Sacred Writings

1. The Holy Scriptures
   A. The Hebrew Canon
   B. The Scriptures in the Dispersion
   
   
2. The Oral Tradition
   A. Its Origin and Development
   B. Its Form and Content
   
   
3. The 'Outside Books'
   A. The Non-canonical Literature
   B. The Milieu of Apocalyptic
   

4. The Apocryphal Literature

1. The Books Commonly called 'the Apocrypha'
   A. Their Identity
   B. Their Contents and Literary Genre
   C. Their Historical and Religious Value
   
   
2. The Other 'Apocryphal' Books (or the pseudepigrapha)
   A. Their Identity
   B. In the Qumran Community
   
   
3. The Apocryphal Books in Christianity
   A. In the New Testament
   B. In the History of the Church
   

PART TWO: THE APOCALYPTISTS

5. The Message and Method of Apocalyptic

1. The Apocalyptic Tradition
   A. The Hidden Secret
   B. The Language of Symbolism
   C. The Ezra-legend
   
   
2. Apocalyptic and Prophecy
   A. The Unity of History
   B. The Last Things
   C. The Form of Inspiration
   

6. The Messiah and the Son of Man

1. The Old Testament Background
   
   
2. The Traditional or National Messiah
   A. The Messiah not Indispensable
   B. The Levitic Messiah
   C. The Davidic Messiah
   D. The Messiah and the Dead Sea Scrolls
   E. Jesus and the Messiah
   
   
3. The Transcendent Messiah and the Son of Man
   A. The Apocalyptic Son of Man
   B. The Oriental Background
   C. The Son of Man as Messiah
   D. Suffering and Death
   E. Jesus and the Son of Man
   

7. The Resurrection and the Life Beyond

1. The Resurrection, Its Origin and Development
   A. The Old Testament Preparation
   B. Its Historical Origin
   C. Subsequent Developments
   D. The Resurrection and the Messianic Kingdom
   
   
2. The Nature of Survival
   A. Sheol, the Abode of Souls
   B. Moral Distinction in Sheol
   C. Moral Change in the Life Beyond
   D. The Individual Soul and the Final Judgment
   
   
3. The Resurrection Belief and the Nature of the Resurrection Body
   A. The Resurrection of the Body and the Survival of Personality
   B. The Resurrection body and its Relation to Its Environment
   C. The Relation of the 'spiritual' body to the physical body
   

A Select Bibliography
Rulers and Events
Index of Subjects
Index of Texts