Sources

Primary sources for the period are the deuterocanonical literature (mostly 1–2 Maccabees) and the works of the Jewish historian Josephus (ad 37–100). The Dead Sea Scrolls provide some early contemporary manuscripts of the deuterocanonical literature. The Qumran community composed the Dead Sea Scrolls over a span of about 135 years from 175 bc (or shortly before) to about 40 bc (Burrows, Dead Sea Scrolls, 123). Though portions of these documents were not completed until later (ad 70 for the Dead Sea Scrolls and ad 93 for Josephus), some of them date to the time between the testaments (Burrows, Dead Sea Scrolls, 118; Josephus, Jewish War 1.3 [Whiston]).

This historical period has been the subject of many studies that examine the primary sources in detail. Valuable studies of this period include:

• John Collins and George Sterling’s Hellenism in the Land of Israel, a collection of papers presented at a conference on Hellenism in the land of Israel at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago in April 1999

• Gruen’s Heritage and Hellenism, in which he dialogues with a broad range of contemporary scholars

• Collins’ Between Athens and Jerusalem, in which he engages in a discussion of teachings that made up the preaching Jews heard in synagogues

• Tcherikover’s Hellenistic Civilization and the Jews, in which he presents an extensive discussion of the whole period

Scholarship has also examined the common view that the synagogue originated during the time of the Babylonian captivity—a view that many scholars now consider outdated. In 1970, students of this subject began to seek alternative views (Donald Binder, Into the Temple Courts: The Place of the Synagogues in the Second Temple Period, 1–22). There is a growing interest in Diaspora Jews in this regard. Studies include:

• Barclay’s comprehensive and multifaceted survey of Diaspora communities and Diaspora literature in Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora)

• Cohen’s analysis of Judaism’s development from the early years of the Roman Empire to the formative period of rabbinic Judaism (Shaye Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah)