INTRODUCTION TO HEBREW BIBLE--JTBA

THIS PAGE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, SO CHECK BACK FOR ADDITIONAL MATERIAL OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.

TIME SKETCH OF HEBREW HISTORY
The dates included in this chronology are approximate and many are disputed. They are intended as a general guide. Where important names of prophets are known, a short definition is given. Scripture references are given where appropriate, but they are not intended to be complete. For any possible corrections email me at philperkins99@yahoo.com. It will be appreciated.
1800 BC Abraham. Genesis 11-25.
1230 BC Moses, the Exodus, giving of the Law on Sinai. Exodus-Deuteronomy.
1190 BC Leadership of Joshua and the beginning of conquering the land. Deuteronomy 18, 34, Book of Joshua.
1125 BC Deborah and Barak defeat the Canaanites at Mount Tabor. Judges 4-5.
1050 BC Philistines capture the Ark. I Samuel 4.
1020 BC King Saul. I Samuel 10.
1005 BC King Saul killed. I Samuel 31.
1004 BC David king over Judah. II Samuel 2.
998 BC David king over all Israel and makes Jerusalem capital. II Samuel 5
967 BC King Solomon succeeds David. I Kings 1.
950 BC Solomon completes the Great Temple, Beit Ha-Mikdash (House of the Holy One). I Kings 6.
931 BC Nation splits with Solomon's son, Rehoboam ruling Benjamin and Judah from Jerusalem, and Jeroboam ruling the Ten Northern Tribes, now called Israel, and starting idol worship centered in Dan and Bethel. I Kings 12.
860 BC Prophet Elijah. (My God is Yah.) I Kings 17-II Kings 2.
750 BC Prophet Hoshea (One who saves, equivalent to "Jesus", "Hoshea", or "Joshua") and prophet Amos, both preaching against the sins of the Northern Kingdom.
722 BC Assyrians conquer the Northern Kingdom, scattering them.
720 BC Prophets Micah (Who is like Yah?) and Isaiah (Salvation of Yah) preach against the sins of the Southern Kingdom.
715 BC King Hezekiah brings reform to Southern Kingdom. II Kings 18-20.
698 BC Hezikiah's son, Manessah, reigns and reverses his father's reforms. II Kings 21.
640 BC Josiah reigns and institutes a short period of reform. II Kings 22-23.
625 BC Prophets Jeremiah (Yah loosens--a warning of upcoming disaster) and Zephaniah (Yah has treasured) warn of destruction of the Southern Kingdom.
597-581 BC Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, conquer Judah and destroy Solomon's Temple, and take three deportations to Babylon, leaving mainly peasants, shepherds, and farmers, called the am ha arets. II Kings 24, Jeremiah 52. At this time Jeremiah and Ezekiel were persecuted, including imprisonment, for warning of doom in stark contrast to other "prophets" who comforted the people.
539 BC King Cyrus of Persia defeats the Babylonians and allows exiles to return to the land and rebuild. II Chronicles 36, Book of Ezra.
515 BC Second Temple completed. Ezra 6.
450 BC Nehemiah (Yah comforts) sent by Persian to Jerusalem. Ezra 2.
428 BC Ezra (Help) sent by Persia to establish theocracy by reestablishing Torah. Ezra 7.
333 BC Alexander the Great.
165 BC Hanukah story.
63 BC Romans conquered Palestine.
70 AD Romans destroyed Second Temple.
220 AD Mishnah written down.

MAJOR JEWISH GROUPS AT THE TIME OF JESUS
Essenes.
Holy City, Jerusalem, was too holy to live in, so they lived in a dessert community.
Ascetic, disapproving bodily pleasures.
Celibate and died out.
Pharisees
The one group whose influence is still with us today in modern Judaism.
Gave us the rabbinic tradition of Jewish scholarship, starting with the rabbis of Jesus' time.
Believed Torah scholarship, prayer, and deeds of kindness brought one close to God, as opposed to Sadducees who trusted the sacrifices.
Not clerics by boodline, but by choice.
The religious forerunner of modern Judaism in all its branches.
Believed in the miraculous, resurrection, and eternal soul.
Believed on Oral Torah (Oral Tradition) in addition to Written Torah (Hebrew Bible)
Gave us the Talmud.
Ascended over the Sadducees after sacrifices ended in 70 AD.
Zealots
Goal of political and religious freedom.
Led insurrections against Rome in 70 and 132-135 AD.
Sadducees
Clerics by boodline, descendants of Zadok, from whom they get their name.
Priestly class.
Responsible for Temple sacrifices.
Believed sacrifices brought one close to God, as opposed to Pharisees who sought God through Torah scholarship, prayer, and kind deeds.
Believed only in Written Torah (Hebrew Bible).
Disbelieved afterlife. Man was not eternal.
Waned and their influence disappeared after the 70 AD temple destruction because sacrifice was no longer possible.

MODERN JEWISH DIVISIONS
Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionists, Secular Humanists,

MEASUREMENTS IN HEBREW BIBLE
What is a homer of wheat? How tall was Goliath? Six cubits? What's a cubit? Thanks to George Robinson and his book, Essential Judism, we have some answers.
LENGTH
Finger width 0.79 inch
Palm 3.18 inches
Span 5.53 inches
Cubit 19.05 inches
Reed 114.31 inches