JWST 234 Reading Outline Chapter Jews and Greeks 3 p 49 56 Theme As the Jews integrated into Greek society Jewish culture began to reflect Greek and Hellenistic practices creating a gap between resistance and assimilation I Assimilation vs Resistance a Writings II Hellenization under Ptolemaic Rule a Empire divided into two i Exagoge by Ezekiel Biblical past with Jewish cultural ii changes Embraces Greek culture Jubilees author opposed to any foreign influence on religious life Rejects Greek culture b Identity accessible to any non Greek with acceptance of culture i PRO Jews could gain stature influence or employment from the government new opportunities ii CON Displace the traditions linking Jews to their ancestors loss of independence c Alexander the Great conquered Persian Empire Hellenistic Age i Notion of citizenship education literature and architecture i Ptolemaic kingdom Egypt and Judea 1 Allowed Jews to rule their own affairs according to their ancestral laws a Jews were active participants in Alexandria s intellectual life 2 Zenon documents Palestine was controlled and exploited by Ptolemaic king maybe Ecclesiastes too 3 Earliest evidence of anti Jewish literature ii Seleucid kingdom Syria b Hellenistic rule intensified the dispersion of Jewish communities military colonies as soldiers or policemen c Biblical interpretation i Surface and literal meaning vs allegorical meaning with coded symbols for abstract concepts ii Septuagint Torah translation into Greek bridge between cultures with respect for Jewish traditions and Greek virtues III Jews in Egypt a Lived in separate semiautonomous communities b Distinct ways of worshipping temple at Leontopolis first evidence of a synagogue Hellenization was a way to preserve Jewish culture in an environment where Jews were resented by the native population and dependent upon their Greek rulers
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