Mind the Gap

Many folks view the period between the Old and New Testaments as an irrelevant gap in history, a time when not much was happening. If it were important, it would be in our Bibles, right?

This attitude also reflects scholarly views of the 19th and 20th centuries. Judaism was presented as in decline after the witness of the prophets. It is tempting for Christians to view this time as one of waiting.

However, this period, called Second Temple Judaism, is rich with theological developments that influence the authors of the New Testament.

And the chasm between Old and New Testaments is less chronological and more theological. We must realize the chronological gap between Malachi in the 5th century BCE and the Gospel of Matthew in the 1st century CE. So, turning a page in our Protestant Bibles significantly moves us forward in time. We also need to note that many books in the Old Testament were likely written in the 4th century (Esther? Ecclesiastes?). And, Daniel is a product of the 2nd century BCE. So, a gap exists, but it does not yawn.

Yet even if the gap is not huge, it remains significant. Topics that are prominent in the New Testament – messiah, demons, hell, resurrection – are properly understood historically within the context of Second Temple Judaism and not merely the Old Testament. In other words, we need texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and 1 Enoch to help us understand how certain concepts continued to develop in the last few centuries before the Common Era.

The necessary "background" for reading the New Testament is not only the Old Testament. It is a collection of Jewish writings spanning the Hellenistic, Maccabean, and Roman periods.

For a nice introduction to Second Temple Jewish literature that helps us understand the life of Jesus, see Matthias Henze, Mind the Gap: How the Jewish Writings between the Old and New Testament Help Us Understand Jesus (Fortress Press, 2017).

Upcoming Newsletter Topics

In May, we will be exploring the book of Job over several weeks. We will consider our popular understanding of Job as the story is told in the opening chapters. We will complicate that understanding as we read some of the poetic sections together.

And in June and July, we will read Steinbeck's East of Eden together. I recommend purchasing the 2002 Steinbeck Centennial Edition published by Penguin.

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