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{en} History of the Hebrews’ Second Commonwealth with Special Reference to Its Literature, Culture, and the Origin of Rabbinism and Christianity (1880) is a book by Isaac Mayer Wise.

Abstract

"The present volume, though a complete book in itself, is a continuation of the author's History of the Israelitish nation. Albany, 1854."

A lucid and engaging critical presentation of the Hebrews' Second Commonwealth, spanning from 536 B.C. to 74 A.D., Wise underscores the innovations and patriotism of the Hebrew people during this period. Highlights include: (1) the political history of Persia, Egypt, Syria, Greece, Rome, and Parthia, (2) the origins of almost all the books in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocrypha of the OT, LXX, and early writings in the NT, (3) the origins of the Great Synod, Sanhedrim, and civil and constitutional law, (4) a biography of principle actors from the Christian tradition such as John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth, and Paul of Tarsus, (5) and the rise of the monotheistic religions of Judaism and Christianity out of their struggle with polytheism. With this work, Wise is one of the first Jewish authors to engage both Rabbinic and Christian origins and to claim the Jewish origins of key figures within Christianity and to place them clearly within the history of the Hebrew people. -- Deborah Forger, University of Michigan

Editions

Published in Cincinnati, OH: Bloch Publishing Company, 1880.

Table of Contents

I. The Medo-Persian Period (536 B.C. - 332 B.C.)

• Chapter I – Restoration of the Temple
• Chapter II – Restoration of the Law – Ezra
• Chapter III – Restoration of the State – Nehemiah
• Chapter IV – Judea under the Government of High priests
• Chapter V – Literature and Culture of the Medo-Persian Period

II. The Grecian Period (332 B.C. - 167 B.C.)

• Chapter VI – Judea under European Rulers – Alexander
• Chapter VII – Palestine under Egyptian Rules – The Ptolemys
• Chapter VIII – Palestine under Syrian Rulers – The Seleucids
• Chapter IX – Literature and Culture of the Grecian Period

III. The Revolutionary Period (167 B.C. - 142 B.C.)

• Chapter X – Mattathia Starts the Rebellion
• Chapter XI – Juda Maccabee Save the Commonwealth
• Chapter XII – Jonathan and Simon Achieve Independence
• Chapter XIII – Literature and Culture at Home and Abroad

IV. The Period of Independence (142 B.C. - 63 B.C.)

• Chapter XIV – The Epoch of Popular Government
• Chapter XV – The Epoch of Royal Usurpation
• Chapter XVI – The Epoch of Pacification
• Chapter XVII – The Brothers’ Feud and Foreign Intervention

V. Palestine under Roman Vassal Kings (63 B.C. - 7 A.D.)

• Chapter XVIII – The Last of the Asmonean Rulers
• Chapter XIX – Herod and Hillel
• Chapter XX – The Fruits of Despotism

VI. The Rule of the Procurators (7 A.D. - 68 A.D.)

• Chapter XXI – The Messianic Commotion
• Chapter XXII – Agrippa I and his Time
• Chapter XXIII – Military Despotism and its Effects

VII. The Catastrophe (68 A.D. - 74 A.D.)

• Chapter XXIV – Preludes to the War
• Chapter XXV – The First Period of the War
• Chapter XXVI – The Destruction of Jerusalem
• Chapter XXVII – The Inheritance

External Links

• Google books (full view)