The Neo-Babylonian Empire began to decline after 587 B.C.E., ultimately falling to the Persians under CyrusPersian leader who allowed Jewish exiles to return home. the Great in 539 B.C.E. The end of Neo-Babylonian dominance made possible the return of the exiles to JudahJudah was the name of Jacob's fourth son and one of the 12 tribes. and the restoration of their templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... and community. Biblical texts (2 Chronicles 36:23; EzraScribe who helped establish Jewish practices in Jerusalem after the exile. 1:2-4) corroborate the Persian policy of governing subject peoples in their own land and respecting the various deities worshiped in the empire. Not everyone, however, took advantage of this policy. Many chose to remain in Babylon, where Jewish scholarship eventually produced the Babylonian TalmudThe Talmud is one of the most important texts of Judaism., the primary work of Jewish rabbinical interpretation (about 500 C.E.). Other Jews of the DiasporaDiaspora is separation or dispersion of people from their homeland. Historically, the Jews who have been scattered from their native Palestine are said to be in Dispersion or Diaspora. , in what was to become Alexandria in Egypt during the Greek period, produced the SeptuagintThe Septuagint is a pre-Christian (third to first century BCE) Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures. It is believed that the term Septuagint derives from the number of scholars-seventy (or seventy-two)-who reputedly did the work of translation. (the enormously influential Greek translation of the Old Testament) and the ApocryphaApocrypha refers to a collection of writings that, in the judgment of a particular group, are not to be considered as part of the established, authoritative books of the Bible. Several books that Protestants consider apocryphal, such as Judith and Bel and the Dragon, appear... (found in Roman Catholic and Orthodox Bibles).
Those that did return to Judah found their homeland impoverished. Following the relocation of populations, political control was maintained through local governors whose primary task was to ensure the payment of royal taxes. The Persians also financed the restoration of temples, though the primary function of these institutions was the administration of Persian policy. Ezra 1 and 6 describe the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple as mandated and financed by the Persian crown. Nehemiah’s commission by the Persian king to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem indicates the strategic importance of the province to the empire (NehemiahThe governor of Jerusalem who rebuilt the city walls after the exile. 1), as does the heavy tribute paid to PersiaPersia was a southwestern Asian country. The Persian empire was a series of empires that occupied what is currently Afghanistan and Iran from 600 B.C.E. forward. Rulers of the Persian empire mentioned in the Bible are Cyrus and Darius. (Nehemiah 9:36-37). The prophets HaggaiProphet who urged rebuilding the Temple after the exile. and Zechariah encouraged the people to rebuild the temple, promising that the “treasure of all the nations” would finance the project.
Significantly, the people were no longer defined politically and geographically, but ethnically and especially religiously. With the temple as the center of the restored community, the High PriestThe high priest was the most powerful priest in the temple in Jerusalem. The high priest Caiaphas held the office during the trial of Jesus. Later, in the New Testament book of Hebrews, the role of merciful high priest is ascribed to the resurrected Jesus. “ruled” in the absence of a king. The Jewish communities of Alexandria, Babylon, Elephantine, and elsewhere came to be known as the Diaspora and distinguished themselves from those who had not experienced exile, as did those who had remained in Judah. Both Judaism and Christianity would survive in a pluralistic world thanks to the lessons learned here.
During this time, the PentateuchThe Pentateuch is a Christian term the first five books of the Old Testament. These books contain stories of Israel's early history, God's covenants, and many laws such as the Ten Commandments). and much of the prophetic literature reached their final form. Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, IsaiahIsaiah, son of Amoz, who prophesied in Jerusalem, is included among the prophets of the eighth century BCE (along with Amos, Hosea, and Micah)--preachers who boldly proclaimed God's word of judgment against the economic, social, and religious disorders of their time. 56-66, Job, parts of the PsalterThe psalter is a volume containing the book of Psalms (see Psalm). In the early Middle Ages psalters were popular and contained - in addition to the psalms - calendars, litanies of saints, and other devotional texts. and Proverbs, and perhaps Joel and Ecclesiastes were composed in this prolific period.
