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58 Is Judaism the Religion of Moses?

Think of what this means! For a period of nearly one hundred years, approximating the time
of Egyptian rule, there is no record of any religious activity among the Jews! This is the only period
in the history of the Jews in Palestine of which NOTHING is recorded!

What all the factors were that caused the Jews to be in such a condition, cannot now be
known. What we do know is that one of the major reasons was the influence of Hellenism -- the cul-
ture of the Greeks -- as propagated by the Egyptians.

This philosophy of life -- Hellenism -- was exerted upon all peoples subject to the Egyp-
tians. It was taken for granted that all persons within Egyptian territory would follow the dictates of
the government in this matter. If, however, any individual or group of people felt inclined to resist
this Hellenistic culture, the government took matters into its own hands and compelled the people
to do their bidding.

The Gift of Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great had left, as a gift to his successors, the conception of Hellenizing the
whole of his empire. His reason for this was strictly political. He fancied that all his subjects, being
Hellenists, would represent a unified empire, not one of diverse ideas and philosophies constantly
causing troubles with inevitable bickerings and strifes.

This same belief was existent in the subsequent divisions of Alexander's Empire. Alexan-
der's successors saw that the continued dissemination of Hellenism would work to their advantage.
This was certainly true in Egypt. Ptolemy -- Alexander's successor in Egypt -- carried on the cam-
paign of preaching this Greek culture to his subjects -- and the Jews did not escape its influence.

It was impossible to avoid its influence. The Greek language was the language of com-
merce and social intercourse generally, and it became a matter of necessity to acquire fluency in
Greek (Herford, Talmud and Apocrypha, p. 77).

By the constant hearing and speaking of Greek it was a natural consequence that the ideas
which lay behind the language would become known, and in many cases, begin to be practiced.
"There was no escape from that influence [Hellenism]. It was present everywhere, in the street and
the market, in the everyday life and all phases of social intercourse" (ibid., p. 77).

The Jews, of all people conquered by Alexander the Great and his various successors, were
seemingly the least likely to adopt the Greek culture. BUT THE VERY NOVELTY OF IT, THE
VARIETY OF ITS NEW INTERESTS AND PLEASURES MADE IT EXCEEDINGLY
ATTRACTIVE TO THE MAJORITY OF THE JEWS!

It is, of course, not to be supposed that every individual was naturally attracted to Helle-
nism. This was not the case. But, everyone was affected by it, some to a limited degree, while oth-
ers became outright Hellenists. "It is safe to say that NO ONE, high or low, who was living in Judea
in the period which includes the whole of the third and the beginning of the second century B.C.,
WHOLLY ESCAPED the influence of Hellenism" (ibid., p. 77).

The Berean Voice July-August 2002