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Is Judaism the Religion of Moses? 61

Many Jews enjoyed the new culture, the new types of learning and philosophies of thought
that came with it. The Greek philosopher, the Greek artist and the Greek man of letters became fig-
ures of great respect and admiration to the majority of Jews -- especially of the learned classes. Al-
most everything that was Hellenistic became the object of imitation. The older customs were
looked on as relics of antiquity that, if they were to be observed at all, had to be greatly modified ac-
cording to the new methods of interpretation promoted by Hellenism.

Greek culture, Greek literature, were thrown open to the peoples of Nearer Asia, and they
pressed into its pale. They had native literatures [including the Scriptures], BUT THESE IN
THE NEW DAYLIGHT LOOKED POOR AND UNFORMED: NOW THOSE WHO
WROTE MUST WRITE GREEK, THOSE WHO THOUGHT MUST THINK ON THE
LINES OF GREEK SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY" (Bevan, Jerusalem Under the High
Priests, p. 37).

Virtually everything was changed to conform to this new way of life. EVEN THE
SCRIPTURE, WHEN READ, WAS INTERPRETED IN THE NEW LIGHT OF HELLENISM
(Lieberman, Hellenism in Jewish Palestine, pp. 62-64). The people abandoned the simple teach-
ings of Scripture and modified or disregarded them, and in its place substituted the new customs and
practices of Hellenism.

It is not at all amazing that within the space of a short hundred years that such a change could
take place. The same thing has happened in the Christian world in the century following 1850 with
the introduction of evolution and higher criticism.

The Jews in Egypt

At the beginning of Egyptian rule in Palestine, many thousands of Jews were carried captive
to Egypt by Ptolemy I. These Jews were taken there as slaves to do menial tasks for the Egyptians
or for garrison duty in Ptolemy's army. But under Ptolemy II these Jews gained their freedom. Ptol-
emy II was inclined to favor the Jews as a whole AND HIS KIND TREATMENT PROMPTED
MANY JEWS TO ACCEPT HELLENISM EVEN THAT MUCH MORE. As a result of Ptolemy's
clemency toward the Jews, many thousands of others voluntarily left Palestine for Egypt. The ma-
jority of these settled in Alexandria on the north coast of Egypt. In a very short time there were so
many Jews in Alexandria that a full quarter of the city was Jewish!

Those Jews who went to Egypt abandoned the Hebrew language and completely adopted
Greek. Alexandria became one of the centers of Hellenistic influence in the world at that time, and
the Jews who resided in the city assimilated the Greek culture with even less inhibitions than their
brethren in Palestine. In Alexandria there was virtual adherence to Hellenism's doctrines by all the
populace.

The Septuagint Translation

It was during this time of religious anarchy in Palestine and Egypt, that the Old Testament was
corrupted and then translated into Greek. This first Greek translation is called the Septuagint Ver-
sion of the Old Testament.

The Berean Voice July-August 2002