PASSIVE RESISTANCE IN 2BARUCH AND 4EZRA

Abstract

Recent biblical scholarship has discredited the historical reconstruction that a party founded by Judas of Galilee in 6C.E. and known as the Zealots led the revolt against Rome in 66-74 C.E. The demise of this reconstruction has opened the door for a reevaluation of Jewish nationalism in first century Palestine. In this study, I shall try to show that Jewish nationalism was not restricted to military opposition to Roman rule. Some Jews who swelled the ranks of the apocalyptic communities adopted a passive resistance stance to manifest their opposition to Roman rule. By examining the apocalyptic works of 2Baruch and 4Ezra, I shall strive to demonstrate that the two communities which were responsible for these two works resented Roman rule but chose to resist the Romans nonviolently. The first chapter examines Jewish nationalism in first century Palestine. In the first sub-section, I look at the relationship between politics and religion in first century Judaism and argue that the Jews neither separated politics from religion nor understood this relationship as many modern scholars have described it. In the second sub-section of this chapter, I examine the recent reconstructions of Jewish nationalism. I also provide a critique of these reconstructions in which I argue that scholars have still given too much attention to military opposition to the detriment of other forms of resistance to Roman rule. In the second chapter, I set forth the differences between apocalypse, apocalyptic eschatology, and apocalypticism. The study of the apocalyptic phenomenon has been subdivided into three areas and I explain the aims and the methods of each area while devoting the most space to my own area of study, Jewish apocalypticism. In addition, I include a brief overview of the major theories which have been proposed thus far in the study of Jewish apocalypticism. In the third chapter, I include my social and historical analysis of 2Baruch and 4Ezra. In the first section, I focus on the laments of the human visionaries which demonstrate that the communities of 2Baruch and 4Ezra resented Roman rule. In the second section, I analyse the replies of the heavenly intermediaries which highlight the strategy employed by these two communities in dealing with the Roman menace, namely, passive resistance.