Clifford Denton looks at the second Jewish Revolt, in 132 AD, and the impact it had on local Christians and Jews.

In the previous study we summarised the events leading up to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Many of Jesus' disciples were living in Jerusalem at the time, and their relationship with the Jewish community was influenced to some extent by the events of the day, especially according to the way the disciples responded to the growing emergency, which many would have seen as fulfillment of prophecy. Let us now consider the period of history that followed.

Between the Revolts

The period between the First and Second Jewish Revolts, 74-132 AD, was a period that saw several changes in Roman Emperors. Vespasian ruled for ten years until 79 AD. His son Titus succeeded him until 81, followed by Domitian until 96, Nerva until 98, Trajan to 117 and Hadrian until 138. These Emperors had different characters. For example, while Domitian was somewhat despotic, Nerva carried more of a social concern. Rome under Trajan and Hadrian was prosperous and well organised. The character of Rome under the different emperors would have its effects on the Jews in the Diaspora and in Judaea.

The period between the First and Second Jewish Revolts saw a succession of different Roman Emperors, each of which governed with a different character.

In the time of Trajan there was something of an uprising among (mainly) the Jews in the Diaspora, called the Quietus War of 115-117. This uprising was so called because it was quelled in Mesopotamia by Lucius Quietus, who cruelly slaughtered thousands of Jews. He was then named procurator of the province of Judaea. It appears that Judaea became a consulate rather than a praetorian province, and it was at this time that it acquired the name Palestine and was policed by two legions rather than one.

Judaea under Quietus

During these years Judaea went through social and economic changes. Jews were expelled from some cities and others were built. After its destruction, the Diaspora Jews were no longer able to come to the Temple for festivals, though pilgrimages were still made by some.

Aspects of religious study continued among new groups, as some of the religious leaders had been careful in their relationship with Rome. The Pharisees gradually disappeared after 70 AD. New groups of Rabbis emerged stressing the importance of study of Torah, there being a need to adjust to the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem. There was also a renewed study of the Oral Traditions. The Rabbis taught a Torah lifestyle and generally worked to earn their own living.

Under leading Rabbis, including Johanan ben Zakkai, Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Ishmael ben Elisha, Gamaliel II, Akiba and Tarfon began a new wave of consolidation of Judaism. One school of Rabbis worked out of Tiberias. Johanan ben Zakkai had obtained permission to work in Jabneh. He and Gamaliel II set up a Bet Din as a continuation of the Sanhedrin. Some steps were made towards the canonisation of the Tanach (Old Testament) by 100 AD and progress was made with the codification of the Oral Traditions into the Mishnah, which was completed around 200 AD. It was also during this period that synagogues sprung up as local centres for meeting, study and prayer.

After the destruction of the Temple, aspects of religious study still continued in Judaea and the Diaspora, with new schools of Rabbis beginning a wave of consolidation of Judaism.

The Second Jewish Revolt

There were a number of contributing factors to the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome, which started in 132 AD. Under Hadrian there was a political consolidation of the Empire, rather than an extension. In Israel (at this time called Palestine), Hadrian sought to keep Greek and Jewish inhabitants apart, since there was an inherent tension between the communities. Economically there was deterioration and this especially affected the lives of those who were leaseholders of land.

Historians have discussed other more direct causes. It is considered that a contributing factor was that Hadrian planned to rebuild Jerusalem as a Graeco-Roman city called Aelia Capitolina. He is also, at some stage, thought to have forbidden circumcision (however, some historians see the prohibition of circumcision as a consequence rather than a cause of the revolt). It is quite likely that the re-modeling of Jerusalem was a consequence of Hadrian's visit to the land in 130 AD and so this more likely to have fuelled the revolt under Bar Kokhba in 132 AD than the issue of circumcision. Most of the Rabbis also distanced themselves from the revolutionaries (an exception was Akiba who was later listed among the martyrs).

Guerrilla Warfare

The revolt under Simon Bar Kokhba, considered by some of his followers to be the Messiah, was concentrated mainly in Judaea, and began in the early part of 132. Herodium was captured (among other fortresses) and guerrilla warfare was waged from hideouts including caves. The Roman troops were mainly in Galilee at the outbreak of the revolt and, in the early days in the south, care was taken to avoid an open confrontation with Bar Kokhba. It is likely that the rebels took and held Jerusalem for a period.

Hadrian appointed Julius Severus to put down the revolt and he pursued the rebels so that they were trapped in their hideouts, gradually forcing surrender through lack of food. Some horrendous slaughter took place. One of the last strongholds was Bethar, which was hard to take because of its natural protection by three ravines and a fortified ditch. When it was finally taken, the rebellion had proceeded for three years up to 135.

Bar Kokhba and Rabbi Akiba were among the dead and the tradition is that the final slaughter took place on 9th Av, the date of the fall of both the first and the second Temple. During the revolt, Bar Kokhba and his followers had sought to re-establish the community of Israel and had minted their own coins, but this second major Jewish Revolt was quelled by the Romans just like the first, 60 years earlier.

The rebellion was final put down in 135 AD, and the tradition is that the final slaughter took place on 9th Av, the date of the fall of both the first and the second Temple.

Lasting Consequences

In A History of Israel to Bar Kochba (SCM, 2009) Jagersma writes about the tragic consequences of this conflict (p160):

The Roman victory over Bar Kokhba and his followers must have cost them dearly. This is to be concluded from the fact that in his account of this event to the Roman senate, Hadrian left out the customary formula, 'all is well with me and my legions' (Dio Cassius LXIX 14,3). Moreover, Judaea had suffered so much from the revolt that to all intents and purposes an important province was lost to Rome.

Even more serious were the consequences for the Judaeans themselves. Countless of them were killed in battle, while after the revolt many were sold as slaves. The story even goes that the number of Judaean slaves was so great that in the market in Hebron a Jewish slave did not cost more than a horse.

Jerusalem was now a completely Gentile city under the name of Aelia Capitolina. Judaeans were forbidden to enter the city on pain of death. According to Dio Cassius (LXIX 2,1), a shrine to Jupiter was built on the site of the ruined temple, but this seems far from certain.

In various rabbinic sources it is suggested that during and above all after the revolt there was a religious persecution in Palestine. Circumcision, the observance of the Sabbath and the teaching of the Torah are said to have been forbidden. All we can demonstrate with any certainty is a prohibition of circumcision, since later under Antonius Pius (138-161) the rescinding of such a prohibition is recorded.

After this revolt an extremely hard and difficult time dawned for the Jewish people. Deprived of their political homeland, the Torah was the only bond that held them together. History has shown just how strong this bond has been over the course of time. [emphases added]

Jagersma writes that the Revolt cost both Rome and the Judaeans dearly. Jerusalem was re-built as a Gentile city and Jewish religious practices were banned.

But where were Jewish Christians in this uprising? In Our Father Abraham (p82-83) Marvin Wilson elaborates on the response of Christians to the two Revolts, and the impact this had on Jewish-Christian relations:

As they had in the First Jewish Revolt, the Jewish Christians refused to fight. Failure to assist their countrymen in this final ill-fated drive for national independence alienated them even further from the Jewish community. It also left them more vulnerable to persecution. A second factor which created a significant wedge between the two groups centered on Bar Kokhba. The Jewish Christians had but one Messiah, the risen Jesus of Nazareth, who could command their allegiance. Their loyalty could not be directed to both Yeshua (Jesus) and Simon. Thus commitment to the cause of Bar Kokhba may have "virtually meant a denial of the Messiahship of Jesus." [here quoting from The Jewish People and Jesus Christ, by Jacob Jocz, Baker Book House, 1979]

But in parallel vein, the Jewish community made its own statement to the Jewish Christians by supporting Bar Kokhba's cause. Its allegiance to its own messianic movement, spawned by its own charismatic leader, signaled clearly its final rejection of Jesus as Messiah. Henceforth, this would result in a marked change in missionary activity...Until this point, the pressure for separation of the two communities had come from the Jewish side. But those Jews who believed in Jesus sought to remain within the synagogue, or at the very least, under the religious umbrella of Judaism...But the Second Jewish Revolt forced Jewish Christians to separate themselves from those associated with Bar Kokhba's cause. The impetus for dissociation and detachment came from them and no longer from the other side. [emphases added]

For Reflection and Comment

Can we learn any lessons from the Christian reaction to the Jewish revolts that will help us respond to current conflicts in the Middle East?

How important is it for Christians to study the history of Israel and the Jews?

Next time: The Parting of the Ways.