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Judith and 2 Maccabees refer to a formal governing body of Jewish elders when addressing royal policy, using similar diplomatic language. Both draw on Hellenistic administrative structures, especially the gerousia from Greek sources.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
2 Maccabees 11:27
Deuterocanon
25 choosing therefore that this nation also should be free from disturbance, we determine that their temple is to be restored to them, and that they live according to the customs that were in the days of their ancestors. 26 You will therefore do well to send messengers to them and give them the right hand of friendship, that they, knowing our mind, may be of good heart, and gladly occupy themselves with the conduct of their own affairs.” 27 And to the nation, the king’s letter was as follows: “King Antiochus to the senate of the Jews and to the other Jews, greetings. 28 If you are all well, it is as we desire. We ourselves also are in good health. 29 Menelaus informed us that your desire was to return home and follow your own business.
Date: 160–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Judith 4:8
Deuterocanon
6 Joakim the high priest, who was in those days at Jerusalem, wrote to those who lived in Bethulia and Betomesthaim, which is opposite Esdraelon toward the plain that is near to Dothaim, 7 charging them to seize upon the ascents of the hill country; because by them was the entrance into Judea, and it was easy to stop them from approaching, inasmuch as the approach was narrow, with space for two men at the most. 8 And the children of Israel did as Joakim the high priest had commanded them, as did the senate of all the people of Israel, which was in session at Jerusalem. 9 And every man of Israel cried to God with great earnestness, and with great earnestness they humbled their souls. 10 They, their wives, their children, their cattle, and every sojourner, hireling, and servant bought with their money put sackcloth on their loins.
Date: 100 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... There was a group of “elders of Israel” who helped govern the Israelites from Moses onwards, through the monarchical period, in the Babylonian exile, and after the return from exile, and the composition and functions of the institution changed over time and place; see Reviv (1989) for a survey of biblical elders. Our author may have intended no more than a general reference to a larger governing body akin to those mentioned in the Bible, but “the council of elders of all the people of Israel” perhaps points to a more technical term and institution, found in Hellenistic times. Such a gerousia is mentioned in Seleucid documents, as well as Hasmonean ones; see Josephus Antiquities 12.138, 142; 1 Maccabees 12:6 (where we find Jonathan the high priest, the gerousia, and the priests all mentioned together); 2 Maccabees 1:10; 11:27; see too 2 Maccabees 4:44; 3 Maccabees 1:8 ... We know very little of the composition and powers of the Hasmonean gerousia; indeed, some commentators attempt to learn more about this body from our text ..."
Deborah Levine Gera, Judith (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014), 179.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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