INTERTESTAMENTAL PERIOD -There were 400 Years between the end of The Old Testament and the opening of The New Testament. -There were no prophetic or inspired writings or at least none that God saw fit to include in The Bible (the apocrypha origins could not be traced therefore even though the Jews and catholic keep those books, they are separated from the original writing by putting them at the end of their perspective bibles.) - The book of Esther the Old Testament ends with the Persians being the main world power and they were in power (539BC - 331BC) - The Persians were destroyed by the Greeks led by Alexander the Great who ruled from (331BC - 168BC) -The Greeks introduce the Greek culture the Greek language as the common language hence the reason why the New Testament is written in Greek. -For this reason, the 1st translation of the Hebrew Old Testament was called the Septuagint or the Greek version of the Old Testament (many Hebrews at this time have lost their heritage (language & culture) and wanted to learn from the Old Testament.) - Following the death of Alexander, the Great, the Romans reigned from (168BC - 476AD) hence why the Jewish people were under Roman rule at the time of the birth of Christ. -During this time other religious groups such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees began to emerge within the Jewish culture. -The pharisees added their own interpretation to the Jewish law (to make sure they could stick perfectly to the law) thus becoming an external religious group that was often in conflict with Jesus’s message of love and grace. This is the backdrop upon which the New Testament begins