Diaspora

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(Or DISPERSION).

Diaspora was the name given to the countries (outside of Palestine) through which theJews were dispersed, and secondarily to theJews living in those countries. The Greek term,diaspora, corresponds to theHebrew meaning "exile" (cf.Jeremiah 24:5). It occurs in the Greek version of theOld Testament, e.g.Deuteronomy 28:25 and30:4, where the dispersion of theJews among the nations is foretold as the punishment of their apostasy. InJohn 7:35, the word is used implying disdain: "TheJews therefore said among themselves: Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? Will he go unto the dispersed among theGentiles?" Two of theCatholic Epistles, viz. that of James and I Peter, are addressed to theneophytes of the Diaspora. InActs 2 are enumerated the principal countries from which theJews came who heard the Apostles preach at Pentecost, everyone "in his own tongue". The Diaspora was the result of the various deportations ofJews which invariably followed the invasion or conquest of Palestine. The first deportation took place after the capture ofSamaria by Shalmaneser (Salmanasar) and Sargon, when a portion of the Ten Tribes were carried into the regions of the Euphrates and intoMedia, 721 B.C. (2 Kings 17). In 587 B.C. the Kingdom of Juda was transported into Mesopotamia. When, about fifty years later, Cyrus allowed theJews to return to their country, only the poorer and more fervent availed themselves of the permission The richerfamilies remained inBabylonia forming the beginning of a numerous and influential community. The conquests of Alexander the Great caused the spreading ofJews throughoutAsia andSyria. Seleucus Nicator made theJews citizens in the cities he built in his dominions, and gave them equalrights with the Greeks and Macedonians. (Josephus, Antiquities, XII, iii, l.) Shortly after the transportation of Juda intoBabylonia a number ofJews who had been left in Palestinevoluntarilyemigrated intoEgypt. (Jeremiah 42-44) They formed the nucleus of the famous Alexandrine colony. But the great transportation intoEgypt was effected by Ptolemy Soter. "And Ptolemy took many captives both from the mountainous parts ofJudea and from the places aboutJerusalem and Samaria and led them intoEgypt and settled them there" (Antiquities, XII, I, 1). InRome there was already a community ofJews at the time of Caesar. It is mentioned in adecree of Caesar cited byJosephus (Ant., XLV, x, 8). After the destruction ofJerusalem by Titus thousands of Jewish slaves were placed upon the market. They formed the nucleus of settlements inAfrica,Italy,Spain, and Gaul. At the time of the Apostles the number ofJews in the Diaspora was exceedingly great. The Jewish author of the Sibylline Oracles (2nd century B.C.) could already say of his countrymen: "Every land and every sea is full of them" (Or. Sib., III, 271).Josephus mentioning the riches of the temple says: "Let no one wonder that there was so much wealth in our temple since all theJews throughout the habitable earth sent their contributions" (Ant., XIV, vii, 2). TheJews of the Diaspora paid a temple tax, a kind ofPeter's-pence; a didrachma being required from every male adult. The sums transmitted to Jerusalem were at times so large as to cause an inconvenient drainage of gold, which more than once induced the Roman government either to stop the transmittance or even to confiscate it.

Though the DiasporaJews were, on the whole, faithful to their religion, there was a noticeable difference oftheological opinion between theBabylonian and AlexandrineJew. In Mesopotamia theJews read and studied theBible in Hebrew. This was comparatively easy to them since Chaldee, their vernacular, was kindred to the Hebrew. TheJews inEgypt and throughoutEurope, commonly called HellenisticJews, soon forgot Hebrew. A Greek version of theBible, theSeptuagint, was made for them. The consequence was that they were less ardent in the punctilious observance of their Law. Like theSamaritans they showed aschismatic tendency by erecting a rival temple to that inJerusalem. It was built by the son of Onias thehigh-priest in Leontopolis in LowerEgypt during the reign of Ptolemy Philometor, 160 B.C., and was destroyed 70 B.C. (Ant., XIII, iii,sects. 2, 3). It is a curious fact that whereas HellenisticJudaism became the soil in whichChristianity took root and waxed strong, the colony inBabylonia remained a stronghold oforthodoxJudaism and produced its famous Talmud. The deeply-rooted antagonism between theJews and Greeks made the amalgamation of the two races impossible. Though some of theSeleucids and Ptolemies, such as Seleucus Nicator and Antiochus the Great, were favourable towards theJews, there was constant friction between the two elements inSyria andEgypt. Occasional pillage and massacre were the inevitable result. Thus on one occasion the Greeks in Seleucia andSyria massacred some 50,000Jews (Ant., XVIII, ix, 9). On another occasion theJews, getting the upper hand inCyprus, killed the Greek inhabitants ofSalamis and were in consequence banished from the island (Dio Cassius, LXVIII, 23). In Alexandria it was foundnecessary to confine theJews to a separate quarter, or ghetto. The Roman Empire was on the whole well-disposed towards theJews of the Diaspora. They had everywhere the right of residence and could not be expelled. The two exceptions were the expulsion of theJews fromRome underTiberius (Ant., XVIII, iii, 5) and under Claudius (Acts 18:2). But both these instances were of short duration. Their cult was declared a religio licita. All communities had theirsynagogue,proseuchai orsabbateia, which served also aslibraries and places of assembly. The most famous was that in Antioch (De bell. Jud., VII, iii 3). They had their cemeteries; inRome, like theChristians, they buried their dead incatacombs. They were allowed freely to observe theirsabbaths, festivals, and dietarylaws. They were exempt from the emperor-worship and from military service. ManyJews enjoyed Roman citizenship, e.g.St. Paul (Acts 16:37-39). In many places the Jewish community formed a recognized organization with administrative, judicial, and financial powers. It was ruled by a council calledgerousia, composed of elders,presbyteroi, at the head of which was the archon. Another token of the freedom which theJews enjoyed throughout the empire was their active propagandism (cf.Matthew 23:15). Theneophytes were calledphoboumenoi orsebomenoi, i.e. God-fearing (Acts 13:16, 26, 43; Antiquities, XIV, 7:2). Their number appears to have been very great.St. Paul met them in almost all the cities he visited.Josephus, praising the excellence of the Law, says: "the multitude ofmankind itself has had a great inclination to follow our religious observances. There is not a city of the Grecians or Sabarians, where our customs and the prohibition as to our food are not observed" etc. (Contra Apion., II, xl). Many of the converts were distinguishedpersons, e.g. Aguila, the chamberlain of theQueen Candace (Acts 8:26 sq.); Azizus, King ofEmesa, and Polemo, King of Cilicia (Ant., xx, vii); the patrician lady Fulvia (Ant., XVIII, iii, 5).

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