The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

88 his exclusive concern with privileges that could not be shared. " 97 The attitude towards Gentiles fostered in the OId Testament was one of compassion and openness. 98 Indeed , Israel 's mission given upon the very establishment of the law was that she would be a light to the Gentiles (Exod 19:6)! It was not until the experience of Gentile domination beginning with the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B. C . and continuing through the intertestamental period with the threat of Hellenism from the fourth century onward that the Jewish attitude toward Gentiles began to harden. This stimulated the growth of protectionist and isolationist barriers against all but the most necessary of Gentile associations. The OT commands include circumcision, Sabbath observance , and kosher regulations . During the intertestamental period special emphasis was placed upon these three and other prohibitions , including restrictions upon dining companions (an issue specifically raised in Acts 11 :3). They had been turned first into instruments for protection of racial , cultural , national and religious identity and then into emblems of Jewish superi– ority , privilege and exclusivism. Post-Biblical Judaism displayed a variety of attitudes toward non-Jews, almost all negative. Gentiles were godless , idolatrous , unclean and rejec ted by God . Dealings with them made Jews unclean. 99 It was not the Law which stood in the way of the Gentile mission, rather it was the xenopho– bia which had developed since the close of the Old Testament , and this attitude could be addressed apart from the abrogation of Moses . 100 97 Scott, "The Cornelius Incident in the Light of its Jewish Setting," 476. 98 Cf. fo r example, Exod 23: 9; Lev 19:33-34 and 23:22. According to Number 15:14-16 a Gentile who was so inclined could even bring acrifice to the Temple in the am way as Israelites, though thi certainly was not the attitude of fir t-century Judai m. The placard which apparently existed during Jesus time warning that Gentile c uld nl ent r th Temple area upon the pain of death demon trate the change in attitude during th interte tamental period. 99 cott, 'The orneliu Incident," 476-77. ott footnote Midra h Rabba n Le iticu 20 or thi la t ntence . 100 Intere tin ly, hen Pet r bj ct to i iting in a ntile h u , " ou kn unla ,Jul It 1 o am n wh i a Je t ith f r i n r r i it him" ( 10: doe not u the mo t common w rd to r f r t r h , i.. , oµo<;, but r· th r '8EµtToe,, 1i h Bru tran lat a taboo, Brue , t. , . P rh p P t r i dmittin th t h i