tribes of Israel (7:4-8; 21:12). The apocalyptic visions in chapters 4–22 —
the bulk of the book — do not mention Jews or attack non-Christian Ju-
daism, but early on, in the proclamation to the congregation in Smyrna,
John has the exalted Christ say, “I know the slander(blasph 3 mia)on the
part of those who say they are Jews(Ioudaioi)and are not, but are a syna-
gogue(synagZg 3 )of Satan” (2:9). The message to believers in Philadelphia
includes a similar statement (3:8). The wordIoudaioihere is a positive epi-
thet with a negative thrust. The Jewish author thinks highly of it, so highly
as to imply that he and his fellow believers have exclusive claim to it. The
Jews down the street have forfeited their right to the title, having rejected
the proclamation about Jesus while enjoying the legal privileges and ex-
emptions that the Romans granted the Jewish people. It may be that these
Jews were denying the title to partisans of Christ, and perhaps taking mea-
sures to exclude Christian believers from access to the privileges it afforded
by denouncing them before Roman authorities. But this is not clear. In any
event, this sort of name-calling was typical in intra-Jewish conflicts, as in
the Qumran sect’s labeling its opponents the “congregation of Belial.”The Gospels and Acts
At various points along the negative part of the spectrum of attitudes to-
ward Jews and Judaism are the Gospels and Acts. The Gospel of Mark and
Luke-Acts are the least vituperative, while Matthew and John are at once
the most “Jewish” and “anti-Jewish.” The anonymous Gospel of Mark was
written either just before or (less likely) just after the destruction of Jerusa-
lem and the Temple in 70c.e.It is traditionally assigned a provenance in
the city of Rome but more likely stems from somewhere in the Roman
East, perhaps in close proximity to the Jewish homeland. The closest Mark
comes to reflecting a supersessionist stance toward Judaism is in the Para-
ble of the Vineyard and the Tenants (12:1-12). There he invites his readers
to regard the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people as the landlords
of God’s vineyard (Israel) who seized and killed Jesus, God’s “beloved son.”
“What will the owner of the vineyard do?” the Markan Jesus asks. “He will
come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.” It is not
clear who Mark means by “the others” who inherit the vineyard — that is,
the patrimony of Israel in the coming kingdom of God. On Jesus’ original
telling of the parable, the “others” were probably to be understood as him-
self and the Twelve, who would be the nation’s new leaders. Mark, however,409Early Judaism and Early ChristianityEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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