After the Romans conquered the Jewish territory and made the Jews subjects of their dominion, revolutionary messianists continued their efforts by calling upon Jews to launch a revolt against the government of Rome. Not long before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a certain Judas of Galilee, claiming the messianic role for himself, organized a revolt that the Romans put down with unmistakable cruelty. This fear of rebellion made the Romans suspicious whenever it was rumored that a Jewish Messiah had appeared among his people.
Another important characteristic of Judaism can be seen in its conception of the Law and its relation to the conduct of people. According to its tradition, the Law was from God. It was revealed to Moses and through him was communicated to the entire Israelite nation. Because God was the author of the Law, the precepts contained in it were binding for all time to come. The Law, as unchangeable as God himself, included not only the Ten Commandments but all the statutes and ordinances found in the Book of the Law, or what is now recognized as the first five books of the Old Testament — the Pentateuch. Many of these laws were no doubt added to the original codes long after the death of Moses. Nevertheless, tradition attributed all of them to Moses. Taken as a whole, they constituted for the orthodox Jew the standard of righteousness according to which not only the people who were living then but all succeeding generations would be judged.
Obedience with reference to the laws that God commanded was the measure of goodness. This being true, knowing exactly what the requirements of the laws were and how they were to be applied to particular cases were matters of great importance. These concerns were not always easy to determine; instances occurred in which different laws appeared to be in conflict. One of the main tasks of the Scribes was to determine matters of this kind. Their job was to state precisely the conditions under which a given law would be applicable. Frequently, it was necessary for them to state when exceptions should be made to certain laws. Additionally, occasions arose when the Scribes had to make exceptions to these exceptions, a very complicated and confusing process but an important one, for if a person was to be judged solely on the basis of whether he had obeyed the laws, there must be some authoritative way of knowing exactly what the laws required under a given set of circumstances. Remember that throughout the Gospels of the New Testament, the chief accusation brought by the Jews against Jesus is that he is a law-breaker.
