Diaspora

DIASPORA. - The term διασπορά ("dissemination," "dispersion") occurs 7 times in the Greek Bible (Deut. 28:25 [cod. B]; Ps. 146:2; Jud. 5:19 [Vulg. 23]; II Macc. 1:27; John 7:35; James 1:1; I Pet. 1:1), and except for the last text cited, which seems to allude to the whole body of Christians (the "new Israel") dispersed among the pagan nations, it indicates, as in the usage of Hellenistic Judaism, the whole body of Israelites "scattered" outside Palestine. James too, in writing "to the twelve tribes of the d.," intends to address himself to Jews converted to Christianity, dispersed outside Palestine.

An idea of the immense diffusion of the Jews in the d. is given by Acts 2:5: "Among the Jews residing in Jerusalem [on the occasion of Pentecost] there were devout men from every nation under heaven." These, hearing the Christians speak in various tongues, asked themselves: "How is it then that we hear them speak, each one in our own native language? Some of us are Parthians, Medes, Elamites; others inhabitants of Mesopotamia, of Judea (perhaps one should read 'India') or of Cappadocia, of Pontus or of Asia [proconsular], of Phrygia or of Pamphylia, of Egypt or of the parts of Libya about Cyrene; others visiting Romans, Jews or proselytes; others Cretans and Arabians; and yet we all hear them speak of the mighty works of God in our own tongues" (ibid. 2:8-11). The Sibylline Oracles (around 140 B.C.) write that "the whole earth and the whole sea is full" of Jews (III, 271).

Even while recognizing the hyperbole in the citations given here, one must admit that the dense network of communities of the d., which encompassed not only the Roman world but extended beyond Mesopotamia and Persia, was providential for the spread of Christianity. The Jews of the d., who at the first Christian Pentecost were witnesses of the wonders, carried into the world the first sparks of faith in the Messiah who had come. In their missions the Apostles, St. Paul in particular, addressed themselves first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles (Rom. 1:16). Among the causes that gave rise to and fostered the development of the Jewish d., one should recall, besides commercial reasons, the deportations carried out by the invaders of Palestine and the flights undertaken to escape the oppressions of enemies.

I. IN ASSYRIA, MEDIA, BABYLONIA

In 732 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser III (Pdl) deported to Assyria and Media numerous inhabitants of the northern regions of the kingdom of Israel (II Kings 15:29); after the conquest of Samaria (722 B.C.) Sargon increased the number of exiles (II Kings 17:6; 18:6). In his inscription in the temple of Horsabad he speaks of 27,290 deported Israelites.

From 603 to 581 B.C. (especially in 587, when Jerusalem fell) Nebuchadnezzar II deported to Babylon many inhabitants of the kingdom of Judah along with the prophets Daniel, Ezekiel and King Jeconiah (II Kings 23:24-25:21; Dan. 1:1; Ezek. 1:1-3).

With the edict of Cyrus they returned in part, under the leadership of Zerubbabel (538 B.C.); others re-entered Palestine a century later with Ezra and Nehemiah, but many Jews who had regained their freedom preferred to remain in Babylonia under the administration of an exilarch (r'e'l galitha). There they devoted themselves to commerce, without neglecting religious instruction. As early as the 5th century B.C. a kind of Jewish bank, "Murašu and Sons," operated at Nippur (in the time of Artaxerxes I and Darius II). The Babylonian rabbinic school, which had among its teachers the famous Hillel, flourished until the early Middle Ages. From these regions the Jews gradually spread throughout the entire Eastern world. The Jews of Babylonia and Media received from Alexander the Great permission to live according to their own laws; they were favored by the Seleucids, and indeed Antiochus the Great, convinced of their loyalty, transplanted 2,000 families from these regions into the restless lands of Lydia and Phrygia (Josephus, Antiq. Jud., XII, 3, 4).

II. IN SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR

As early as 857 B.C. King Ahab obtained the establishment of commercial "quarters" for the Israelites in Damascus (II Kings 20:34). Many Jews settled in Syria in the Hellenistic period, especially after the founding of Antioch (301 B.C.). There they obtained the right to live according to their own customs; they retained these privileges also under the Romans. In Damascus they had several synagogues (Acts 9:2).

The presence of numerous Jews in Asia Minor is attested by Philo (Leg. ad Caium, 33), by Josephus (Antiq. Jud., XIV, 10; XVI, 6), by Cicero (Pro Flacco, 28), by many decrees of Caesar and Augustus granting privileges to the Jews of those provinces, as well as by the account of the missionary journeys of St. Paul (Acts 13:13-14, 28 etc.).

III. IN EGYPT AND CYRENAICA

It is known from Jeremiah (chapters 42-44) that many Jews took refuge in Egypt during the invasions of Nebuchadnezzar. Some had settled at Pathros, in Upper Egypt. Psammetichus had made use of Jewish soldiers in the campaign against Ethiopia. At Elephantine there existed a strong Jewish colony, whose life is attested for us by famous papyri of the 5th century B.C. There stood a Jewish temple there. A Jewish temple is also recorded at Leontopolis in the 2nd century B.C. It is evident that the law of the unity of the sanctuary was held valid only for Palestine. Very many Jews settled in Alexandria in Egypt after its founder (Alexander the Great) granted them rights equal to those of the Macedonians. There, between 250 and 150 B.C., they published the Greek version of the Bible known as that of the "Seventy." According to Philo (In Flaccum, 6), after the battle of Actium there were a million Jews in Egypt. They were governed by their own ethnarch with their own senate (gherusia).

IV. IN EUROPE (MACEDONIA, GREECE, ROME)

St. Paul found proseuchai and synagogues of the Jews at Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, Athens, Corinth. It is known from Philo and Josephus that Jewish colonies existed on the islands of Euboea, Crete, Cyprus and in the lesser ones of the Aegean archipelago.

In Rome the greatest immigration of Jews occurred in 63 B.C., when Pompey, after conquering Jerusalem, brought numerous Jewish slaves to the capital. Many of these were soon freed, also because they did not adapt to the worship and the diet of their pagan masters. Even before 62 colonies of Jews must have resided in Rome, whence they sent offerings for the Temple of Jerusalem. They dwelt predominantly in Trastevere. They underwent alternating fortunes: favored by Caesar, persecuted and expelled by Tiberius and Claudius, they constantly managed to return, obtaining privileges. In Rome, as in the rest of the Empire, they enjoyed freedom of worship, their own financial administration, and exemption from military service.

The Jewish d. continues still in the world, even after the constitution of the new State of Israel. St. Paul weeps over the unbelief of the Jews and predicts their return to the house of the Father (Rom. 9-11).

Pietro De Ambrogai

The term d. is also used in modern times to indicate the same phenomenon, on a religious basis, which occurs when groups of a particular belief come to find themselves scattered, as minorities, within or outside their own nation of origin, maintaining relations and contacts with the central religious authorities. Thus there is a Protestant d., subdivided into as many lesser d., according to their different forms of faith: a schismatic d., and a Catholic d., formed by the Catholic minorities scattered in Protestant, schismatic or pagan nations or territories; the Catholic d. creates several important and complex problems, and sometimes fatal ones for the Faith (mixed marriages, apostasies, indifference, relaxed religious education, less frequent attendance at the Sacraments, prolonged deprivation of a priest).