Intertestamental Period

The intertestamental period is a term used to refer to a period of time between the writings of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament texts. Traditionally, it is considered to be a roughly four hundred year period, spanning the ministry of Malachi (c. 420 BC), the last of the Old Testament prophets, and the appearance of John the Baptist in the early 1st century AD, almost the same period as the Second Temple period (530 BC to 70 AD). It is known by members of the Protestant community as the "400 Silent Years" because it is believed to have been a span where God revealed nothing new to his people. However, most of the deuterocanonical books, accepted as Scripture by Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, were written during this time, so it is sometimes also referred to as the deuterocanonical period.

The intertestamental period is a vital historical time period for those who study the New Testament. Even though the period is often called the "Silent Years" they were anything but silent in terms of the political landscape. Many dynasties rose up and diminished in this time period. An understanding of the events of the intertestamental period provides context for the New Testament.