Following the life of the prophet Malachi, God' redemption plan enters a silent period in which God ceases speaking to Israel through prophecies until the year of Christ's birth, BCE 4. During this time, notable historical figures like the great philosophers Socrates, Plato and Alistotle appear in Ancient Greece. In India, Buddhism makes an appearance, whilst in China, the teachings of Confucius and Tao being to spread.

Even during these years however, the Jewish people produced a number of literature that recorded their era, including the 'Apocrypha' (regarded as non-canonical literature, but still considered to be a useful collection of books depicting wise-living in this period - e.g., Book of Tobit, Wisdom of Solomon, First and second books of Maccabees, etc), and 'Pseudepigrapha' (a collection of around 60 books depicting legends about biblical characters, hymns, psalms, and apocalypses -e.g., Book of Enoch, Jubilees, Psalms of Solomon).