Life 1AD

 

Genesis 1:1

The Bible teaches timeless universal truths. But it was originally written to specific peoples with their own cultures and customs. Although our cultures and customs today are different from Biblical times, we can still understand the meaning of the text, but many passages had more impact to that audience because the text spoke in terms common to their everyday life. And some passages have more meaning and impact to us if we understand the perspective of the audience that heard and experienced Jesus first hand. 

 

Let's look at daily living during the time of Jesus to help us see better the historical context He lived and taught in. 

Grain Harvest 

Let's start with the social structure. Ancient Judea was an agricultural society. 90% of the people were engaged in farming in some way - Nils Glen [1], HTS Theological Studies [2], Weebly [3]. In contrast. In the United States right now, 1% of the population are farmers, another 1% ranchers. In colonial times, the US population was 90% farmers, but the percentage of farmers has steadily declined since then, yet production has vastly increased, mostly due to farm related inventions. On average an American farmer produces enough food for 180 people In ancient Judea, many were subsistence farmers, only producing enough for the immediate family.

Biblical scholars tend to underestimate the overwhelming poverty that characterized the Roman Empire. One source estimates the majority were at or below subsistence level - [2].

 

In Judea 1AD, one’s status in life was thought to have been inherited by birth. The state did not show much concern for the poor - Researchgate [4]. The needy were despised more than pitied. There was no middle class, it was a case of rich vs poor, which leads us right to politics, because Rome ruled the region. The elite families consisted of the rulers and the governing class. Peasants had very little control over their political and economic situation. Remember when Joshua divided the land among the tribes of Israel? Not in 1AD. Herod, later called ‘Herod the Great’, had the power to distribute the land however he wanted and to whomever he wanted. The state granted ‘use ownership’ of the land to the peasants, but it claimed entitlement to tax the villages.

The majority of people in an agrarian society like the Roman Empire were peasants, living in villages that surrounded a city. The ancient city was largely parasitic on its surrounding villages. Cities extracted agricultural surpluses through taxes and rents.

Wealth was based on the ownership of land. Most land was controlled by a small number of wealthy, elite families. The landowners rented the land for tenant farmers, who – together with their families and possibly slaves – actually worked the land. The wealth and status of the elite families ensured their influence in politics, so that they were able to control both local and regional governance and also profit from taxation. [4]

Taxation

Rome, like all Governments, was creative at inventing taxes. In addition to imperial levies, cities derived revenues from capitation*, rents, tolls, salt taxes and sales taxes.

*Capitation, also known as head tax or  poll tax, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources - wiki [5].

 

 

Gleaning

The taxes kept the elite fed and the peasants poor. If the tax burden was too high or the harvest was poor, you could go into debt, and possibly lose your farm, and have to become a day laborer. Below subsistence level (estimated at 28%) you find some farm families, unattached widows, orphans, beggars, disabled, unskilled day laborers, criminals, and prisoners. I'll repeat - peasants had very little control over their political and economic situation.

 

Diet

 

Baking Bread in a Tannur Clay Oven

So, what did these subsistence farmers plant? And eat? You probably already know they ate bread. A lot of bread. In ancient Israel, bread was the primary food at every meal, other items were secondary, whereas today in our culture, bread is secondary, if served at all. For the Israelites, it wasn't a meal without bread (some sources add “and wine”) – Biblehistory [6], crivoice [7]. It is estimated that bread provided 50-70 % of the ordinary person’s calories - Womenfromthebook [8]. To make that more relatable, in 19th century America, manual laborers consumed about one pound of bread per day – flourfacts1 [9]. Some sources say two pounds or more – Amycookseats [10], flourfacts2 [11]. That is at least a loaf of bread per day. So, what did they plant? Grains to make bread, wheat or barley. They also grew grapes, vegetables, fruits, and legumes. 

 

 

Grinding the grain was a difficult and time-consuming task…it is estimated that it required at least three hours of daily effort to produce enough flour to make sufficient bread for a family of five. The grain, barley or wheat, was ground by hand in a giant stone mortar and pestle called a quern. They could not buy ready made loaves, or even ready ground flour, or instant dried yeast. The point is that bread was a BIG deal to them – [8]. When Jesus taught them to pray “Give us this day our daily bread”, they would understand how important that was. They would agree with Paul Harvey who said “Man — despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments — owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains” - Harvey [12].

Barley vs Wheat

 

Barley harvest by hand

Barley and wheat are not interchangeable. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Barley could be grown in poor soil and could be broadcast into unplowed ground. Barley was a dependable, disease-resistant crop, easier and less expensive to grow than wheat. Also, barley has some nutritional benefits compared to wheat. But barley has less gluten than wheat, so it doesn't make big raised breads, so wheat became the preferred grain. Barley became known as the grain of the poor - [8], and remember, most people were poor, so they grew barley - Jewishlink [13]

These days, people in different churches are becoming familiar with the  Biblical Holy Days. During my youth, the Jews (and the Church of God) were the only ones keeping the Holy Days, which are structured around three harvests, barley (think wave sheaf day), then the wheat harvest (think Shavuot), and the great fall harvest, which goes by the name Feast of Ingathering or Succoth (booths). Ingathering emphasizes the agricultural nature of the Feast, rejoicing that the big harvest is gathered in for another year.

 

Hebrew Calendar

 

 

Pilgrimage

Since 90% of the population were farmers, they would be keenly aware of the harvest seasons, not just for agriculture, but as religious observances. Three of the Feasts were called pilgrimage feasts, and those feasts coincide with the three harvest seasons.

Dt 16:16 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths.

We know the story of 12 year old Jesus going to Jerusalem at Passover with his parents. Luke records that they did it every year.

Lk 2:41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.

Joseph and Mary may have been able to make the pilgrimage three times a year but it is unlikely all the peasants farmers in Galilee could do that. Galilee is about 100 miles from Jerusalem, on foot or by cart, the travel time is up to a week each way. Today, Nazareth to Jerusalem is a 2 hour drive - Google_maps [14]. Attending all three pilgrimage Feasts would mean 8 or 9 weeks away from home each year, too much time and money for the poor. “It is probable that most Palestinian Jews made at least one pilgrimage a year, the most popular festival being Passover” – Reddit [15]. When they made the pilgrimage, most traveled together caravan style.

During the Second Temple period these verses were not understood to mean that one was obliged to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year, but rather that pilgrimage was associated with these festivals. Thus, the commandment to “go up” to Jerusalem might be observed once every few years or perhaps only once in a lifetime - Jerusalem_perspective [16].

Enter Jesus

In general, the Jews in Galilee were religiously observant, that is Sabbath keepers, ate a kosher diet, attended synagogue, and made the pilgrimage Feasts when they could.

This is the world that Jesus was born into, these were his neighbors growing up. It was a religious society, poor, mostly peasant farmers, oppressed by Rome, whom Israel hated. And it was foretold by Isaiah. Remember when Jesus got up to read in His home town of Nazareth? (Is 61:1) Does this sound like his neighbors in Nazareth?

Lk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

 

When Jesus gave a parable using farming or poverty or debt as a backdrop, He spoke from lived experience, and they understood from lived experience. Ironic that He spoke in parables to hide the meaning from them.

 

38 parables of Jesus are recorded in the NT - 38Parables [17], as well as other stories. Of those 38 parables, about half draw on the culture of Galilee – farming, poverty, debt, etc. Here are a few highlights you will probably recognize from one line.


Mt 13:3 A sower went out to sow.
Mt 13:25 his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat
Mt 13:31 The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed
Mt 20:1 For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

Not parables, but also familiar verses reflecting the culture of Jesus' day.


Lk 21:1-4 He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites
Jn 6:1-15 There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish

Conclusion

To review, we saw that life in Galilee in 1AD was hard, the people were mostly peasant farmers, with nearly everyone involved in agriculture. They were poor, virtually prisoners in their own land – fbcclassroom  [18]. Ancient Israel was ruled and oppressed by Rome. Many people were driven into debt, often due to the tax burden. Yet they were also a religious people. When they heard Jesus' message of “good news to the poor” and “liberty to the oppressed”, they were ready to hear it, though they probably expected something or someone else.

When we read the gospels, let us consider the historical context of the times, the perspective of the audience that heard and experienced Jesus first hand in the first century AD. 

 

References

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEihnWAcN9o&t=3s
2. http://www.hts.org.za
3. https://geographyof1stcenturyisrael.weebly.com/agriculture.html
4. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309254500_Poverty_in_the_first-century_Galilee
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poll_tax
6. https://www.bible-history.com/isbe/b/bread
7. https://www.crivoice.org/biblestudy/bbproverbs3.html
8. https://womenfromthebook.com/2013/04/14/barley-the-grain-of-the-poor/
9. https://flourfacts.blog/average-bread-consumption-per-day-history
10. https://amycookseats.com/how-much-bread-did-most-people-eat/
11. https://flourfacts.blog/historical-bread-consumption-statistics
12. https://www.azquotes.com/quote/936642
13. https://jewishlink.news/barley-the-second-grain
14. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Jerusalem,+Israel/Nazareth,+Israel/
15. https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicBiblical/comments/1biuyxh/how_often_would_an_observant_jew_travel_from/
16. https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2392
17. https://biblevise.com/38-parables-of-jesus/
18. https://fbcclassroom.com/courses/gospels-and-acts/lessons/judaism-in-the-first-century-palestine-philosophies-parties
xx. https://bestofchristianity.com/why-did-jesus-talk-so-much-about-agriculture/