Was crucifixion a fact of life?
Most everyone at the time of Jesus had heard of crucifixions even if they had not witnessed them personally. Crucifixion was an exceedingly cruel form of execution used by a number of ancient peoples. Rome adopted crucifixion as its way of executing slaves, rebels, and lower-class, violent criminals. The Romans crucified many both before and after Jesus, including thousands when Rome put down the Jewish revolt of A.D. 66–70. Crucifixions were done in a variety of ways using different styles of crosses. Common Roman practice was to first scourge the one to be crucified, to increase suffering. Then the condemned was forced to carry a crossbeam to the place of execution, where an upright post would already be in place. Roman crucifixions were done at public sites, such as along a busy road, in order to make them a public display. The one to be crucified was stripped of his clothing, and his arms were tied or nailed to the crossbeam. The crossbeam was then lifted up and fixed to the upright beam at a notch cut either in its top or in its side. Usually the person’s feet were nailed or tied to the upright beam. Romans often posted a sign indicating the crime for which the person was being crucified. Despite their suffering, those who were crucified could survive for several days, tormented by pain, thirst, insects, and the shame of dying naked before others. Death usually resulted from shock or suffocation when chest muscles gave out. A body was sometimes left on the cross until it disintegrated, eaten by rats and vultures. Crucifixion was designed to be as painful and degrading a death as possible. Rome used crucifixion not merely as a punishment but also as a warning of what would happen to those who challenged Roman authority.
What did people eat?
Bread was the basic food of ordinary people in Palestine at the time of Jesus and provided a substantial part of their daily calorie intake. Most families baked their own bread daily in an outdoor oven and ate bread at every meal. Bread was usually made from wheat; barley bread was cheaper but less desirable. Bread made up so much of the diet that the word for bread could be used to refer to food in general. Grain was also eaten parched (“roasted” — Ruth 2:14). Legumes such as beans and lentils, and vegetables such as cucumbers and onions rounded out meals, along with fruits such as grapes, figs, dates, and pomegranates, among others. Grapes could be processed into wine or raisins. Olives were eaten whole or crushed for oil, which was used in cooking and dipping. Goats and sheep provided milk, often processed into yogurt and cheese. Fish from the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean were consumed fresh (John 21:9–10), or dried, salted, or pickled to preserve them, and were eaten whole or as a condiment for bread. Herbs, spices, and salt added taste to even simple meals. Ordinary people ate meat on special occasions, such as feasts (Luke 15:23); the extent to which meat was eaten more often is debated today. Meals were eaten with the fingers, with pieces of bread used as edible spoons to scoop up porridges and soak up sauces (Ruth 2:14; John 13:26), as is still the custom in some Middle Eastern cultures today. Members of the upper class ate much better than ordinary people: imported wines graced their tables, along with ample meat.
How common was farming?
Farmers made up most of the population of rural Galilee. Unlike American farmers, who tend to live in isolated houses on their farms, Galilean farmers lived together in small towns and villages and went out to work their fields. They grew grain crops, including wheat and barley; fruits, such as grapes, olives, and figs; and vegetables, such as lentils, beans, peas, and cucumbers. Galilee contained some prime farmland in its valleys, including the broad valleys north and south of Nazareth. Much of the prime land had been expropriated by rulers, such as Herod Antipas at the time of Jesus, who either had it managed for them or entrusted it to their influential supporters. Some farmers worked as tenant farmers or day laborers on these estates. Most farmers owned their own plots of land, which were often small and were sometimes on a rocky hillside that had to be terraced to support crops. Farmers were subject to tithes and taxes on their crops, which by some estimates added up to 40 percent of their harvests. These farmers were better off than day laborers, but a few bad harvests could lead to indebtedness and loss of land.
How was fishing done on the Sea of Galilee?
In the first century, the Sea of Galilee was ringed with towns with harbors and was commercially fished, as it has been up to the present day. Commercial fishing, rather than sport fishing, is reflected in the Gospels. There were about eighteen species of fish in the Sea of Galilee, with three categories making up the bulk of commercial catches: sardines, carp, and tilapia. Tilapia feed on plankton and must be caught with nets, not with hooks and bait. Tilapia weigh up to four pounds and swim in schools around the northern end of the Sea of Galilee during wintertime; the great nettings of fish reported in the Gospels were likely catches of tilapia. Fishermen used various forms of nets, including circular nets that were cast by hand and dragnets that were deployed from boats. Remains of a first-century fishing boat were discovered in 1986 buried in the mud near the shore of the Sea of Galilee at Ginnosar (ancient Gennesaret), an area Jesus visited (Matt 14:34; Mark 6:53). This boat, twenty-six and a half feet long, seven and a half feet wide, and four and a half feet deep, was apparently typical of the fishing boats mentioned in the Gospels. It had a rounded stern and may have had decks fore and aft. It would have had a small square sail and a crew of four rowers and a rudder man. It could have carried an additional ten to twelve passengers when it was not transporting nets and fish.
How had Greek language and culture made inroads in Palestine?
Alexander the Great (ruled 336–323 B.C.) of Macedonia (northern Greece) conquered the eastern Mediterranean world. Thereafter, the Greek language became the common international language and the everyday language of many of the lands he conquered. Many Jews living outside Palestine adopted Greek; Jews living in Egypt translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in the third and second centuries B.C. The New Testament was written in Greek as the most commonly understood language. Even Paul’s letter to Rome was written in Greek, not Latin. The early Church, being overwhelmingly Greek-speaking, used the Greek translation of the Old Testament as its Scripture. Greek culture, including philosophy, architectural styles, and enjoyment of the theater, had Jewish adherents in some of the larger cities of Palestine, including Jerusalem, but does not seem to have penetrated the small villages and rural areas of Galilee.
What is the Hebrew language?
Hebrew was the vernacular language of the Israelite people until after the exile; most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. After the exile Aramaic, a related language, became the most common spoken language of Jews living in Palestine, and small portions of a couple of books of the Old Testament are in Aramaic. At the time of Jesus, many Jews could not read or understand Hebrew, and Aramaic translations of the Scriptures were sometimes used in synagogues in Palestine. The Gospel of John uses the word “Hebrew” to refer to the Aramaic as well as the Hebrew language.
Why was hospitality so valued?
The practice of welcoming guests, including strangers, into one’s home for meals and lodging is common in the Old and New Testaments. Abraham provides an example of generous hospitality when he begs three traveling strangers to accept a snack from him but then serves them a banquet (Gen 18:1–8). Abraham’s nephew Lot pleads with passing strangers to spend the night in his house rather than sleep in the town square (Gen 19:1–3). Job lists hospitality among his upright deeds: “No stranger lodged in the street, / but I opened my door to wayfarers” (Job 31:32). Those who traveled usually had to rely on the hospitality of others. Caravan inns on main routes provided shelter for travelers and animals (Luke 10:34–35), but there were no inns in ordinary towns and villages. Jesus depended on the hospitality of his followers, including Peter (Mark 1:29–34; 2:1) and Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38–42). Jesus included hospitality among his concerns on judgment day: “I was … a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matt 25:35).