What were houses like?
First-century Palestinian houses ranged from the very small to the truly sumptuous. Ordinary people often lived in one-room houses that usually shared an open courtyard with other one-room houses. Much of life was lived outdoors; cooking was done in the courtyard. Rooms were dark and sometimes windowless and used for sleeping and shelter from the elements. In eastern Galilee (in Capernaum, for example), houses were built of basalt, a dark volcanic stone common in the area. Floors were made of basalt cobblestones; roofs were made of beams overlaid with thatch and clay. In Jericho, a city in the lower Jordan River valley, mud brick was used for the walls of ordinary dwellings. The wealthy elite lived in fine houses with mosaic floors, frescoed (painted plaster) walls, and elegant columns. The remains of several mansions belonging to the wealthy have been excavated in Jerusalem. One of these houses had several stories and more than six thousand square feet under its roof; it probably belonged to a member of a high-priestly family.
Can we throw light on oil lamps?
During much of the Old Testament era, an Israelite oil lamp was a very simple affair, a shallow pottery bowl that had edges turned up to form a channel for a wick. Lamps burned olive oil; wicks were commonly made of flax, which could be grown locally (cotton was imported). Oil lamp design changed late in the Old Testament era, with tops added to minimize spilling. At the time of Jesus, the common single wick oil lamp was rather small and would fit into the palm of one’s hand. It gave off roughly one candle power of light — feeble by modern standards but a welcome light in the darkness of homes with few if any windows (see Luke 15:8). What are called lamps in the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matt 25:1–13) were likely torches made of rags wound around sticks and soaked in olive oil, more suitable than oil lamps to light a parade at night.
Was leprosy in biblical times the same disease as leprosy today?
In the Old and New Testaments, the Hebrew and Greek words translated “leprosy” refer to a variety of skin conditions and infections. In the New Testament period, one of these conditions may have been what is called leprosy today (Hansen’s disease). Some of these skin conditions went away in time; some did not. A skin condition that resulted in a certain kind of abnormal appearance made the afflicted person ritually impure, or unclean. Old Testament regulations specified that priests were to determine whether a skin condition was “leprosy”; if it was, the person with the skin disease was excluded from the community as unclean (Lev 13). Priests likewise judged whether a person’s leprosy had gone away, in which case the person underwent purification rituals before rejoining the community (Lev 14). These procedures indicate that what was at stake was ritual purity. Exclusion of the afflicted person from the community prevented the spread of ritual uncleanness; there was little understanding of the nature of diseases or of how they were spread.
What were Jewish marriage practices at the time of Jesus?
The love of wife and husband for each other could be just as heartfelt in ancient as in modern times, and sexual attraction just as passionate (see the Song of Songs). Yet the understanding and practice of marriage in the Old Testament has its differences from marriage in the modern Western world. The primary purpose of marriage was to beget children, specifically sons who could continue the father’s family name and inherit the father’s family lands. Hence shame befell a barren wife, however much her husband might love her (1 Sam 1:1–8), since infertility was always attributed to the woman, never to the man. If a husband died without leaving a son, his brother was to marry his widow and beget an heir for him (Deut 25:5–6). A man could have more than one wife (Deut 21:15–17), but a wife could not have more than one husband, for that would create family heritage tangles. Inheritance passed to sons, with a double share to the oldest (Deut 21:17). Only by exception could daughters inherit (Num 27:8), and then with restrictions to keep the inheritance within the father’s clan (Num 36:6–9). Marriages were arrangements between families as well as between husband and wife. Particularly when those getting married were young — possibly as early as puberty for a girl but a few years older for a boy — their fathers arranged their betrothal, sometimes drawing up a contract (see Tobit 7:13). A betrothed woman might continue to live with her family for a period of time (Matt 1:18). There was no wedding ceremony as such, but a party to celebrate the wife moving into the home of her husband (Matt 22:2–10; 25:1–13; Mark 2:19; John 2:1–10).
What role did patrons play?
There was a great disparity in the ancient Mediterranean world between the few who were wealthy and powerful and the many who were poor and powerless. A patron was a person of wealth and influence to whom a person of lesser status turned for help. Patrons provided financial assistance or used their influence to benefit their clients. Doing favors brought honor and prestige for patrons and the loyalty and praise of their clients. Wealthy people often functioned as patrons of their city by paying for public buildings or projects; today we call someone who endows a concert hall a “patron of the arts.” An ancient inscription found in Corinth speaks of an Erastus who paid out of his own funds for the paving of a street; this is likely the same Erastus who was a Christian and city treasurer (Rom 16:23). The centurion who “built the synagogue” (Luke 7:2) for the people of Capernaum acted as a patron. Women as well as men could be patrons. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna “provided for” Jesus and his disciples “out of their resources” (Luke 8:2–3); Joanna at least would have had significant resources at her disposal. Paul converted a woman named Lydia in Philippi (Acts 16:14–15). As a dealer in expensive purple cloth she was wealthy and in charge of a household. Lydia acted as Paul’s patron, having him stay in her home and supporting him, and making her house available as a place where the Church could meet (Acts 16:40).
Who were the poor and the rich?
In first-century Galilee, few were well enough off to be what we would consider middle class and very few were wealthy. Most supported themselves by farming, usually on small plots of land. They were able to raise enough to pay taxes and feed their families, but barely. Bad harvests could mean going into debt, losing one’s land, and becoming a day laborer. Herod Antipas controlled the prime farmland, entrusting some of it to his key supporters. The minority who did not farm commonly worked as craftsmen (carpenters, potters, tanners), merchants, fishermen, servants, shepherds, or tax collectors. Some Jews were slaves, although slavery was not as common as in other parts of the Roman Empire. Most Galileans could be thought of as the working poor. At the bottom of the working poor were day laborers, dependent on being hired each day. Worst off were those unable to work: the blind, crippled, leprous. Unless they had relatives to support them, the nonworking poor survived by begging. Jesus’ followers mirrored the composition of Galilean society: most were working poor, very few were wealthy. Jesus’ ministry was marked by concern for the nonworking poor: “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Luke 7:22). Being wealthy posed the danger of using one’s wealth only for oneself (Luke 12:16–21; 16:19–31). Wealth was properly used to help those who could not provide for themselves (Luke 12:33; 14:12–14; 18:22; 19:8).
How did servants and slaves differ?
Both servants and slaves did the bidding of others, and may even have done identical work, but with a major difference: servants were hired, slaves were owned. A servant was free to decide whom to work for and could quit; a slave had no choice but to work for his or her owner. At the time of Jesus, one became a slave by being born to a woman slave, by being taken as a prisoner of war, by incurring a debt one could not pay off, by voluntarily becoming a slave to avoid starvation, or by being kidnapped. Slaves made up around a fifth of the population in the Roman Empire. Many owners treated their slaves badly; some owners were cruel and sexually abusive. Yet there are important differences as well as similarities between slavery in the first-century Roman Empire and slavery in the Americas in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, and further differences as well as similarities between slavery in Palestine and slavery in