How did the first century Jews live? What about the Romans? Get a glimpse of the daily experiences in first century Israel and Rome.
By Mark D. Harris
One of the difficulties in understanding the Bible as a 21st century American Christian is the vast chasm of language, culture, and geography that separates us from people of the Bible times. Even considering only first century Palestine, the differences are enormous. Nonetheless, the better we understand them, the better we will understand Him, and so studying daily life in that era is vital.
A typical day
First century Israel was first and foremost an agricultural society. Lacking good ports, it could not be a maritime power and benefit from high levels of seaborne trade, but being on the Europe-Asia-Africa land bridge, Israel did benefit from overland trade. Lacking natural resources such as iron, gold and precious stones, it could not make large amounts in exports. So the average Jew was a farmer, holding a small plot of land and obeying the timeless rhythms of the seasons and the weather for his daily life. The early Jew rose before the sun, dressed in a simple woolen or linen tunic and leather sandals, and tilled the fields for several hours before returning home for his morning meal of vegetables and bread. His home was no more than a few rooms, with walls of stone and mud and a roof of beams/branches and mud. After eating he returned to the fields, using hand tools and perhaps an ox. Occasionally he went to market to buy the items needed for his farm and family. After his toil, the New Testament Jew would return home to his wife and children for an evening meal, a little teaching of the Scriptures and perhaps singing and dancing, and an early bedtime. The man’s neighbors in the same village, or perhaps even sharing the same courtyard, had similar schedules. Taxes were exorbitant, up to 50% of a farmer’s salary, and the cause of financial destitution in many and brigandry in some.
A Jewish man’s wife, meanwhile, prepared meals, made and washed clothing, kept house, and cared for children. Women usually became pregnant shortly after marriage, and midwives and women in the village helped with the delivery, rubbing the newborn with salt and wrapping him tightly in cloths. Babies were breastfed, and weaned after 18 months to 3 years. Maternal and neonatal mortality were high.
Friday night, the beginning of the Sabbath, was a feast to be enjoyed by family, friends and neighbors alike. Also on the Sabbath, most of the community went to the synagogue for reading of the scriptures, prayer and a sermon. Travel was by foot or donkey over land, and by rowed or sailing boats over water.
Life events
As the sons in the family reached 13, they entered adolescence and learned a craft. Daughters continued their domestic work and at 12 entered adolescence and were eligible to marry. Marriages were usually arranged, and the prospective groom brought a bride price in accordance with her father’s wealth and social standing to make up for his loss of a worker in his house. After the contract was signed, the couple was betrothed, but consummating the marriage waited until the first night of the wedding feast, which lasted 7 days. Afterwards, the bride moved in to her husband’s house, collocated with his family.
When someone died, family members would mourn the deceased, and professional mourners, usually women, joined the procession. Palestine is a hot, dry, country, and lacked refrigeration, so bodies were buried as soon as possible after death. Much of Israel is covered by hills and mountains with plentiful caves, and these caves were used to bury the dead, covered by a large stone to discourage entry. Family members went back after three days to ensure that the person was actually dead, since mistakes sometimes occurred. On the first anniversary of a death, the family might return to the cave to take the bones, put them in an ossuary, and place the ossuary back into the grave. This allowed one cave to serve many people in a family.
The non-farmers
Not everyone in Judea farmed. Others were merchants, religious and business leaders, country landowners with large estates, artisans such as carpenters, and professionals such as physicians. Gentiles were plentiful in Galilee. These groups had different lifestyles and living conditions, but most were united, more or less, by a common faith.
Rome, by contrast, was a Greek-cultured, urban center with a great location for maritime trade. Houses were also centered around a courtyard, but houses sometimes had plumbing (often lead) and other luxuries. Slaves were much more common in Rome, and not only domestic help and agricultural labor but even teachers, administrators and physicians could be slaves. Religion was pluralistic, with worship of renamed Greek gods, the Emperor, and various mystery cults comingling in the city. Streets were paved and roads carried armies and trade all over the empire. The Mediterranean was a Roman lake, dominated by the Imperial navy. Entertainment in Rome included mortal combat between gladiators, races, and all manner of other public games. All of these factors made Rome far different than Judea, and even different than urban Jerusalem.
Though thousands of years have passed, much about 21st century American life is the same as life in Ancient Judea, Rome, and everywhere else at every other time in history. People are born, grow, learn, marry, reproduce, contribute to society, and die. We are a diverse country in race, lifestyles, religion, and in many other ways, similar to Rome and to a lesser extent, Galilee. By understanding Judea, Galilee and Rome, and so by appreciating life in first century Israel, modern Christians can better understand the Bible which they hold dear.
Related Articles
- Calendars of the Ancient Near East
- Jesus’ Birth, Childhood, and Family Tree
- Proselytes, God-Fearers, and Relations Between Jews and Gentiles in the Bible
- Some Differences in Life Between the Ancient and Modern Worlds
- Tensions Between Rome and the Jews in the Early First Century
- The Land of Milk and Honey – Agriculture in Ancient Israel
- The Messiah – Who Did Jews Expect Him to Be?
- The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes
Did not help me find what I wanted
Bobo,
What were you looking for? Perhaps we can find it and update the article.
This was informative for me. It help met to understand the culture of the first century society. However, I would like to see more of how this culture interacted with the introduction of Christianity.
This article is excellent! It gives a scholarly description of first century Jewish culture in layman’s language.
Very good article, but I would love to have more detailed information as to the everyday life of Jews during the Roman Occupation in Judea during Jesus’ day.
Great article!
it was too long
Thank you for the article I found it very interesting and useful.
i was looking for how the Jews were under control of the Roman Empire and the appearance and showing up of Jesus effected this….
Same with you.But I finally found what I needed.
I love this page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I found it very useful but I really needed even a little information about punishments and crimes during that period and how public/private they were and if they were considered entertainment like in Medieval English times etc.
who’s watching this in 2017?
Dear readers,
Yes, the first century in the correct name would be Judea, was simple, but since Roman influence was there (from 63 B.C.), many people lived according to “new standards” (see the Herodian quarter excavations, the Burnt house and many more in Jerusalem).
King Herod (37-4 B. C.) built the largest religious compound in the world (King Herod temple), and the first modern open sea port in Caesarea, and more…
As temple was intact, no other temples were allowed, since the whole idea was to “control” the religious cult of the Jewish people. So, there were no official prayers at that time, but yes, they used to study the bible, to assist the Sanhedrin meetings (the “religious assembly”). And the most important thing- their political messianic opinions and expectations were of high importance- this is what lead to the first Jewish revolt (66-70 AD).
Adi,
Thank you for your reply. Judea would indeed be the correct name for the southern portion of what is now called Palestine or Israel. The central part was Samaria and the northern region was known as Galilee. None of it was known as Israel in the 1st century. The Romans named it Palestine after the Second Jewish Rebellion. Due to the shifting control of the region over the millennia and the political overtones of calling it Palestine today, there is no good answer to what we should call the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. For simplicity, I have used Palestine.
Caesarea was a valuable port built by Herod the Great around 10 BC, an impressive feat given the lack of natural ports south of Haifa on the Palestinian shoreline. Acts shows how important Caesarea was to the Roman administration. Nonetheless, first century Palestine was predominantly agricultural.
Herod’s Temple was intact and Temple worship ceremonies were a key part of worship until its destruction by the Romans in 70 AD. First century Jews studied what they would refer to as the “Bible” or the Tanakh and Christians would know as the Old Testament.
really good,
would be so good if provided info on roman women and how they were treated..
Thought it was very good information. I’m looking for information on building sizes where churches in Jerusalem would have met beginning after Acts 2.
The problem that most Christians have in understanding the Bible is an inherent confirmation bias. If you take the Old and New Testament as a document detailing history, you will be lost (as most are) within the echo chamber of your preconceived ideas). Rather it helps to understand it as a series of literary documents inspired by history – there is a difference.
Life at that time was, in many ways, more advanced than ours is now. There were active ports at Haifa, Acre and Ashdod (all previously Philistine) that supplied a vibrant multicultural Greek/Roman/Hebrew culture. From the archeology (stripped of bias) it is evident (ref: Professor Israel Finkelstein) that there was a huge diversity of religious belief among the native Hebrew people.
The language in the street was Greek and as one respondent has pointed out – life was Greek.
The Bible contains many different genres of writing, including law, poetry, letters, apocalypse, and history. If Biblical authors claim that their parts are history, we should take those parts as history, just as we should with any document. Then we investigate the historical claims to see if they are accurate. We acknowledge that we as readers, just as they as authors, can be wrong. Once we discover the truth, we shape our thoughts and our actions to align with it.
I do not know if “most Christians” have a confirmation bias, but do know that such cognitive biases are common to all humanity, regardless of faith, sex, race, age, etc.
I was looking for in depth information on the lives of children of this time — both Jewish and non-Jewish children.
Joan,
Sorry for the very delayed reply. I added an article that may be of interest if the question comes up again in the future. https://mdharrismd.com/2020/04/29/childbirth-and-children-in-the-bible/.
Mark
I am looking for information regarding the level of oppresiveness of the Jewish leadership / aristocracy during this time. Can you refer me to any articles or other sources?