Daily Life in Jesus’ Time

Daily life in Jesus' time was very different from life in a modern industrialised society. Was it more like life in the 'third world'? This is not to claim that industrialisation removes all poverty - of course it does not. On the other hand, even the poorest areas today begin to benefit from modern achievements, such as for example the mobile phone.

When we read about daily life in Jesus' time, we cannot avoid making a comparison with the conditions under which people live in our century in different parts of the world. A lot of our information of Jesus' days comes from his habit of telling stories or parables based on the ordinary incidents of life.

Like much of the world today, first-century Palestine was a land of contrasts. This is graphically illustrated by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: 'There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores...' (Luke 16:19-21 NIV). It's no exaggeration. If you were wealthy, you would live in luxury, probably in a town, with servants to look after you. But if, like the majority of the population, you were poor, your income would be far from certain. To what extent have things changed in the twenty-first century?

The more fortunate would have been taught a trade by their father—as Jesus himself seems to have been. Many of those without a steady job would have been casual labourers whose day's wage depended on the whim of those who hired a group of workers each morning (Matt. 20:1-16). Failing this, and in times of misfortune, you might well be reduced to a life of begging or even slavery (Matt. 18:25).

Clothing in the first century was much simpler than it is in our colder lands today. Most garments were made from wool, though linen was also used (made from flax grown in the Jericho area or imported from Egypt). Both men and women would normally wear an ankle-length tunic next to the skin, often held at the waist by a belt (which could also be used as a purse). A cloak could be worn over this, especially at night or if the weather was cool during the day (see Mat. 24:18). Jewish law required the cloak to have tassels attached to its four corners (Num. 15:37-41). Each tassel was to include a blue cord and was intended as a way of helping people to remember to keep God's Law. In the account of Jesus' crucifixion in John's Gospel, the soldiers divided his clothes between them but because his tunic was 'seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom' (John 19:23), they decided to gamble for it rather than tear it into pieces. For special occasions, a long flowing garment known as the 'stole' was worn. In the parable of the Prodigal Son, this would have been 'the best robe' (Luke 15:22), brought out to celebrate the younger son's return home. If shoes were worn at all, they would generally have been leather (or perhaps wooden) sandals.

In many places today, the ability to turn on a tap for a plentiful supply of water is something most people are able to take for granted. But for the ordinary citizens of Palestine in New Testament times, an adequate water supply was nothing like as straightforward. Rain was virtually unknown in the summer months and they had to rely on streams, wells and storage cisterns. It's little wonder that one of the central features of the picture presented in the book of Revelation is 'the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city' (Rev. 22:1-2). The local well would be a natural centre of village life, a fact implied in the way the Samaritan woman in John 4:6-7, perhaps ostracised by her community, had to come to fetch water at mid-day ('the sixth hour'), when no-one else would be around.

Though water and milk were drunk, there was always the danger of their being polluted. This problem, together with the answer to it, is reflected in a reference in Paul's first letter to his young friend Timothy: 'Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses' (1 Tim. 5:23). Juice would have been extracted from the grapes by people trampling on them, a process which perhaps added a certain piquancy! It would then be stored in cool cellars in jars or leather bottles made, usually, from goatskins. A small hole allowed gases to escape while fermentation took place. Fresh juice was put into new skins rather than old ones which, having already stretched, would be liable to split under the pressure exerted by the wine as it matured. Jesus uses this observation to illustrate the impossibility of seeking to constrain the new wine of his teaching in the old wineskins of conventional Judaism (see Matt. 9:14-17 and parallels).

The range of food was much more limited in New Testament times than it is today. Seasonal vegetables (e.g. beans, onions, lentils, leeks, cucumbers), flavoured with herbs and salt, and bread (made from wheat or barley flour) provided the basis of a staple diet. There would also have been fruit (though not the citrus fruits for which Palestine is known today), together with nuts, honey and cheese. Fish were plentiful, especially around Galilee, and could be preserved by drying and salting. Meat would have been something of a luxury. For the Jew, there were strict regulations about which animals could be eaten and which were regarded as 'unclean'. This raised problems in the mixed community of the early church whose Gentile believers did not share these views. Luke records how the apostle Peter was led to change his mind on this matter (see Acts 10:9-15) and how the church as a whole dealt with the problem (see Acts 15:1-33).

Although life was hard for the ordinary people of Jesus' day, it had its lighter moments. Feasting, singing, story-telling and dancing all had their place as recreational activities. Games, both indoor and outdoor, were also popular. Archaeologists have discovered a number of gaming boards with playing pieces, one particularly well-preserved example coming from what may well have been the Roman garrison in Jerusalem where Jesus was tried before Pilate. We might wonder how would the people alive then have coped with electronic games players? How might they have reacted to the sight of Jesus in real time on their TV, being crucified ?

With acknowledgement for first century information from Teach Yourself the New Testament D. Stone