Baker Academic

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Life in Galilee

Professor Jonathan Reed describes what life would have been like in first-century Galilee. He sets the stage for Jesus' teachings by emphasizing his agrarian society.



  1. I'm curious as to why Reed considers fishing a lesser trade. I'd have thought it was an important source of food supply since I assume that since most people could not afford much meat, fish would be considered a necessity. Also, wasn't fish oil a condiment used by the Romans?

    1. Of course, I cannot speak for Reed. Indeed I've never even met him. I don't know if fishing was deemed "lesser" than any other kind of manual labor. There was a widespread notion, however, that it was the unwashed masses who did manual labor; not a job for the elite of society. There was also a sentiment that boat fishing was a highly dangerous endeavor.