We commonly think of Jesus, the child and the young man, growing up in the quiet countryside, the provincial backwater, of Galilee, amid the village life of Nazareth. Certainly, many of his teachings draw on pastoral and farm settings, and the simple lives of the poor.
But there is more to the background in which the Son of God grew up that may have influenced his life and his teachings. There existed, very near to Nazareth, a great urban setting: a metropolis in the middle of Galilee, only an hour’s walk from the little village where Jesus grew up. This was the acropolis — the fortified and elevated city — of Sepphoris.
An article in Biblical Archaeology Review,1by Richard Batey, outlines the discoveries at Sepphoris, and points out connections between the city and the words of Jesus in the gospels. (Batey also wrote a book on Sepphoris entitled Jesus and the Forgotten City.) Portions of this article summarize Batey’s work.
What is left of the acropolis at Sepphoris rises 400 feet above the surrounding fields of central Galilee. The site in the early first century AD served as the capital for Herod Antipas, appointed by Rome as tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. In 3 BC, a year after the death of his father, Herod the Great, Antipas began rebuilding Sepphoris, which had been destroyed by the Romans in an effort to smother a rebellion. Over the next several decades, Antipas created a thriving metropolis on the site. The remains of this great city have now been brought to light by archaeologists. Their excavations have so far uncovered four major buildings dated by associated pottery to the early first century AD, that is, to the time of Antipas’ city. In addition to the theater, the work has exposed a large colonnaded building, a villa, and community ritual baths.
“A city set on a hill cannot be hid” (Matt. 5:14). Jesus’ words come to mind as one stands on a ridge at the northern edge of modern Nazareth. Three miles north and 700 feet lower in elevation, stands a large hill that was the site of ancient Sepphoris. In the decades following the birth of Jesus, it was the chief city and capital of Galilee.
The view from Nazareth — one that Jesus, the boy and young man, could easily have seen — was described by Leroy Waterman, who excavated at Sepphoris in 1931: “Across the rolling uplands to the north the peak of snowy Hermon hangs like a fleecy cloud above the horizon; to the west, the blue Mediterranean shimmers under the afternoon sun like a vast molten mirror, while halfway between, in full view and only an hour’s walk from Nazareth, lies the site of the city that at the beginning of the first Christian century reared its brilliant acropolis, Sepphoris, ‘the ornament of all Galilee’, its capital and its largest and most ornate city, and at that time second only to Jerusalem in importance in all Palestine.” 2
Continuing archaeological excavations at Sepphoris are yielding evidence of a sophisticated urban culture that places Jesus in a radically different environment, one that challenges traditional assumptions about his life and ministry. The popular picture of Jesus as a poor peasant (growing up in the relative isolation of a small village of 400 people, hidden away in the remote hills of Galilee) must now be integrated with the newly revealed setting of a rapidly growing Greco-Roman metropolis boasting upwards of 30,000 inhabitants — Jews, Arabs, Greeks and Romans. Sepphoris — powerful, prosperous, peace-loving — was linked with other Greco-Roman centers on the eastern trade routes.
History of Sepphoris
Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great and the ruler who beheaded John the Baptist (Matt. 14:10; Mark 6:16; Luke 9:9), rebuilt Sepphoris after the death of his father, in 4 BC. For almost three decades following Jesus’ birth, Sepphoris served as the capital of Galilee and Perea, a large territory east of the Jordan River. The proximity of Sepphoris to its satellite village, Nazareth, made contact between Nazareth and this influential urban center convenient and natural.
Following the death of Herod the Great, riots and rebellions flared up in several places throughout his kingdom. Sepphoris was a center of the uprisings in Galilee. The Roman governor of Syria, Quintilius Varus, ordered his legions to crush the rebels in Galilee. The Roman army, commanded by his son, attacked Sepphoris, captured and burned the city, and sold the inhabitants into slavery.3
When Antipas returned to Galilee from Rome in the spring of 3 BC, he selected the ruins of Sepphoris for his new capital. He launched a vast construction project that lasted throughout the life of Jesus. Sepphoris became the center for the government of Galilee and Perea. Political policy, military strategy, and economic regulation flowed from this seat of power. Influences from Sepphoris affected the people living in Nazareth as well as other satellite villages. Josephus tells us that Sepphoris was the largest and most beautiful city in the region.4
The city plan, laid out on the Roman grid pattern adjusted to the contours of the land, has all the elements typical of a Roman provincial capital — a main east-west street leading to the forum, Antipas’ royal residence with its imposing tower that offers a breathtaking panorama, a 4,000-seat theater, baths, libraries, gymnasium, waterworks and public buildings.
Archaeological digs
Extensive new excavations began at Sepphoris in the 1980s. Aerial photographic techniques revealed long-buried walls and aqueducts. Ground-penetrating radar scanned a labyrinth of tunnels, cisterns, grain silos, wine cellars and storage chambers carved into solid rock deep below the debris of centuries.
Sepphoris boasted a formidable water supply system. A triumph of Roman engineering, its reservoir measured 541 feet long and about 22 feet high. Carved from a natural cavity in the limestone bedrock, it lies about a mile east of Sepphoris’ acropolis. A surface aqueduct brought water to the reservoir from the springs of Abel, three miles away, but archaeologists have not yet discovered the tunnel that took the water from the reservoir into the city. Built in the early first century to supply water for Herod Antipas’ city, the reservoir continued in use until the fifth century.
Other underground structures at Sepphoris include a group of four connected chambers. These chambers originally served as cisterns; later they were used for dry storage.
The impact upon the Gospels
The more the site is studied, the more evident it becomes that Jesus lived in a Galilean culture much more sophisticated than previously assumed. To recognize this fact is to see the man and his ministry from a radically different viewpoint. Jesus in the Gospels was acquainted with the policies of kings, Antipas’ government, tax collectors, wealthy landlords and poor peasants, as well as actors from the theater. All these characters assume significant new roles on the stage of an urban and cosmopolitan Galilee.
The ongoing construction of an influential Roman capital city so near Jesus’ home in Nazareth redefines the carpenter’s occupation in central Galilee. To erect Herod Antipas’ new capital, many skilled workers from surrounding towns and villages came to Sepphoris and found employment. Artisans from Nazareth would surely have been among them.
Joseph and Jesus knew of the construction of the new capital, and would surely have been acquainted with artisans and other workers employed on the site. “Very likely ‘carpenter’ as applied to Jesus meant not simply a worker in wood but one who labored at the building trade in general, and it requires no [great] imagination to picture the youthful Jesus seeking and finding employment in the neighboring city of Sepphoris. But whether or not he actually labored there, his presence in the city on various occasions can scarcely be doubted; and the fact of such contacts during the formative years of his young manhood may account for attitudes and opinions that show themselves conspicuously during his public ministry.”5
Of course, no visit by Jesus to Sepphoris is recorded in the Gospels, but then the gospel accounts leave many of Jesus’ activities unreported — especially those of his teenage years and twenties. After Jesus became prominent, Antipas sought to kill him (Luke 13:31). Sepphoris would not have been a safe setting in which to proclaim the coming kingdom of God. However, the Gospels do tell of Jesus’ travels throughout all the cities and villages of Galilee and into Phoenicia, as well as journeys through Samaria to Jerusalem in Judea. It is difficult to imagine that Jesus grew up looking at Sepphoris and never visited the capital or met the people living and working there. Even casual contacts with the capital would have given Jesus firsthand knowledge of Greco-Roman city planning, architectural design and sophisticated engineering technology — as well as the cosmopolitan citizens.
Kings
References to kings occur in a number of parables and sayings of Jesus. Was Jesus’ understanding of kingship influenced by knowledge of Antipas’ policies and rule at nearby Sepphoris? From prison John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one anticipated by John’s ministry, or should they look for someone else? Jesus tells them to report to John the healings Jesus performed (Matt. 11:2–6). After they depart, Jesus asks the crowds what they had gone to see in the wilderness: “A man dressed in soft raiment?” Then Jesus alludes to the ease and luxury characteristic of Antipas’ lifestyle. “Behold, those who wear soft raiment are in kings’ houses” (v. 8). Herod the Great built palaces in Jerusalem and Jericho, as well as in the fortresses at Masada and Machaerus. Antipas erected royal palaces at both Sepphoris and Tiberias. The luxury and ostentation of the Herodian court was legendary, and no expense was spared to create its atmosphere of conspicuous affluence.
One of Jesus’ followers was Joanna, the wife of Antipas’ steward or “treasury secretary”, Chuza (Luke 8:3). She followed Jesus about Galilee in the company of several other women, who together helped to finance his travels (Luke 8:3). Joanna was certainly one person who could have told Jesus about the splendor in which Antipas and his court officials lived. The excesses and extravagances of the royal family stood in sharp contrast to the conditions of the poor peasants dwelling on the land. Jesus alludes to his own homelessness: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20; Luke 9:58).
Jesus appears to have been acquainted with Antipas’ banking policies carried out at Sepphoris. Once Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answers, “No, seventy times seven!” (Matt. 18:21,22). Then Jesus relates a parable about a king to illustrate the nature of forgiveness (Matt. 18:23–35). The king wanted to settle accounts with his debtors. One man brought before him owed the king the staggering sum of 10,000 talents, which in today’s currency might run into tens of millions of dollars. Such a sum was astronomical, even for a king like Antipas, and many of Jesus’ parables contain tremendous exaggerations. But such a parable certainly suggests that Jesus was at least aware of the “high finance” practiced by the royalty of the Roman Empire.
In another incident, Jesus asked what king contemplating a war against another king would not first counsel with his military strategists to determine if with 10,000 soldiers he could repel an attack, although outnumbered two to one. If his army is judged inadequate and defeat is likely, the king will send ambassadors to negotiate a peace treaty (Luke 14:31,32). This specific reference to a king planning a military campaign is significant. Given the strategic location of Galilee and Perea, which served as a buffer between Rome and both the Parthian empire and the Nabatean (Edomite) kingdom, Antipas was preoccupied with maintaining his military strength. In typical Herodian fashion and with considerable success, he sought to stabilize his realm with a strong and efficient army.
Jesus’ saying reflects an awareness of the military planning and preparation that kings must continually make to secure themselves against aggression. Jesus encourages his followers to be careful, to count the cost, and to be willing to pay the price that the security of God’s kingdom requires. “So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).
The references to kings in the parables and sayings of Jesus portray him as one whose cultural horizons are far wider than those of a remote Galilean village. The references to a king point consistently to the concept of the king’s sovereignty over his subjects. He determines their economic fortunes, freedom and slavery, and life and death (Matt. 18:23-35; 22:1-14; 25:31-46). The king’s judgments at times are harsh, but at others they are tempered with mercy; in either case his authority is never challenged. Such an understanding of kingship may well reflect — among other things — an awareness of Antipas’ rule from Sepphoris and Tiberias. Antipas represented the vast power of the empire in his territories. Jesus uses the figure of the king as an unquestioned authority to point toward God’s sovereignty over creation, and to exhort his disciples about the seriousness of life for those seeking God’s coming kingdom.
The realization that Jesus grew up in the shadow of Sepphoris, a great Roman capital city, casts new light on the man and his message — light that changes the perception of Jesus as a simple peasant of Galilee. The people to whom Jesus proclaimed his message of hope and salvation — Jews, Greeks, Romans and other Gentiles — were struggling with life’s meaning in a culture where Jewish traditions and Greco-Roman urban values collided. Jesus’ teachings reflect an awareness of city life shared with his cosmopolitan audience, and he addresses human issues that are quite contemporary. To grasp this idea is to see Jesus as one who knows our world as well.
Incidentally, the cosmopolitan culture of Galilee increases the probability that Jesus spoke Greek as well as Aramaic. Present-day debates among New Testament scholars are changing from the question of whether or not Jesus spoke Greek to how well he spoke Greek. Careful study of the Greek text of the Gospels has led more recent scholars to conclude that a number of his teachings were composed originally in Greek rather than Aramaic.
The theater
At some point during the reconstruction of Sepphoris, Antipas probably built the great theater. This would be consistent with the wave of first-century theater building that gripped the Roman world, as the provinces tried to imitate the sophistication of Rome.
Appropriate for a capital, the theater at Sepphoris was a large one, with a stage 156 feet wide and 27 feet from front to back, and with seating for 4,000 (the same capacity as the theater in the great port city of Caesarea). Archaeologists have found the front and back walls of the stage, but not the floor; hence the floor was probably made of wood that decayed long ago. This raises the interesting possibility that Jesus and his “father” Joseph, being carpenters, may even have helped build the stage.
Some of Jesus’ teachings strongly suggest that he had firsthand knowledge of the great theater at Sepphoris, and the plays that were staged there. Jesus seems to have disapproved of the theater, for he often used the term “hypocrite” (which originally denoted an actor, or a pretender) to rebuke those whose religion was a pretense. Jesus uses some form of “hypocrite” about 20 times (Matt. 6:2,5,16; 7:5; 15:7; 22:18; 23:13,15,23,25,27,28,29; 24:51; Mark 7:6; 12:15; Luke 6:42; 12:1,25; 13:15; 20:20). By contrast, the words appear in Paul’s letters only twice (Gal. 2:13; 1 Tim. 4:2) and in Peter’s letter only once (1 Pet. 2:1). In the Sermon on the Mount, for example, Jesus warns, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them… do not be like the hypocrites” (Matt. 6:2,5).
“James Strange pointed out… that the Greek word translated ‘street corners’ (‘plataon’) is plural of ‘plateia’ or colonnaded street. The main street of Sepphoris is referred to as ‘palatia’ in rabbinic sources… Strange translates the passage in Matthew as, ‘And when you pray, you must not be like actors, for they love to stand and pray in [public] assemblies and on the corners of the [colonnaded] streets to be seen by people’.”6
The beautiful theater constructed by Antipas at Sepphoris was the newest and the nearest to Nazareth. However, there were several other theaters in the areas where Jesus traveled. Almost a decade before Antipas was born, his father Herod the Great built the lavish theater at Jerusalem as part of his preparation to celebrate the Actium sports and games in 28 BC. This celebration honored Octavius’ victory over Anthony and Cleopatra. Herod the Great acquired a reputation as a theater builder. He erected other theaters at Jericho and Samaria. During his public ministry, Jesus traveled in these areas (Mark 10:46; John 4:3–6), because they were on the two main pilgrimage routes between Galilee and Jerusalem. Herod built a theater in his port city of Caesarea, and even constructed another in Sidon, just north of his kingdom, as a sign of friendship toward these neighboring peoples. Jesus also traveled in the district of Tyre and Sidon, that is, Phoenicia (Mark 7:24,31; Matt. 15:21).
Note: See the picture of the theater at Sepphoris on the inside back cover. Playing at dice
Dice, found at the site of Sepphoris, are very similar to first-century AD Roman dice known from other sites. Their faces exhibit the same arrangement of numbers as on a standard modern die (that is, faces opposite each other always add up to seven). Playing at dice must have been a popular entertainment among Roman troops. Almost certainly those who “cast lots” for Christ’s clothing at his crucifixion used such dice (Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24 Luke 23:34; John 19:23,24; Psa. 22:18).
“Sounding a trumpet”
When Jesus’ disciples made charitable offerings, they were not to seek honor and public acclaim by, figuratively speaking, “sounding a trumpet” in the synagogue or streets — like an actor whose dramatic entrance on stage is announced with a trumpet’s fanfare. “Sounding the trumpet”, an expression comparable to “blowing your own horn”, probably refers to the rams’ horns that were blown on various significant occasions — such as fasts — in Jewish religious observances.7Such gifts should be privately made so that the left hand does not know “what the right hand is doing… and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6:3,4).
“When you fast,” Jesus instructs his hearers, “do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full” (Matt. 6:16). It was customary during a religious fast, as an expression of grief or sorrow for sins, to dress in sackcloth, tear one’s clothes and place ashes on the head. This appearance, accompanied by a long and somber face, was an open display of fasting. The comparison appears to be with the tragic actor who makes up his face to portray dramatically the agony of his character.
Conclusion
Quite possibly, many more aspects of culture and life in and around Sepphoris influenced the thoughts and words of Jesus Christ. We do well to understand the world in which he lived, and to recognize, not just how much that world differed from our own, but also how much it resembled our own.
The carpenter of Nazareth was a man who knew the world of his day, all of it, who saw it for what it was — passing by, observing it, and studying it.
The man Jesus saw the great palaces, the great power, the great military might, the great wealth, the great “learning”, the great technological achievements, and even the great theaters and entertainments of his world.
Finally, and conclusively, he rejected its values, its wealth, its pretense, and its façade of prosperity and conspicuous consumption.
Assessing it all with a keen spiritual insight, he turned and walked away, telling his disciples: “Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled… Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt. 5:6,8).
- May-June 1992, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 50-62.
- Leroy Waterman, Preliminary Report of Michigan Excavations at Sepphoris, Palestine, in 1931 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1937), p. v.
- Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, 2:56; Antiquities of the Jews, 17:271 ff.
- Josephus, The Life of Flavius Josephus, 232.
- S. J. Case, Jesus: A New Biography (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1927), pp. 205f; and “Jesus and Sepphoris,” Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 45, p. 18.
- Richard Batey, a personal conversation with James F. Strange, cited in Biblical Archaeological Review, May-June 1992, Vol. 18, No. 3, p. 62.
- Jack P. Lewis, The Gospel According to Matthew, Part I (Austin, TX: Sweet Publishing, 1976), pp. 98f. Cited by Batey in his BAR article.
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