Morten Hørning Jensen, «Rural Galilee and Rapid Changes: An Investigation of the Socio-Economic Dynamics and Developments in Roman Galilee», Vol. 93 (2012) 43-67
Much research on the socio-economic conditions of Galilee in the Herodian period has argued for a rapid economic deterioration amongst the rural population. This is said to have resulted in a deadly spiral of violence prompting popular protest movements of which Jesus of Nazareth became the most renowned. Other investigations, however, paint a much more lenient picture of Galilee being under only a moderate development. This article outlines the problem at hand in the research, suggests a methodology for further development and applies this to new archaeological material emerging from excavations in Galilee and the textual material available.
Rural Galilee and Rapid Changes: An Investigation of the
Socio-Economic Dynamics and Developments in Roman Galilee 1
I. Galilee and the Historical Jesus ― In Search of an Explanation
1. Plethora of Problems
Close to three decades after the publication of Sean Freyne’s
magisterial study, Galilee from Alexander the Great to Hadrian 2,
Galilean research is flourishing as never before. At the same time,
however, it is facing profound difficulties in reaching consensus on a
number of different questions of which the issue of the socio-economic
state of Galilee during the reign of Herod Antipas stands out as the
most crucial 3, not least due to its affinity to the question of why Jesus
“happened†when he did in order to see if the emergence of the Jesus
movement can be explained “locally†as the result of rapid changes
within Galilee in the Herodian era 4.
One way of tackling this inconclusive situation would be to call
for a moratorium on studies aimed at providing a grand picture of
life in Herodian Galilee and instead direct our energies towards
1
I wish to thank Agnes Choi and Bradley Root for helpful comments and
corrections.
2
S. FREYNE, Galilee from Alexander the Great to Hadrian 323 B.C.E. to 135
C.E.. A Study of Second Temple Judaism (University of Notre Dame Center for
the Study of Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity 5; Wilmington, NC 1980).
3
Other much discussed topics include the question of Galilee as a hotbed
for revolutionaries, the question of the ethnicity and history of the Galileans
and the question of the cultural milieu of Galilee. To some extent a consen-
sus has been reach in these cases, though see the discussion in M.H. JENSEN,
Herod Antipas in Galilee. The Literary and Archaeological Sources on the
Reign of Herod Antipas and its Socio-Economic Impact on Galilee (WUNT
II. 215; Tübingen 22010) 5-9.
4
Perhaps most vividly claimed in J. D. CROSSAN ‒ J. L. REED, Excavating
Jesus. Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts (New York 2001). For an intro-
duction to the connections between historical Jesus research and Galilean stud-
ies, see M. H. JENSEN, “Herod Antipas in Galilee. Friend or Foe of the Historical
Jesus?â€, JSNT 5 (2007) 7-32, as well as JENSEN, Herod Antipas, 5-30.
BIBLICA 93.1 (2012) 43-67
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