The Synagogue at Nazareth?

One of the biblical scenes illustrated in my children's Bible when I was a little guy, was Jesus sitting in a place of worship at Nazareth reading the scroll to the people. So what did the synagogue really look like? Here are some obseravtions from Stewards, Prophets, Keepers of the Word: Leadership in the Early Church by Ritva H. Willliams.

Jesus never went to “church.” He grew up in Nazareth, a small Galilean peasant village with a population of two to four hundred persons spread out over about ten acres of land. Archaeological surveys of Nazareth have uncovered olive and wine presses, water cisterns, grain silos, and grinding stones, but “no evidence for public architecture of any kind whatsoever.” The village in which Jesus grew up had “no synagogue … no fortification, no palace, no basilica, no bathhouse, no paved street. In other words, there was no specially designated “church” or other religious building as far as we can tell from the archaeological remains. This lace does not mean, however, that its residents were not a worshipping community. The presence of two-stepped, plastered pools or ritual baths (miqwaoth) and fragments of stone vessels points to a Torah-observant Jewish population. Circumcisions, bar mitzvahs, Sabbath gatherings, recitations of Scriptures, celebrations of festivals, and other aspects of religious life were centered in and around people’s homes. Jesus would have worshipped together with his family and neighbors in simple fieldstone dwellings with beaten earth floors and thatched roofs, frequently built around existing hillside caves.

What then should we conclude about the gospel story of Jesus’ teaching “in the synagogue” in his hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:1-6a/ /Matt 13:53-58/ /Luke 4:16-30)? In light of the archaeological evidence, “synagogue” here ought to be read not as a reference to a building but to an assembly of persons. They may have gathered in a room, a courtyard, a storehouse, or perhaps even in the village square. This situation in Nazareth does not appear to have been unique in first-Century Galilee. In fact, aside from the synagogue at Gamla in the Golan, there is very little archaeological evidence for specifically designated worship buildings in the villages. Thus, when we read about Jesus going “throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in the synagogues” (Mark 1:39/ / Matt 4:23/ /Luke4:44), we ought to imagine, not ancient equivalents to “churches,” but Jewish Sabbath gatherings that occurred wherever space and weather permitted. (9-10)

Williams goes on to note that Capernaum was an execption to this. It appears that Herod Antipas built a building there that was to be used for Torah reading, teaching the commandments, and lodging needy strangers.

Comments

[Scot McKnight]

Michael,

Williams is spot-on, and now add to this that most households were run by the mother of the house and you've got a clear indicator of the significance of women leaders in the earliest churches. Romans 16.

[Michael W. Kruse]

This book by Williams is just wonderful. I hope to review it next week. I'm already hunting down other things she has written.

"mother of the house"

I also think of people like Lydia with the "church" meeting in her home. It is so hard for as truly enter the world of these communities in our minds as we read the Bible.