The Myth of a Gentile Galilee

by Mark A. Chancey

• ISBN13: 9780521814874
• ISBN10: 0521814871
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The Myth of a Gentile Galilee is the most thorough synthesis to date of archaeological and literary evidence relating to the population of Galilee in the first-century CE. The book demonstrates that, contrary to the perceptions of many New Testament scholars, the overwhelming majority of first-century Galileans were Jews. Utilizing the gospels, the writings of Josephus, and published archaeological excavation reports, Mark A. Chancey traces the historical development of the region's population and examines in detail specific cities and villages, finding ample indications of Jewish inhabitants and virtually none for gentiles. He argues that any New Testament scholarship that attempts to contextualize the Historical Jesus or the Jesus movement in Galilee must acknowledge and pay due attention to the region's predominantly Jewish milieu. This accessible book will be of interest to New Testament scholars as well as scholars of Judaica, Syro-Palestinian archaeology, and the Roman Near East.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
List of abbreviations	x
Note on dating	xii
Maps	xiii
Introduction	1	(6)
Hellenism, Greco-Roman culture, and paganism	7	(1)
The challenges of using archaeological data	8	(1)
Outline of argument	8	(3)
Images of Galilee's population in biblical scholarship	11	(17)
Before the digs	11	(5)
The influence of archaeology	16	(6)
Jewish Galilee	22	(5)
Conclusion	27	(1)
The political and demographic history of Galilee	28	(35)
The Assyrian conquest of Galilee	28	(6)
Galilee in the Persian period	34	(1)
Macedonian and Greek rule	35	(2)
Galilee and the Maccabees	37	(4)
The Hasmoneans and Galilee	41	(6)
Herodian and Roman rule	47	(8)
Galilee during the Jewish War	55	(3)
The aftermath of the Revolt	58	(3)
Galilee's population in the first century CE	61	(2)
Galilean communities in the Late Hellenistic and Early Roman periods	63	(57)
The nature of our evidence	63	(6)
Lower Galilee	69	(41)
Upper Galilee	110	(7)
Conclusion	117	(3)
Galilee and the circle of nations	120	(47)
The ``foreign nations''	120	(35)
Galilee and the neighboring areas	155	(10)
Conclusion	165	(2)
Conclusion	167	(16)
Was Galilee known as ``Galilee of the Gentiles'?''	170	(4)
The Historical Jesus's contact with gentiles	174	(5)
The cultural atmosphere of ancient Galilee	179	(2)
Conclusion	181	(2)
Bibliography	183	(36)
Index of passages	219	(8)
Selective index of places	227	(2)
Selective index of people and topics	229