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Also known as: ʿIsā, ʿIsā ibn Maryam, Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus of Galilee, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus son of Joseph, Jesus the
Nazarene
Written by E.P. Sanders , Jaroslav Jan Pelikan All
Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: Jun 13, 2024 • Article History

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Recent News
June 13, 2024, 1:13 AM ET (Washington Post)
Newly deciphered papyrus manuscript details Jesus Christ’s
childhood

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Jesus (born c. 6–4 BCE, Bethlehem—died c. 30

CE, Jerusalem) was a religious leader revered in Jesus
Christianity, one of the world’s major religions.
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He is regarded by most Christians as the
Incarnation of God. The history of Christian Also called: Jesus Christ, Jesus of Galilee,
reflection on the teachings and nature of Jesus or Jesus of Nazareth

is examined in the article Christology. Born: c. 6–4 BCE, Bethlehem

Died: c. 30 CE, Jerusalem

Name and title Notable Family Members: mother Mary

Ancient Jews usually had only one name, and, See all related content →
when greater specificity was needed, it was
customary to add the father’s name or the place
of origin. Thus, in his lifetime Jesus was called Jesus son of Joseph (Luke 4:22; John
1:45, 6:42), Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 10:38), or Jesus the Nazarene (Mark 1:24; Luke
24:19). After his death he came to be called Jesus Christ. Christ was not originally a
name but a title derived from the Greek word christos, which translates the Hebrew
close term meshiah (Messiah),
You have reachedmeaning “thepublic
Britannica's anointed one.” This title indicates that Jesus’
website.
followers believed him to be the anointed son of King David, whom some Jews expected
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to restore the fortunes of Israel. Passages such as Acts of the Apostles 2:36 show that
account.

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some early Christian writers knew that the Christ was properly a title, but in many
passages of the New Testament, including those in the letters of the Apostle Paul, the
name and title are combined and used together as Jesus’ name: Jesus Christ or Christ
Jesus (Romans 1:1; 3:24). Paul sometimes simply used Christ as Jesus’ name (e.g.,
Romans 5:6).

Summary of Jesus’ life

Although born in Bethlehem, according to
Matthew and Luke, Jesus was a Galilean from
Nazareth, a village near Sepphoris, one of the
two major cities of Galilee (Tiberias was the
other). He was born to Joseph and Mary
sometime between 6 BCE and shortly before the
death of Herod the Great (Matthew 2; Luke 1:5)
in 4 BCE. According to Matthew and Luke, zoom_in
however, Joseph was only legally his father.
They report that Mary was a virgin when Jesus keyboard_arrow_right
was conceived and that she “was found to be
with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18;
cf. Luke 1:35). Joseph is said to have been a
carpenter (Matthew 13:55)—that is, a craftsman
who worked with his hands—and, according to
Mark 6:3, Jesus also became a carpenter. Holy Family
Stained-glass window depicting
Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus.
Luke (2:41–52) states that Jesus as a youth
was precociously learned, but there is no other
evidence of his childhood or early life. As a
young adult, he went to be baptized by the
prophet John the Baptist and shortly thereafter
became an itinerant preacher and healer (Mark
1:2–28). In his mid-30s Jesus had a short zoom_in
public career, lasting perhaps less than one
year, during which he attracted considerable
attention. Sometime between 29 and 33 CE—
possibly 30 CE—he went to observe Passover in
Abraham Bloemaert: The
Jerusalem, where his entrance, according to the Preaching of St. John the Baptist
close Gospels,You
washave
triumphant
reachedand infused with
Britannica's public website. The Preaching of St. John the Baptist,
painting on canvas by Abraham… ...(more)
eschatological significance. While there he was
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arrested, tried, and executed. His disciples
account.
became convinced that he rose from the dead
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and appeared to them. They converted others to belief in him, which eventually led to a
new religion, Christianity.

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Jewish Palestine at the time of Jesus

The political situation

Palestine in Jesus’ day was part of the Roman Empire, which controlled its various
territories in a number of ways. In the East (eastern Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and
Egypt), territories were governed either by kings who were “friends and allies” of Rome
(often called “client” kings or, more disparagingly, “puppet” kings) or by governors
supported by a Roman army. When Jesus was born, all of Jewish Palestine—as well as
some of the neighbouring Gentile areas—was ruled by Rome’s able “friend and ally”
Herod the Great. For Rome, Palestine was important not in itself but because it lay
between Syria and Egypt, two of Rome’s most valuable possessions. Rome had legions in
both countries but not in Palestine. Roman imperial policy required that Palestine be
loyal and peaceful so that it did not undermine Rome’s larger interests. That end was
achieved for a long time by permitting Herod to remain king of Judaea (37–4 BCE) and
allowing him a free hand in governing his kingdom, as long as the requirements of
stability and loyalty were met.

When Herod died shortly after Jesus’ birth, his kingdom was divided into five parts.
Most of the Gentile areas were separated from the Jewish areas, which were split
between two of Herod’s sons, Herod Archelaus, who received Judaea and Idumaea (as
well as Samaria, which was non-Jewish), and Herod Antipas, who received Galilee and
close Peraea. (In
Youthe
have reached
New Britannica's
Testament, Antipaspublic website. confusingly called Herod, as in
is somewhat
Luke 23:6–12; apparently the sons of Herod took his name, just as the successors of
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Julius Caesar were commonly called Caesar.) Both sons were given lesser titles than
account.

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king: Archelaus was ethnarch, and Antipas was

tetrarch. The non-Jewish areas (except
Samaria) were assigned to a third son, Philip, to
Herod’s sister Salome, or to the province of
Syria. The emperor Augustus deposed the
unsatisfactory Archelaus in 6 CE, however, and
transformed Judaea, Idumaea, and Samaria
from a client kingdom into an “imperial
province.” Accordingly, he sent a prefect to zoom_in
govern this province. That minor Roman
aristocrat (later called a procurator) was
supported by a small Roman army of
approximately 3,000 men. The soldiers,
however, came not from Italy but from nearby
Gentile cities, especially Caesarea and Sebaste;
presumably, the officers were from Italy. During
Jesus’ public career, the Roman prefect was
Pontius Pilate (ruled 26–36 CE).
Palestine: Roman era
Although nominally in charge of Judaea, Palestine during the time of Herod the
Great and his sons.
Samaria, and Idumaea, the prefect did not
govern his area directly. Instead, he relied on
local leaders. The prefect and his small army
lived in the predominantly Gentile city Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast, about two
days’ march from Jerusalem. They came to Jerusalem only to ensure peace during the
pilgrimage festivals—Passover, Weeks (Shabuoth), and Booths (Sukkoth)—when large
crowds and patriotic themes sometimes combined to spark unrest or uprisings. On a
day-to-day basis Jerusalem was governed by the high priest. Assisted by a council, he
had the difficult task of mediating between the remote Roman prefect and the local
populace, which was hostile toward pagans and wanted to be free of foreign
interference. His political responsibility was to maintain order and to see that tribute
was paid. Caiaphas, the high priest during Jesus’ adulthood, held the office from about
18 to 36 CE, longer than anyone else during the Roman period, indicating that he was a
successful and reliable diplomat. Since he and Pilate were in power together for 10 years,
they must have collaborated successfully.

Thus, at the time of Jesus’ public career, Galilee was governed by the tetrarch Antipas,
close who wasYou
sovereign within his
have reached own domain,
Britannica's publicprovided
website.that he remained loyal to Rome
and maintained peace and stability within his borders. Judaea (including Jerusalem)
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was nominally governed by Pilate, but the actual daily rule of Jerusalem was in the
hands of Caiaphas and his council.

Relations between Jewish areas and nearby Gentile areas

Galilee and Judaea, the principal Jewish areas of Palestine, were surrounded by Gentile
territories (i.e., Caesarea, Dora, and Ptolemais on the Mediterranean coast; Caesarea
Philippi north of Galilee; and Hippus and Gadara east of Galilee). There also were two
inland Gentile cities on the west side of the Jordan River near Galilee (Scythopolis and
Sebaste). The proximity of Gentile and Jewish areas meant that there was some
interchange between them, including trade, which explains why Antipas had telōnēs—
often translated as “tax collectors” but more accurately rendered as “customs officers”—
in the villages on his side of the Sea of Galilee. There also was some exchange of
populations: some Jews lived in Gentile cities, such as Scythopolis, and some Gentiles
lived in at least one of the Jewish cities, Tiberias. Jewish merchants and traders could
probably speak some Greek, but the primary language of Palestinian Jews was Aramaic
(a Semitic language closely related to Hebrew). On the other hand, the Jews resisted
paganism and excluded temples for the worship of the gods of Greece and Rome from
their cities, along with the Greek educational institutions the ephebeia and gymnasion,
gladiatorial contests, and other buildings or institutions typical of Gentile areas. Because
Jewish-Gentile relations in the land that the Jews considered their own were often
uneasy, Jewish areas were usually governed separately from Gentile areas. The reign of
Herod the Great was the exception to that rule, but even he treated the Jewish and the
Gentile parts of his kingdom differently, fostering Greco-Roman culture in Gentile
sectors but introducing only very minor aspects of it in Jewish areas.

In the 1st century Rome showed no interest in making the Jews in Palestine and other
parts of the empire conform to common Greco-Roman culture. A series of decrees by
Julius Caesar, Augustus, the Roman Senate, and various city councils permitted Jews to
keep their own customs, even when they were antithetical to Greco-Roman culture. For
example, in respect for Jewish observance of the Sabbath, Rome exempted Jews from
conscription in Rome’s armies. Neither did Rome colonize Jewish Palestine. Augustus
established colonies elsewhere (in southern France, Spain, North Africa, and Asia
Minor), but prior to the First Jewish Revolt (66–74 CE) Rome established no colonies in
Jewish Palestine. Few individual Gentiles from abroad would have been attracted to live
in Jewish cities, where they would have been cut off from their customary worship and
cultural activities. The Gentiles who lived in Tiberias and other Jewish cities were

close probablyYou
natives of nearby Gentile cities, and many were Syrians, who could probably
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speak both Aramaic and Greek.
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account.
Economic conditions
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Most people in the ancient world produced food, clothing, or both and could afford few
luxuries. Most Palestinian Jewish farmers and herdsmen, however, earned enough to
support their families, pay their taxes, offer sacrifices during one or more annual
festivals, and let their land lie fallow in the sabbatical years, when cultivation was
prohibited. Galilee in particular was relatively prosperous, since the land and climate
permitted abundant harvests and supported many sheep. Although it is doubtful that
Galilee was as affluent in the 1st century as it was during the late Roman and Byzantine
periods, archaeological remains from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries nevertheless
confirm the plausibility of 1st-century references to the region’s prosperity. There were,
of course, landless people, but the Herodian dynasty was careful to organize large public
works projects that employed thousands of men. Desperate poverty was present too but
never reached a socially dangerous level. At the other end of the economic spectrum, few
if any Palestinian Jews had the vast fortunes that successful merchants in port cities
could accumulate. However, there were Jewish aristocrats with large estates and grand
houses, and the merchants who served the Temple (supplying, for example, incense and
fabric) could become very prosperous. The gap between rich and poor in Palestine was
obvious and distressing to the poor, but, compared with that of the rest of the world, it
was not especially wide. Load Next Page
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