Life for the gospel writers
The era when the Gospel writers were around
is what we today would see as being an extremely basic lifestyle. When Jesus was
alive, he was primarily based in Nazareth and the way the people of that time
learnt how to farm, follow traditions and work was from the lessons taught to
them from the elder people in their families.
In terms of food, it mostly consisted of
grains, dairy product: milk, cheese
etc., fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, honey; anything that people could gather
from the surrounding area and land. Women- like these days- were the cooks, the
cleaners and the house keepers. These days women are able to be employed and
make a living for themselves without the help of men, but back then the main job
of women would be to gather grain to grind into flour which would be used to
make bread. They would also milk cows to make cheese. Fish was the most popular
type of meat to be eaten, but chicken was also a family favorite. Unlike the
three main meals we have, they would have a small breakfast; something they
could take to work and dinner which was feast consisting of wine, eggs, cheese
and veggies. They defiantly had a great variety of protein yet red meat was
reserved for important events and shell fish and pork were completely forbidden.
They didn’t have the luxury of cutlery, happy using their hands to feed their faces.
Clothing was simply a tunic, worn
underneath a garment known as a mantle; loose article which had ribbon to tie to
together. Leather belts are no new fashion trend as men would wear them back
during this time. Underwear was also used but far less supportive and known
better by the name of a loincloth. Sun protection used in that time was seen in
the form of a white cloth over strapped to the head, draped over the wearer’s
shoulders. Some people had the bonus of wearing sandals, but it wasn’t unusual
to travel barefoot. The physical build of the average Jew is best defined as
short. It is thought that Jesus would have been a bearded, slightly tanned
dark-haired guy; this was what most men of that time were described as.
During that time period, the Jewish
population flourished in Nazareth whilst living in a multicultural area. Greeks,
Romans and Syrians were some of the other cultures seeking a home. Being so
varied in backgrounds, many languages were spoken. Jesus was said to have
generally spoken in the language of Aramaic, but Greek, Latin and Hebrew were
just as or even more popular.
In a village, the central and most popular
part was considered the area where all of the markets were gathered, but the
Jewish saw the synagogue as a place of great importance. Homes were far from the
grand buildings we had the opportunity of living in, with the flooring being
made for dirt not floorboards, roofs made from locally-collected materials like
branches or wood and was set out as more of an open space then having
individually separated rooms. The local courtyard was used as a communal area
where the cooking and laundry would take place.
Men were the head of the household; his
duties included looking after the entire family by supplying the food and
shelter, seen as the bread-winner of the family. Defied by today’s kids,
children were expected to always respect their parents; value them. Women were
defiantly underappreciated, seen as being far less valuable than men. It was a
shock when women were mention at all as being allowed to follow Jesus, and the
fact that it was recorded by the writers of the Gospels was certainly gob
smacking to most. The average Jewish family was strict with religion, their
morals and followed their religion to a tee.
is what we today would see as being an extremely basic lifestyle. When Jesus was
alive, he was primarily based in Nazareth and the way the people of that time
learnt how to farm, follow traditions and work was from the lessons taught to
them from the elder people in their families.
In terms of food, it mostly consisted of
grains, dairy product: milk, cheese
etc., fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, honey; anything that people could gather
from the surrounding area and land. Women- like these days- were the cooks, the
cleaners and the house keepers. These days women are able to be employed and
make a living for themselves without the help of men, but back then the main job
of women would be to gather grain to grind into flour which would be used to
make bread. They would also milk cows to make cheese. Fish was the most popular
type of meat to be eaten, but chicken was also a family favorite. Unlike the
three main meals we have, they would have a small breakfast; something they
could take to work and dinner which was feast consisting of wine, eggs, cheese
and veggies. They defiantly had a great variety of protein yet red meat was
reserved for important events and shell fish and pork were completely forbidden.
They didn’t have the luxury of cutlery, happy using their hands to feed their faces.
Clothing was simply a tunic, worn
underneath a garment known as a mantle; loose article which had ribbon to tie to
together. Leather belts are no new fashion trend as men would wear them back
during this time. Underwear was also used but far less supportive and known
better by the name of a loincloth. Sun protection used in that time was seen in
the form of a white cloth over strapped to the head, draped over the wearer’s
shoulders. Some people had the bonus of wearing sandals, but it wasn’t unusual
to travel barefoot. The physical build of the average Jew is best defined as
short. It is thought that Jesus would have been a bearded, slightly tanned
dark-haired guy; this was what most men of that time were described as.
During that time period, the Jewish
population flourished in Nazareth whilst living in a multicultural area. Greeks,
Romans and Syrians were some of the other cultures seeking a home. Being so
varied in backgrounds, many languages were spoken. Jesus was said to have
generally spoken in the language of Aramaic, but Greek, Latin and Hebrew were
just as or even more popular.
In a village, the central and most popular
part was considered the area where all of the markets were gathered, but the
Jewish saw the synagogue as a place of great importance. Homes were far from the
grand buildings we had the opportunity of living in, with the flooring being
made for dirt not floorboards, roofs made from locally-collected materials like
branches or wood and was set out as more of an open space then having
individually separated rooms. The local courtyard was used as a communal area
where the cooking and laundry would take place.
Men were the head of the household; his
duties included looking after the entire family by supplying the food and
shelter, seen as the bread-winner of the family. Defied by today’s kids,
children were expected to always respect their parents; value them. Women were
defiantly underappreciated, seen as being far less valuable than men. It was a
shock when women were mention at all as being allowed to follow Jesus, and the
fact that it was recorded by the writers of the Gospels was certainly gob
smacking to most. The average Jewish family was strict with religion, their
morals and followed their religion to a tee.