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The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas

The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.

Rome in charge

Rome ruled through client princes, local elites and governors. It kept the power to execute, and its soldiers, coins and taxes were everywhere.

Greek and Roman worldKings, rulers and courts

First, in plain English

The occupying army does not have to stand on every corner for everyone to know who is boss. Rome had taken over the land. Herod's family and the priests ran things day to day, but Rome had the soldiers, the coins and the final word.

What it meant then

Wright sketches the history. Israel had been ruled by others since Babylon and was partly independent under the Hasmoneans from about 163 to 63 BC. Then Rome took over, and where Rome ruled, Rome taxed. Only Rome could execute, so the Jerusalem leaders had to hand Jesus to the governor. The coin in 12:16 was most likely a silver denarius bearing Tiberius' image and the title son of the divine Augustus. Judean copper coins left the image off. The silver denarius, probably minted at Lyon, was required for taxes in Palestine as everywhere in the empire. Josephus tells how Pilate brought standards with Caesar's image into Jerusalem by night, and the people came in crowds to protest for days until he backed down. Pilate governed Judea from AD 26 to 36, and his time began with conflict, from the standards to the use of temple money. A Roman legion was 6,000 men on paper, closer to 5,000 in the field. Centurions, the army's backbone, commanded sixty to eighty men. A cohort of about six hundred was normally stationed at the Antonia fortress in Jerusalem and reinforced at the feasts. Five cohorts were stationed at Caesarea, the governor's seat. Soldiers served twenty years and were officially barred from marrying. They had the legal right to press local people's labor, animals or goods into service. Jesus' picture of Gentiles who lord it over others is an accurate sketch of power from the emperor down (Keener). A proconsul was the highest official of a senatorial province such as Cyprus.

The bridge to today

An analogy: a country under foreign occupation that leaves the local mayor in office. Day to day you deal with locals, but the face on the money and the guns at the gate belong to someone else.

What it changes in the reading

Rome's power stands behind the governors, client rulers, soldiers and taxes of the Gospels, as when the chief priests must hand Jesus to Pilate in Mark 15:1. A soldier's right to press local people into carrying his gear is behind the second mile of Matthew 5:41. Paul's appeal to Caesar in Acts 25:11 uses the same system from the other side.

Where the analogy breaks

Not a temporary occupation awaiting liberation. A modern occupation is expected to end. Rome ruled as a settled empire, kept the power of execution for itself and set its own governor over Judea, while local partners such as the chief priests ran daily affairs.

Where scholars disagree

Two points. On Legion in 5:9, Keener and the ESV Study Bible read the name as saying only that the spirits are many. Wright reads the scene against Rome: Rome was the monster from the sea, "Rome was a nation of pigs," and the man is possessed by Rome's unclean legions. On the coin in 12:17, the ESV Study Bible says Jesus implies it is right to pay taxes to Caesar. Wright says the words carry the flavor of sending the image-stamped coin back where it came from, contempt without sedition, and echo a Maccabean slogan.

Passages where it appears

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-5-33-48\/","n":"Matthew 5:33-48, No oaths, the other cheek, the second mile","s":"Jesus tells his hearers not to swear at all, not to resist an evildoer, to go a second mile with a soldier who forces one, and to love their enemies.","r":"Matthew 5:33-48"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-8-1-17\/","n":"Matthew 8:1-17, A leper, a centurion and a mother-in-law","s":"Coming down the mountain, Jesus touches and heals a leper, heals a centurion's servant from a distance, and heals Peter's mother-in-law and many others.","r":"Matthew 8:1-17"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-17-24-27\/","n":"Matthew 17:24-27, The coin in the fish's mouth","s":"Collectors of the two-drachma temple tax ask Peter whether his teacher pays. Jesus says the king's sons are free, then sends Peter to find a coin in a fish to pay for them both.","r":"Matthew 17:24-27"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-22-15-22\/","n":"Matthew 22:15-22, Caesar's coin","s":"Pharisees and Herodians ask Jesus whether it is lawful to pay the poll tax to Caesar. He asks for the coin, asks whose image is on it, and tells them to give Caesar and God what is theirs.","r":"Matthew 22:15-22"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-27-1-26\/","n":"Matthew 27:1-26, Blood money, Pilate and Barabbas","s":"At dawn the council hands Jesus to Pilate. Judas returns the silver and hangs himself, the priests buy a potter's field, and Pilate, warned by his wife's dream, releases Barabbas and washes his hands.","r":"Matthew 27:1-26"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/matthew-27-57-66\/","n":"Matthew 27:57-66, Joseph's tomb and the sealed stone","s":"Joseph of Arimathea, a rich disciple, asks Pilate for the body and lays it in his own new tomb. The next day the chief priests get a guard and a seal on the stone.","r":"Matthew 27:57-66"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-5-1-20\/","n":"Mark 5:1-20, Legion among the tombs","s":"Across the lake, in Gentile country, Jesus frees a man possessed by many spirits. They enter a herd of pigs that rushes into the sea.","r":"Mark 5:1-20"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-10-32-45\/","n":"Mark 10:32-45, James and John ask for the best seats","s":"On the road to Jerusalem Jesus predicts his death a third time. James and John ask to sit at his right and left, and he tells them the first must be slave of all.","r":"Mark 10:32-45"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-12-13-17\/","n":"Mark 12:13-17, The coin with Caesar's face","s":"Pharisees and Herodians ask whether it is right to pay tax to Caesar. Jesus asks for a coin and asks whose image is on it.","r":"Mark 12:13-17"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/mark-15-1-20\/","n":"Mark 15:1-20, Before Pilate","s":"The chief priests hand Jesus to Pilate as king of the Jews. Pilate releases Barabbas to the crowd, has Jesus flogged, and the soldiers mock him as a king.","r":"Mark 15:1-20"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-2-1-7\/","n":"Luke 2:1-7, A census and a manger","s":"Augustus orders a registration, and Joseph takes the pregnant Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the town of David. She gives birth there and lays the child in a manger, because there is no room for them in the lodging.","r":"Luke 2:1-7"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-3-1-20\/","n":"Luke 3:1-20, John's answers for toll men and soldiers","s":"In the fifteenth year of Tiberius, John preaches repentance around the Jordan. He tells the crowds to share, tax collectors to take no more than is set, and soldiers not to extort, and Herod Antipas shuts him in prison.","r":"Luke 3:1-20"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-7-1-10\/","n":"Luke 7:1-10, A centurion who built the synagogue","s":"Jewish elders in Capernaum plead for a centurion whose valued slave is dying, because he loves their nation and built their synagogue. The centurion sends word that Jesus need not come under his roof, only give the order.","r":"Luke 7:1-10"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-13-1-9\/","n":"Luke 13:1-9, Pilate's victims, the tower and the fig tree","s":"People tell Jesus about Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices. He answers with a tower that fell in Siloam, a call to repent, and a fig tree given one more year.","r":"Luke 13:1-9"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-19-11-27\/","n":"Luke 19:11-27, The nobleman who went to receive a kingdom","s":"Because people think the kingdom is about to appear, Jesus tells of a nobleman who travels to a far country to be made king while citizens who hate him send a delegation after him, and of the servants who trade with his money.","r":"Luke 19:11-27"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-20-20-26\/","n":"Luke 20:20-26, Caesar's coin","s":"Spies sent by the leaders ask Jesus whether it is right to pay tribute to Caesar, hoping to hand him over to the governor. He asks whose image is on a denarius.","r":"Luke 20:20-26"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/luke-23-1-25\/","n":"Luke 23:1-25, Before Pilate, before Antipas, and Barabbas","s":"The council brings Jesus to Pilate charged with forbidding tribute and claiming to be a king. Pilate sends him to Herod Antipas, who mocks him, and in the end Pilate gives in to the crowd and releases Barabbas.","r":"Luke 23:1-25"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-11-45-57\/","n":"John 11:45-57, Caiaphas: one man for the nation","s":"After the raising of Lazarus the chief priests and Pharisees call a council, afraid the Romans will take away their place and their nation. Caiaphas tells them it is better for one man to die for the people.","r":"John 11:45-57"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-14-1-31\/","n":"John 14:1-31, Rooms in the Father's house, and another Advocate","s":"Jesus tells his troubled disciples that he is going to prepare a place for them in his Father's house, that he is the way, and that the Father will send another Advocate, the Spirit of truth. He leaves them his peace.","r":"John 14:1-31"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-18-1-27\/","n":"John 18:1-27, Arrest across the Kidron, and Annas","s":"Judas brings soldiers and temple police with torches to a garden across the Kidron. Jesus answers I am he, they fall back, and he is taken bound to Annas while Peter denies him three times by a charcoal fire.","r":"John 18:1-27"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/john-18-28-40\/","n":"John 18:28-40, Pilate's headquarters at dawn","s":"At daybreak the leaders bring Jesus to the governor's headquarters but will not go in, so as to stay clean for Passover. Pilate questions him about being king of the Jews, finds no case, and offers to release him, but the crowd asks for Barabbas.","r":"John 18:28-40"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-10-1-23\/","n":"Acts 10:1-23, Cornelius and Peter's vision","s":"A God-fearing Roman centurion in Caesarea is told in a vision to send for Peter. At noon on a Joppa rooftop Peter sees a sheet full of unclean animals and hears a voice tell him to eat.","r":"Acts 10:1-23"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-13-1-12\/","n":"Acts 13:1-12, Sent from Antioch: the proconsul and the magician","s":"The church at Antioch fasts, prays and sends out Barnabas and Saul. On Cyprus the Roman proconsul believes after Paul confronts the Jewish magician in his entourage.","r":"Acts 13:1-12"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-18-12-17\/","n":"Acts 18:12-17, Gallio's judgment seat","s":"Jewish leaders bring Paul before Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, accusing him of teaching a worship contrary to the law. Gallio refuses to judge a dispute about words, names and their own law and drives them from the judgment seat.","r":"Acts 18:12-17"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-21-27-40\/","n":"Acts 21:27-40, Riot in the temple, rescue by the tribune","s":"Jews from Asia see Paul in the temple and cry that he has brought Greeks into the holy place. The city riots, and the Roman tribune's soldiers pull him from the crowd, chain him, and nearly mistake him for the Egyptian rebel.","r":"Acts 21:27-40"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-23-12-35\/","n":"Acts 23:12-35, The oath, the nephew and the night march","s":"More than forty men bind themselves by an oath not to eat until they have killed Paul. His nephew learns of the ambush, and the tribune sends Paul under heavy escort by night to the governor Felix at Caesarea, with a letter explaining the case.","r":"Acts 23:12-35"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-24-1-27\/","n":"Acts 24:1-27, The hearing before Felix","s":"The high priest's orator Tertullus charges Paul before Felix with stirring up riots and trying to profane the temple. Paul answers point by point; Felix puts off a decision and keeps him in custody for two years, hoping for a bribe.","r":"Acts 24:1-27"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-25-1-12\/","n":"Acts 25:1-12, Festus and the appeal to Caesar","s":"The new governor Festus hears the case again at Caesarea. When he asks whether Paul will be tried in Jerusalem, Paul appeals to Caesar, and after conferring with his council Festus grants it.","r":"Acts 25:1-12"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/romans-5-1-21\/","n":"Romans 5:1-21, Peace with God, and Adam","s":"Justified by faith, believers have peace with God and are reconciled to him by the death of his Son. As sin and death came through Adam, grace and life come through Christ.","r":"Romans 5:1-21"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/romans-8-31-39\/","n":"Romans 8:31-39, Angels, rulers and powers","s":"With God on the believers' side, Paul asks who could oppose them, then names hardships and powers, from the sword to angels, rulers, height and depth, and none of them can cut believers off from God's love in Christ.","r":"Romans 8:31-39"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/romans-13-1-7\/","n":"Romans 13:1-7, The sword and the tax","s":"Paul tells believers to be subject to the governing authorities, whom God has put in place. The ruler bears the sword, and they should pay taxes and give honor where it is owed.","r":"Romans 13:1-7"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1timothy-2-1-7\/","n":"1 Timothy 2:1-7, Prayers for kings and all in authority","s":"Paul asks for prayers for everyone, kings and all in authority included, so that believers may live peaceful and quiet lives, because God our Savior wants all to be saved and there is one God and one mediator.","r":"1 Timothy 2:1-7"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/titus-2-11-3-8\/","n":"Titus 2:11-3:8, Grace has appeared, be subject to rulers, and the washing of rebirth","s":"God's grace has appeared, training believers to live with self-control now while they wait for Christ's glorious appearing; they are to respect rulers and be gentle to all, because God saved them by his mercy, giving them new birth and new life by the Holy Spirit.","r":"Titus 2:11-3:8"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1peter-2-11-17\/","n":"1 Peter 2:11-17, Foreigners among the nations; honor the emperor","s":"As foreigners and exiles the readers must keep their conduct good among the Gentiles, who slander them as wrongdoers. They are to submit to every human authority, the emperor and his governors, and so silence ignorant talk; they are free people, but slaves of God. Honor everyone, love the believers, fear God, honor the emperor.","r":"1 Peter 2:11-17"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-1-1-8\/","n":"Revelation 1:1-8, a revelation sent as a letter","s":"The book opens as a revelation God gave Jesus, sent by his angel to his servant John, with a blessing on the one who reads it aloud and on those who hear. It then greets seven churches in Asia like a letter, from the one who is, was and is to come, and from Jesus, ruler of the kings of the earth, who is coming with the clouds.","r":"Revelation 1:1-8"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-2-12-17\/","n":"Revelation 2:12-17, Pergamum, where Satan's throne is","s":"To Pergamum Jesus, who wields the sword of judgment, says they have stayed loyal in a city he calls Satan's seat, even after the martyrdom of Antipas. But some follow teaching like Balaam's that leads to idol meals and immorality. The faithful are promised hidden heavenly food and a white stone carrying a new name.","r":"Revelation 2:12-17"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-6-1-8\/","n":"Revelation 6:1-8, four horsemen","s":"As the Lamb opens the first four seals, four riders go out: a crowned archer on a white horse bent on conquest, a rider on a red horse who takes peace from the earth, a rider with scales on a black horse while wheat sells at famine prices, and Death on a pale horse with Hades following.","r":"Revelation 6:1-8"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-17-1-6\/","n":"Revelation 17:1-6, the woman on the scarlet beast","s":"An angel carries John into a wilderness to see the great prostitute who sits on many waters, riding a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names. Dressed in purple and scarlet and glittering with gold and pearls, she holds a golden cup of filth, bears the name Babylon the great on her forehead and is drunk with the blood of God's people.","r":"Revelation 17:1-6"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-17-7-18\/","n":"Revelation 17:7-18, seven hills and seven kings","s":"The angel explains the woman and the beast: the beast once was, now is not and will come up from the Abyss; its seven heads are seven hills and also seven kings, five fallen, one living and one still to come, and the beast is an eighth who belongs to the seven. Its ten horns are ten kings who will make war on the Lamb, and in the end the beast and the horns turn on the woman, the great city that rules the kings of the earth, and burn her.","r":"Revelation 17:7-18"}

Beings in the Gods of the Bible

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/gods-of-the-bible\/legion\/","n":"Legion","s":"The demon who gives his name as a number, in the story that ends with the pigs.","r":"Mark 5:1-20"}

Sources

N. T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, comments on Mark 5:1-20 and Mark 12:13-17
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Mark 5:9, 10:33, 10:42, 11:3 and 15:15, and note on Matthew 22:19-20
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 18.3.1, trans. William Whiston
ESV Study Bible, study notes on Mark 5:9 and 12:17
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Matthew 5:41, 8:5, 22:18-22 and 27:27
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Matthew 27:2
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Acts 10:1 and 10:2
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on Acts 10:2
ESV Study Bible, study note on Acts 13:7
CSB Study Bible, note on Acts 13:7

All ideas