Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Luke 10:38-42, Mary at the teacher's feet
In Martha's house Mary sits at Jesus' feet listening while Martha works at serving. When Martha complains, Jesus says Mary has chosen the better part.
Luke 10:38-42, in every translation this tool compares.
Martha welcomes Jesus into her home. Her sister Mary sits at the Lord's feet and listens to his teaching, while Martha is pulled every way by the work of serving. Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her; he answers that Martha is anxious about many things but only one is needed, and that Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken from her.
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- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/following-a-teacher\/","n":"Following a teacher","s":"A disciple walked behind his teacher, lived with him, learned his ways and carried his reputation. Jesus chose his own, which only radical teachers did.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/women-who-followed\/","n":"Women who followed","s":"Women traveled with Jesus, paid for his movement, and stayed at the cross and the tomb when the men had gone.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/honor-and-shame\/","n":"Honor before a crowd","s":"Public standing was the currency of the ancient Mediterranean. People competed for honor and dreaded being shamed in front of others.","r":""}
Hosting a famous teacher was an honor, and preparing the food fell to the woman of the house (Keener and his notes). To sit at a teacher's feet was a disciple's posture (Acts 22:3), and disciples were training to become teachers, a role closed to women; women could hear the law in the synagogue but were not taught in the rabbis' schools (Keener and his notes). Wright says the real problem was that "Mary was behaving as if she were a man," crossing from the women's quarters into the room where the men sat, and that by the standards of the day "Only a shameless woman would behave in such a way." Bailey also reads Martha as upset that her sister has joined the men. The Mishnah tells a student to "sit amid the dust of their feet and drink in their words with thirst," speaking of the sages, and also says that teaching a daughter the law is like teaching her lechery; girls were taught only household skills (Strauss). Since a woman's honor rested on running her household well, Martha's complaint would have looked legitimate (Strauss).
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Luke 10:38, 10:39 and 10:40
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Luke 10:39 and 10:40-42
- N. T. Wright, Luke for Everyone, comment on Luke 10:38-42
- Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, ch. 14, Jesus and Women
- Mark L. Strauss, Luke, in Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, ed. Clinton E. Arnold, on Luke 10:39 and 10:40
