{"id":624,"date":"2015-04-06T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-04-06T12:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?p=624"},"modified":"2015-02-26T23:03:17","modified_gmt":"2015-02-26T23:03:17","slug":"matthew-935-38-the-workers-are-few-historical-backgrounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/04\/matthew-935-38-the-workers-are-few-historical-backgrounds.html","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 9:35-38; The Workers Are Few (Historical Backgrounds)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We like to picture Jesus preaching and teaching multitudes on mountainsides\u2014and of course he did that. But the bulk of his speaking ministry happened indoors, in smallish venues, in local synagogues all over Galilee (see Matthew 9:35). So what would that have been like? Here\u2019s what we know:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Synagogues began in the homes of Jewish captives living in exile in Babylon. Since the Jerusalem temple had been destroyed, these synagogues were vital in keeping alive the Jewish faith and some forms of worship.<\/li>\n<li>By the time of Jesus, \u201chouse synagogues\u201d were common anywhere a significant population of Jews lived, even in places as far-flung as Rome, Parthia, North Africa, and Asia Minor. In larger cities, particularly in Israel, the synagogue had also evolved into a formal assembly held in a public building\u2014generally the tallest structure in the community.<\/li>\n<li>Jesus likely taught in both \u201chouse synagogues\u201d and community synagogue buildings.<\/li>\n<li>There had to be at least 10 men present in a synagogue before public prayers could commence. \u201cGod-fearers,\u201d or gentile men who aligned themselves with the Jewish faith, might also be in the synagogue audience.<\/li>\n<li>The primary function of a synagogue was to provide lifelong education in the Law and the Prophets (the Old Testament), or \u201cinstruction, public worship, and prayer.\u201d To that end, men read aloud and discussed Scripture, rabbis delivered oral commentary and sermons, and everyone participated in traditional expressions of worship such as prayer, singing, and almsgiving.<\/li>\n<li>An additional function of the synagogue was as a community center of sorts. As the central gathering place of Jewish society, people would congregate here to discuss local affairs, make announcements, collect and distribute funds for charity, and occasionally share meals. Legal proceedings could also take place here, with the synagogue elders serving as judges.<\/li>\n<li>During a synagogue meeting, women weren\u2019t typically allowed to speak, though they could sit in and listen. Any man over the age of 13 could lead in prayer, or request permission to speak, or be invited to speak. When Jesus appeared at a synagogue, it was likely he was often invited to speak in this way, simply because he was so famous.<\/li>\n<li>Typically, a synagogue meeting ended with the recitation of Numbers 6:24-27 as a benediction: \u201cThe Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/workscited.html\">Works Cited<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>[NUB, 358; JHT, 156-159]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u2126\u2126\u2126<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"About: Bible Study Nerds\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/about-for-bible-study-nerds.html\">About: For Bible Study Nerds\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"About: Mike Nappa\" href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/about-mike-nappa.html\">About: Mike Nappa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2014 to present by\u00a0<a title=\"Nappaland Communications Inc. official website\" href=\"http:\/\/www.nappaland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Nappaland Communications Inc<\/a>. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We like to picture Jesus preaching and teaching multitudes on mountainsides\u2014and of course he did that. But the bulk of his speaking ministry happened indoors, in smallish venues, in local synagogues all over Galilee (see Matthew 9:35). So what would that have been like? Here\u2019s what we know: Synagogues began in the homes of Jewish&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":571,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,2],"tags":[16,93],"class_list":["post-624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-historicalbackgrounds","category-matthew","tag-jesus","tag-synagogue"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Matthew 9:35-38; The Workers Are Few (Historical Backgrounds) - For Bible Study Nerds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/04\/matthew-935-38-the-workers-are-few-historical-backgrounds.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Matthew 9:35-38; The Workers Are Few (Historical Backgrounds) - For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We like to picture Jesus preaching and teaching multitudes on mountainsides\u2014and of course he did that. But the bulk of his speaking ministry happened indoors, in smallish venues, in local synagogues all over Galilee (see Matthew 9:35). So what would that have been like? Here\u2019s what we know: Synagogues began in the homes of Jewish&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/04\/matthew-935-38-the-workers-are-few-historical-backgrounds.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"For Bible Study Nerds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-06T12:00:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-26T23:03:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mike Nappa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Matthew 9:35-38; The Workers Are Few (Historical Backgrounds) - For Bible Study Nerds","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2015\/04\/matthew-935-38-the-workers-are-few-historical-backgrounds.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Matthew 9:35-38; The Workers Are Few (Historical Backgrounds) - For Bible Study Nerds","og_description":"We like to picture Jesus preaching and teaching multitudes on mountainsides\u2014and of course he did that. 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He's a former youth pastor who shepherded kids on staff at Chuck Swindoll's church in Southern California\u2014and he's a bestselling and award-winning author with more than a million copies of his books sold worldwide. Plus, he holds a degree in Christian Education with an emphasis in Bible Theology. So, you know, he\u2019s got that going for him. Mike is also a pop culture dork who watches too much TV, reads too many comic books, utters too many bad words, laughs at all the wrong jokes, and often gets in trouble because he says whatever he happens to be thinking at the moment\u2014like quoting an R-rated movie in the middle of a sermon. Yeah, he\u2019s a mess (just like you!), but he kind of likes it that way. Most of all, Mike Nappa loves Jesus, and he figures that covers over a multitude of sins. 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