Jesus Among the Gentiles

Gospel Reading of the Day

MATTHEW 4:12-17 At that time, when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

There’s a misconception that Jesus spent all His time in Jerusalem. From what I can tell, He spent time in Jerusalem just for the feasts required in the Law (and Hannukah which was not in the Law).

Three or Seven Feasts?

Leviticus 23:4-44 lists seven feasts or holy convocations. Highlighted/italics denotes the three major feasts for which all males of Israel were required to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem. Parentheses are the Gospel passages where Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of the feast.

• Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot or Feast of Booths), Sept-Oct (John 7:9-10)
• Pesach (Passover), Mar-Apr (Luke 2:41-52, Luke 22:14-15)
• Feast of Unleavened Bread, Mar-Apr (Matt 26:17)
• Feast of First Fruits, Mar-Apr, May-June
• Feast of Weeks (Shavuot or Pentecost), May-June
• Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), Sept-Oct
• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sept-Oct

An Eighth Feast

An additional feast, Hanukkah, comes from the so-called Intertestamental period.

Hanukkah is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.

Originally instituted as a feast “in the manner of Sukkot (Booths)”, it does not come with the corresponding obligations, and is therefore a relatively minor holiday in strictly religious terms. (Wikipedia).

The fact that Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of [Re-]Dedication of the Second Temple (John 10:22), may indicate some degree of approval of the so-called “Apocryphal” books.

Completion of the Festivals

When Jerusalem fell, the logistic possibility of performing the festivals fell with it. The priesthood ceased and the temple was gone.

The Area of the Galilee

In 1 Kings 9:10-13 Solomon gave 20 cities to King Hiram.

1Ki 9:10-13 And it came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses, the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, (Now Hiram the king of Tyre had furnished Solomon with cedar trees and fir trees, and with gold, according to all his desire,) that then king Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. And Hiram came out from Tyre to see the cities which Solomon had given him; and they pleased him not. And he said, What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day. And Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold.

Twenty years later, in 2 Chronicles 8:2 King Hiram gave the cities back.

Grok may have the reason why but it’s disputed at the very least.

King Hiram’s dissatisfaction with the cities in Galilee that Solomon gave him is described in 1 Kings 9:10-13. Several reasons might explain his displeasure:

Quality and Condition of the Cities: The term “Cabul” that Hiram used to describe the cities can imply “worthless” or “like nothing.” This suggests that the cities might have been in poor condition, perhaps underdeveloped, economically unproductive, or lacking in strategic or commercial value.

Cultural or Strategic Mismatch: Hiram, being the king of Tyre, had interests primarily in trade, particularly maritime trade, given Tyre’s location as a major Phoenician port. If the cities in Galilee were not strategically located for enhancing his trade routes or maritime commerce, they might not have met his expectations or needs.

Expectations vs. Reality: Hiram had provided Solomon with vast amounts of timber (cedar and fir) and gold, which were crucial for the construction of the Temple and Solomon’s palace. The value of these resources might have led Hiram to expect something more valuable or beneficial in return. The cities might not have matched the perceived value of his contributions.

Geographical Considerations: Galilee is inland, and while it has agricultural potential, it might not have been as appealing to a Phoenician king whose interests were predominantly maritime. The terrain, distance from the sea, or lack of direct trade benefits could have made these cities less desirable.

Political or Territorial Disinterest: Hiram might have had little interest in expanding his territory into areas that did not align with his political or territorial ambitions. The integration of these cities into his kingdom might have seemed more of a burden than a benefit.

Given these points, Hiram’s reaction was one of disappointment, reflecting perhaps a misalignment between what he expected from the deal and what he actually received. However, the exact reasons are not explicitly detailed in the biblical text, so these interpretations are based on the context and the implications of the narrative.

Some of these reasons seem unlikely given that the end of the second passage said “Hiram sent to the king sixscore talents of gold. Also from Grok:

Gold prices fluctuate, but let’s take an approximate value for simplicity. If we consider the price of gold at around $60,000 per kilogram (this is a rough estimate as of recent times, but prices can vary year by year):
3,600 kg * $60,000/kg = $216,000,000.

This calculation gives a modern monetary equivalent, but in Solomon’s time, this amount of gold would have represented an immense fortune, likely viewed as a treasure beyond calculation by modern standards.

Solomon made the non-Jews there pay tribute to Hiram.

2Ch 8:7-8 As for all the people that were left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which were not of Israel, But of their children, who were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel consumed not, them did Solomon make to pay tribute until this day.

That practice appears to no longer be the case. Grok is very unsure of when the practice ended:

Therefore, while there’s no exact date, the transition would likely have occurred sometime between the Assyrian conquests in the 8th century BCE and the firm establishment of Roman rule in the 1st century BCE.

Enough of this rabbit trail for the moment…