Photo credit: K.R. Dark
Alice C. Linsley
When Jesus was growing up in Nazareth the settlement had between 300-400 Jewish residents. The modest houses were cut out of the limestone hills and below were terraces with fruit trees. The people of Nazareth grew grain on the valley floor closest to the settlement. From the settlement of Nazareth, the people could see Sepphoris (Tzippori), the Roman capital of Galilee before the building of Tiberias. Sepphoris was only 5 miles from Nazareth, northwest across the rolling hills.
When Jesus was growing up in Nazareth the settlement had between 300-400 Jewish residents. The modest houses were cut out of the limestone hills and below were terraces with fruit trees. The people of Nazareth grew grain on the valley floor closest to the settlement. From the settlement of Nazareth, the people could see Sepphoris (Tzippori), the Roman capital of Galilee before the building of Tiberias. Sepphoris was only 5 miles from Nazareth, northwest across the rolling hills.
Life in Nazareth was one of daily work, except on the Sabbath (Friday evening through Saturday evening). Approximately 40% of their agricultural production was paid to Rome in taxes. Some went to pay the Temple tax.
The residents of Nazareth wanted little interaction with the Greco-Roman culture. These were strict observers of Jewish law. Nazareth was the home of the eighteenth division of ruler-priests. The ancestors of those ruler-priests lived in the Nile Valley where they served at shrines and temples. The Nilotic Hebrew were organized into two moieties, the Horite Hebrew and the Sethite Hebrew.
In Israel there were twenty-four divisions or “courses” of priests. These are listed in 1 Chronicles 24:7-18. Each course served in rotation twice a year for a duration of one week. When it came time for the division to go up to Jerusalem, the priests left their homes and returned after their term of service. When not functioning as a priest, these individuals went about their normal routines, tending to their various occupations: stone masons, miners, tomb builders, carpenters, smiths, potters, tent makers, shepherds, goatherds, and farmers.
Egypt is mentioned more than 300 places in the biblical narratives. Some of Jesus' ancestors (Horim/Horite Hebrew) were ruler-priests in Egypt. The Horite Hebrew expected the Son of God to be born to a woman of their ruler-priest lines. This expectation can be traced to the first promise and prophecy of Scripture - Genesis 3:15 - given to Abraham's Nilotic ancestors.
Jesus loved the region of Galilee
It is not surprising that many of Jesus' closest followers were from Galilee. It was to Galilee that the Master returned and met with His disciples after His resurrection. He informed his disciples: "After I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” (Matt. 26:32)
An angel at the empty tomb told Mary Magdalene and the other women that they were to notify the Disciples: “He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.” (Matt. 28:7) As the women were on their way to inform the disciples, Jesus appeared to them and said: “Rejoice!… Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” (Matt. 28:9-10)
Later, “the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them” and “worshiped Him” (Matt. 28:16).
To the southeast of Nazareth there was a road that went all the way to Egypt. This would have been the route that Joseph traveled with Mary and Jesus on their return from Egypt. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt." (Mat. 2:13).
Galilee under Egyptian Rule
An angel at the empty tomb told Mary Magdalene and the other women that they were to notify the Disciples: “He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.” (Matt. 28:7) As the women were on their way to inform the disciples, Jesus appeared to them and said: “Rejoice!… Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” (Matt. 28:9-10)
Later, “the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them” and “worshiped Him” (Matt. 28:16).
To the southeast of Nazareth there was a road that went all the way to Egypt. This would have been the route that Joseph traveled with Mary and Jesus on their return from Egypt. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt." (Mat. 2:13).
Galilee under Egyptian Rule
Egyptian control continued through the 14th century BCE, as noted in the Amarna Letters.
The flora and fauna of Canaan appear on reliefs in two of the smaller rooms in Tuthmose III's temple at Karnak near Luxor. Karnak was dedicated to Amun-Ra, the Hidden Creator, whose son was called HR (Horus in Greek). The Horite Hebrew were devotees of God the Father and HR, God the Son. In ancient Egyptian HR means "Most High One". He was believed to be conceived by divine overshadowing of one of the Hebrew maidens (cf. Luke 1:34), and one of his signs was the ram, such as was delivered to Abraham on Mount Moriah.
The Apostles believed that the return of Jesus from Egypt fulfills the prophesy of Hosea 11:1: "I called my son out of Egypt." Jews insist that this refers to Israel as a people, and certainly that is the context of the Hosea passage. Matthew's Gospel says: So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: "I called my son out of Egypt." (Matthew 2:15)
Related reading: Egypt in the Book of Genesis; Egypt in the Christmas Narrative; Exploring Hosea 11:1 - "Out of Egypt"; Why Jesus Visited Tyre; Competition Between the Horites and the Sethites; Some Hebrew Were Troglodytes
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