Daily Life in the New Testament

by James W. Ermatinger

Explore the social and material culture of ancient Palestine during the era of the biblical New Testament. Who was the messiah prophesied by the Jews? What were the rites of passage in pre-messianic Judiasm? How did the rituals, parables, holidays, and labor practices mentioned in the New Testament relate to the daily life of the average citizen of the day? This lively volume explores the social history of ancient Palestine at the crossroads of the Eastern Mediterranean world, and the emergence of major monotheistic faiths during the time of Christ and the early centuries of the Common era.

Narrative chapter topics include pre-Messianic Judaism; political and religious groups ; peasant life and agriculture; Roman occupation; work and labor; and Greek, Latin, and Persian influences.

Genres: History

184 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2008

Reviews

[Bookish Dervish · Rating 4 out of 5]

محاولة لوصف فلسطين قبيل و بعيد مجيء المسيح. وصف الكيانات السياسية المتتابعة على حكم فلسطين من آشور و مقدونيين و فرس و رومان. ثم وصف للبنى الإجتماعية و الإثنية المتمثلة في العرب الأنباط و اليونان الهلنستيين ثم اليهود بأقسامهم. لم يتم إغفال الدعائم الإقتصادية المتمثلة أساسا في الزراعة و الرعي و الصيد و التجارة ثم الحرف. دون أن ننسى الضرائب و جباتها القساة.
أسهب الكتاب في الحديث عن اليهودية ما أعطى إنطباعا أن الكتاب عن تاريخ اليهود و اليهودية من السبب إلى تدمير الهيكل الثاني. فأنت تقرأ عن جميع طوائف اليهود و أعدادهم و طقوسهم.
يكفيني أن لغة فلسطين عهد المسيح لم تكن لا اليونانية و لا العبرية بل كانت العربية الآرامية.

[ياسين اليحياوي · Rating 2 out of 5]

رغم التكوين الأكاديمي للمؤلف إلا أن الكتاب سطحي بعض الشيء، ولا يقدم معلومات مُوثقة

[Ahmed Omer · Rating 2 out of 5]

النقطة المحورية في الكتاب اعتبار المسيحية في غابر ايامها طيف من اطياف الفريسيين واعتبار نشاطات بولس التبشيرية هي سبب التباين اللاحق بالاضافة الى ميل من شايعه وتابعه للمثل الهلنستية ومسالمتهم للرومان الامر الذي جلعها مقبولة لجماهير كثيرة وسارع في انتشارها وفي نفس الوقت سلخ المسيحية عما كان عليه تلاميذ السيد المسيح عليه السلام

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers exactly what its title says. What I found most interesting about it, however, was Ermatinger's point of view. Where as Martin Goodman, in his book on Rome and Jerusalem, perceives Roman-Jewish interactions as largely positive with a few trivial skirmishes, and the eventual destruction of the temple as an accidental "mistake," Ermatinger emphasizes the strife between the Romans and the Jews, with the temple's destruction as the fitting climax to this conflict.

Along the way, Ermatinger gives readers a tour of the various peoples living in the Holy Land: what their origins were, what they spoke, what they did for work. He also talks about the expectations for Messiah and how these played out in the eventual conflict. For a book that is part of a series that is generally fairly predefined in its scope and organization, this was actually a very interesting and informative read, more so than I was expecting.

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a rather disappointing addition to the Greenwood Daily Life series. Others in this series, such as Heyman's Daily Life During World War I: and Sally Mitchell's Daily Life in Victorian England are excellent one stop sources, but this book seemed to lack the depth, quotations from sources, and interesting facts that these books had. While not without merit, such as the benefit of more recent archaelogical finds and re-evaluations of earlier translations and texts, this book needs to be read in conjunction with older standards texts such as Daily Life in the Time of Jesus, even if this book has been received its own share of criticism.

[Jorge Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very accessible book. While it doesn't go crazy in-depth, that is not the point of the series. It was refreshing and well written without pretense. It is not overly academic, which is very nice for people who do not want to just read a textbook.