1Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service. 2The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables. 3Therefore, select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.”
5These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch, 6whom they set before the apostles. When they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7The word of God increased and the number of the disciples greatly multiplied in Jerusalem. A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
8Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 9But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines”, and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen. 10They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 11Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, then brought him in to the council, 13and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law. 14For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” 15All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.
The hometown of Jesus was Nazareth in Galilee (Matt.2:23, Mark 1:9, Luke 2:39). Nazareth lies on the north slope of the Jezreel Valley (or Plain of Esdraelon), across to the north-east from Megiddo and Mount Carmel. At 1,150 feet, it overlooks the valley about 950 feet below.
The relative size and importance of the village of Nazareth at the time of Jesus is seen by the almost total lack of mention of it in period sources. It is not mentioned in the Old Testament. Josephus, in his catalogue of forty-five towns in Galilee does not list Nazareth. The Talmud refers to sixty-three villages in Galilee, but also does not mention it.[1] It was not on any major trade route, but it was on the road from the regional administrative center of Sepphoris. Because of this, Unger has argued that “while Nazareth was not a bustling emporium, it was far from isolated from the busy Galilean cities and the stirring events of the time.”[2] Archaeology has also given evidence of how small Nazareth was during Jesus’ time. It is estimated to have been approximately sixty acres and had a population of less than five hundred.[3]
This lack of historical textual evidence has caused some fringe skeptics to claim the town never existed.[4] However, archaeological evidence has been found that shows Nazareth was inhabited well before, during, and after the time of Jesus.
In 1963 burial caves were found containing pottery from the first part of the Middle Bronze Age (2100-2000 B.C.), lending evidence that Nazareth had been settled from a very early date.[5] Archeological excavations done by Bagatti in 1955 under the Church of the Annunciation yielded grottoes, grail silos, oil and water cisterns, raisin and olive presses, millstones, and a large amount of pottery.[6] The pottery is of special interest because it ranges from Iron II (900-600 B.C.) all the way through the Byzantine period. The finds show that Nazareth was a village for many centuries organized around agriculture. Unger speculates that Jesus’ repetitive use of agricultural illustrations is due to His having been raised in that environment.[7] Also of interest is that some of the grottos discovered had been modified to be used as dwellings and other buildings. This gives credence to the traditional location of the Church of St. Joseph, said to have been build over the grotto where Joseph had his house and workshop, and where Jesus grew up.
Very recently excavations in Nazareth led by Yardenna Alexandre have revealed a first-century house. The Roman period house was found next to the Church of the Annunciation, and according to Alexandre, “The building that we found is small and modest and it is most likely typical of the dwellings in Nazareth in that period.”[8] The house consisted of two rooms with a courtyard, typical of the time (see Houses in First Century Israel)[RD1]. Roman era pottery was found, along with chalk containers, unique to Jewish sites (due to the fact that chalk vessels were not susceptible to become ritually impure, unlike normal clay pottery). In addition, a camouflaged pit was discovered, which also contained potsherds. Alexandre theorizes the pit was constructed and stocked in preparation for the Jewish revolt of A.D. 67.
[1]Finegan, Archaeology, 43.
[2]Merrill F. Unger, Archaeology and the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1962) 119.
[3] James F. Strange, “Nazareth” Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Vol. 4, ed. Eric M. Myers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997)113-114; Vassilios Tzaferis and Bellarmino Bagatti, “Nazareth” New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, Vol. 3, ed. Ephraim Stern (Jerusalem: The Israel Exploration Society and Carta, 1993)1103-1106.
[4]See Rene Salm, The Myth of Nazareth, Parsippany NJ: American Atheist Press, 2008.
[5]Finegan, Archeology, 44.
[6] Bellarmino Bagatti, Excavations at Nazareth (Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 1969) 77-218.
[7]Merrill F. Unger, Archaeology and the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1962) 120.
[8] Quoted in Israel Antiquities Authority, “For the Very First Time: A Residential Building from the Time of Jesus was Exposed in the Heart of Nazareth,” Dec. 21, 2009. Online: http://www.antiquities.org.il/article_Item_eng.asp?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=1638&module_id=#as (accessed February 13, 2009).
[RD1]Change reference if needed