You Want To Be Like Who?

Have you ever had someone pressure you into doing something you didn't want to do?  And the next thing you know, an old friend or relative is trying to be just like that person?

In my studying of the day and times of Jesus, I found several sources stating that Galileans wanted to speak Greek and be like the Greeks, albeit they were not very good at it.  The Judeans resented this.

I had not fully grasped the why of it all until I was reading A Visual Guide To Bible Events.

Did you know that the whole region was part of the Greek empire captured by Alexander the Great?  I did.

But did you know that after Alexander's death Ptolemy (Ptolemies) and Seleucus (Seleucids) fought to gain control over each other?  They battled for 75 years, in Israel.  The Seleucids winning that war, at the same time, ended up losing the rest of their kingdom to Rome.   Of course, the treaty required paying a hefty sum.

Their leader, Antiochus IV, on top of increasing taxes planned to make everyone in Judea and Jerusalem Greek, in other words Hellenizing them.  This took years.  Eventually, it resulted in his changing the Levitical leadership to those embracing his efforts and willing to charge more at the temple.

He didn't stop there.  Later, he entered the temple, robbed the treasury, sacrificed a pig in the sanctuary area (the holy place), and renamed the temple after Zeus.  Ouch. 

Still, that was not enough.  He burned some of the Torah scrolls, outlawed the Sabbath and the Jewish strict diet, and executed anyone caught circumcising their sons.  These things were not easily forgotten.

A century and a half later, the Judeans still harbored ill feelings toward those who tried to speak Greek...who tried to embrace some form of Greek in their daily life.  Can you see why Galileans were looked at as not loving the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

I'm not sure where I would fall if I lived back then...with the forgiving Galileans or the non-forgiving Judeans.  But, this has given me a better understanding toward those who thought so little of Nazareth and the Galilee.