Gospels Part 069
One of the most misleading fallacies of our day is that the people of the Holy Land in the first century were illiterate peasants. The Bible and Jewish history prove otherwise.
As we’ve seen so far from the opening of Matthew’s Gospel, he assumes that his audience is very familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures.
Have you heard or read statements that the people Jesus interacted with were largely illiterate? Nothing could be further from the truth. We see strong evidence from facts recorded in the Gospels.
For example, Jesus on a number of occasions challenges His opponents with “Have you not read . . . ?”—meaning they should have read and known what He quotes from the Scriptures (see Matthew 12:3, 12:5; 19:4; 22:31; Mark 12:26).
Consider who wrote the books of the New Testament. We would expect the apostle Paul to be highly literate since he studied under the famed Jewish teacher Gamaliel. Luke was a well-educated gentile. We would expect Matthew, the tax collector, to be literate.
But consider the other New Testament writers. Although the apostle Peter was a fisherman from Bethsaida, a small town of roughly 500 people, he was educated enough to write his two letters (1 and 2 Peter) in Greek. The apostle John, a fisherman from Capernaum, a town of about 1500 population, wrote his Gospel, three letters that are preserved for us (1, 2, and 3 John), and the book of Revelation in Greek. Jesus was from the small town of Nazareth, about 150-200 population, away from any major population centers, but He could read the Hebrew scrolls in a synagogue in His hometown (Luke 4:16-21). His half-brothers James and Jude could write their letters, preserved for us bearing their names, in Greek. All these men were likely trilingual, speaking (and likely writing in) Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic.
Pontius Pilate had a sign hung above Jesus’ head at His crucifixion with wording in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin saying that this is “Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews” (John 19:19; Matthew 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38). Why have a sign written if the bystanders are illiterate and can’t read it?
More evidence of widespread literacy is documented from early Jewish sources from that period. For example, Salome Alexandra, who reigned as queen over the Jewish kingdom in Israel 76-67 B.C., valued education and the Torah (Hebrew Scriptures) that she “worked with Jewish leaders to guarantee a Torah education for boys and girls in every Jewish town” and “commanded that all children should attend school” (Dr. Cyndi Parker, Encountering Jesus in the Real World of the Gospels, 2021).
Dwight Pryor, founder and president of the Center for Judaic-Christian Studies and author of the book Behold the Man, describes how this study of the Hebrew Scriptures involved extensive memorization of these books of the Bible:
“Although scrolls were used for reading and study, and the practice of writing was highly developed, written material was expensive because all manuscripts had to be hand-copied by trained scribes. Scrolls, therefore, were relatively scarce . . . Learning, consequently, involved a great deal of memorization.
Professor [Shemuel] Safrai has detailed the educational methods of the period:
“Individual and group study of the Bible, repetition of the passages, etc., were often done by chanting them aloud. There is the frequent expression, ‘the chirping of children,’ . . .
“In the eyes of the sages, repetition was the key to learning, as the following passages [from the Talmud] illustrate:
‘If [the student] learns Torah and does not go over it again and again, he is like a man who sows without reaping.’ . . .
“Many methods were used to assist the student in memorizing his lessons . . . Elementary school students, who studied seven days a week, were given no new material on the Sabbath, but rather used that time to memorize material learned earlier in the week.” [Quoted from The Jewish People in the First Century, p. 953-954].
Craig Evans, Ph.D., is one of the world’s most well-regarded scholars on the Gospels and author, coauthor or editor of more than 80 books and commentary volumes. In his book Jesus and the Remains of His Day, Dr. Evans summarizes the high level of biblical education and literacy that existed among the people Jesus dealt with. He states on pages 69-71 (emphasis added):
“According to Philo and Josephus, approximate contemporaries of Jesus, Jewish parents taught their children Torah and how to read it. Philo claims: ‘All men guard their own customs, but this is especially true of the Jewish nation. Holding that the laws are oracles vouchsafed by God and having been trained in this doctrine from their earliest years . . . they carry the likenesses of the commandments enshrined in their souls’ . . .
“Josephus, however, is more explicit: ‘Above all we pride ourselves on the education of our children . . . , and regard as the most essential task in life the observance of our laws and of the pious practices, based thereupon, which we have inherited’ . . . He says later: ‘(The Law) orders that (children) shall be taught to read . . . , and shall learn both the laws and the deeds of their forefathers’ . . . .
We should note here that “the laws and the deeds of their forefathers” in context is referring to the laws and historical books of the Hebrew Scriptures, not just any generic laws and historical writings. Professor Evans continues:
“Josephus goes so far as to say that ‘. . . . should anyone of our nation be questioned about the laws, he would repeat them all more readily than his own name. The result, then, of our thorough grounding in the laws from the first dawn of intelligence is that we have them, as it were, engraven on our souls.’ . . .
“In the saying attributed to Judah ben Tema, [biblical] literacy is assumed to be the norm:
. . . . ‘Do not accept a pupil under the age of six; but accept one from the age of six and stuff him [with biblical knowledge] like an ox.’ Elsewhere in the Mishnah, we read that ‘children
. . . should be educated . . . so that they will be familiar with the commandments’ . . . .
We could add pages more of similar quotes, but this should make the point that the people Jesus interacted with in the Gospels were very biblically literate.
This ties in with another teaching and communication method commonly used by rabbis of that time, which we’ll cover in our next Daily Dose.
© 2026 Scott Ashley. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
UYA Team | uya@ucg.org
United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.
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Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
