Theology Today - Vol 28, No. 3 - October 1971 - BOOK REVIEW - Jerusalem In the Time of Jesus; An Investigatio Into Economic and Social Conditions During the New Testament Period

360 - Jerusalem In the Time of Jesus; An Investigatio Into Economic and Social Conditions During the New Testament Period

Jerusalem In the Time of Jesus;
An Investigatio Into Economic and
Social Conditions During the New Testament Period
By Joachim Jeremias
405 pp. Philadelphia, Fortress, 1969. $9 00

This encyclopedic survey, while one of the earlier works of Jeremias, is a study which helped establish his reputation as an expert on Jewish sources and Jesus and his world. It is basic to many of his subsequent books, such as The Parables of Jesus (revised English edition, 1963), which draws on data first assembled in this book on Jerusalem in order to enrich our understanding of Jesus' teachings. But this social-economic analysis of Palestine's chief city between A.D. 6 and 70 has been periodically updated by its author and often rings quite relevantly in today's world where the economic and social conditions in cities are again a crucial matter.

The book has had a complicated history in making its way-finally-into English (two years after a version in French). Jeremias published it originally in four separate sections: economic conditions in Jerusalem (1923); the social relationships between rich and poor there (1924); the exalted and the lowly-the economic ruling class (priests, lay nobles, scribes, with an appendix on the Pharisees) (1929); and the maintenance of racial purity (1939). The second edition (1958) put these four parts, virtually unchanged, into one volume. In 1962 the third German edition appeared, thoroughly revised. It is from this revised edition that the English rendering has been made by F. H. and C. H. Cave, drawing on an earlier draft translation by M. E. Dahl, but also incorporating revisions in the first part made by Jeremias down to 1967 and comparing the French edition thoughout.

The original four-part structure still shapes the book. Because of the way the studies evolved, there is occasional overlapping; thus, the description of pilgrims in Jerusalem is found on pp. 58-84, but data on the income from the pilgrim trade occurs in the second section, pp. 134-38. Sometimes new material has been tacked on, as on p. 84, where Jeremias' earlier estimate of Jerusalem's population is reduced from 55,000-95,000 to 25,000 or so. There are no conclusions at the end, but many sections do have compact summaries. Some use has been made of the Qumran writings, but the aggregate of references is about the same as for Philo, and most of these are from the Damascus Document (CD).

The volume offers a plethora of well-organized and often interpreted citations from the primary sources, as well as careful conclusions about

361 - Jerusalem In the Time of Jesus; An Investigatio Into Economic and Social Conditions During the New Testament Period

Jerusalem's industry, commerce, social-economic classes, quest for pure bloodlines, and attitudes toward foreigners and slaves. There is no dominant thesis, as in F. C. Grant's The Economic Background of the Gospels (1926), which was written to assess and refute the theory of Kautsky and others that economic repression had forced Jesus into a Zealot mold; only occasionally does Jeremias allude to such ideas. But certain emphases appear repeatedly: the poverty of Jerusalem, in raw materials and even water; its unsuitability, as a "remote upland city," to be a center for trade, even though we celebrate it biblically as "the navel of the earth"; the temple and its cult as the chief source of income and the importance of the tourist trade; the contrast between the poor and a glittering picture of the Herodian court or the extravagancies of the wealthy class with its banquets and polygamy.

Jeremias, provides, of course, countless insights on New Testament texts. At times some of the conclusions are debatable, such as the judgment that "rabbi" was used as a title in Jesus' day, when the evidence comes from later documents like the gospels. Other points have been contested by later investigators, for example, the value of the genealogies for Jesus in Matthew and Luke, in light of Jewish practices. Beyond our discussion here is the vast problem of comparing and dating rabbinic sources. Jeremias works persuasively in this area, but experts will continue to differ on some points. There is also a tendency to draw analogies from modern data, like population density or clergy relationships in Palestine, but such analogies, while helpful, can mislead. Above all, there is a tendency to use one-not "unknown" but-debatable point to "prove" another "debatable" (cf. the interplay of rabbinic and New Testament evidence on esoteric tradition [pp. 240f.]). At least some of the passages cited here can be interpreted otherwise, and the treatment must be seen as part and parcel of Jeremias' overall view of Jesus (as the revelation) and the early church (as response to it).

All in all, this book is a valuable treasure trove of facts about the Holy City in the time of Jesus and the following generation, to be read and then returned to frequently for reference.

John Reumann
Lutheran Theological Seminary
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania