Who was taught to read during Jesus' time?

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irishcolleen45

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Today’s Gospel (Luke 4:16-30) was about the time Jesus returned to Nazareth and He read a passage from Isaiah declaring Who He is. People seemed surprised that such gracious words came from Him.
Who was taught to read during Jesus’ time?
 
I would speculate that all Jewish boys were taught to read so that they could read from the Torah at their Bar Mitzvah…
 
All jewish boys were taught some basic reading skills, but most of them probably wouldn’t be considered literate by today’s standard.

Most jewish women couldn’t read at all.
 
tuffsmurf said:
All jewish boys were taught some basic reading skills, but most of them probably wouldn’t be considered literate by today’s standard.
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I’m guessing boys’ educations were similar to what many Muslim boys undergo now. The latter can often recite the Koran by heart, let alone read it, but don’t know what protein is. That’s no criticism of the Jewish boys because nobody else did back then either.
tuffsmurf said:
Most jewish women couldn’t read at all.
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I have never seen this said on credible authority. Perhaps you could provide some.
 
Among the Jews, it seems that all boys were taught to read, so that when they came of age (at 13) they would be able to read the Biblical texts as they were required to do as a part of synagogue worship, as Jesus is shown doing in this passage. Whether girls were also taught to read is doubtful.

The people were “amazed” or “astonished” in v. 22, not because Jesus was able to read, but because of the “gracious words” he addressed to the congregation after he had finished reading and rolled up the scroll.

https://www.newadvent.org/bible/luk004.htm
 
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I think the “burden of proof” so to say is on the one claiming that jewish women in general could read. That would have been extraordinary since the illiteracy rate among other peoples during antiquity was 90-95 %.
 
Basic literacy had been around the ancient Middle East for very long time but it probably depended a lot on what is meant by the term - for example, anybody engaged in complex trade would need numeracy and a certain ability to read and write but more complex texts?

As to extracts from the scriptures, I expect many fathers taught the texts by recitation.
 
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tuffsmurf said:
I think the “burden of proof” so to say is on the one claiming that jewish women in general could read.
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I never said that, so I guess nobody gets the “burden of proof”. I simply asked if you had any evidence of it.
 
In regards to Jesus, He was taught of the Law at home by His Mother.
 
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Yes, He most certainly did.
Noted in the Gospel pericope from this very day: "Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. . . " (emphasis mine)
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Jesus learned both from His parents, and from the synagogue.

Deacon Christopher
 
Diaconia said:
Jesus learned both from His parents, and from the synagogue.
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He did learn from Joseph, but in regards to the Law, Mary was brought up in the Temple from the age of 3 to 15, and knew the Law as well as any doctor. In fact, better educated than a teacher. And, She was Jesus’s Teacher.
 
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Hagiographical (small “t”) tradition is not equivalent to Revealed, (large “T”) Tradition; (including Sacred Scripture).

The Mother of God may have been as knowledgeable as the teachers of the Law, or may not. There is no evidence of that - just supposition.

Likewise, the idea that the Mother of God was Jesus’s primary teacher is also suppositional. No evidence, just your opinion.
What we KNOW about Christ our True God, is revealed in Sacred Scripture and [big “T”] tradition, not the sources you are ascribing proof to.
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Although I personally believe the Mother of God was a virgin raised in the Temple, and educated as such - that information has NOT been divinely revealed, and is not necessary for salvation, nor required belief of any Christian.

Don’t make the mistake of claiming something to be true that the Church does not claim Herself.

Deacon Christopher
 
Most paintings of the Annunciation depict her having just put down a book that she was reading.

One reason is that it is supposed that her Magnificat was inspired by the Song of Hannah, implying that she had just been reading the First Book of Kings
 
I think she did since she spent time at the Temple in her early childhood according to The Mystical City of God.
 
My understanding is that literacy was common among first-century Jews. They were ahead in that sense compared to other cultures. I’m sure the degree of literacy varied but it was common to at least read the Torah.
 
There’s been a lot of interesting literature about literacy in ancient Israel. My own professor of Classical Hebrew, Ian M. Young, wrote a number of articles in the 1990s sketching out the available evidence and how they could be interpreted (‘Israelite Literacy: Interpreting the Evidence, Parts 1 & 2’ in Vetum Testamentum, vol. 48, 1998).

A large part hinges on the nature of education in ancient Israel, for which we admittedly have little evidence. But Young does make the following note:
It should be noted that the Rabbinic ideal [of education] does not include writing alongside reading as part of the education process, and hence we find even Torah scholars who are unable to write. Similarly, this ideal was not aimed at the 50% or so of the population who happened to be women.
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