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123:5 School Days at Nazareth (view source)
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123:5.1 [[Jesus]] was now [[seven]] years old, the age when [[Jewish]] [[children]] were supposed to begin their [[formal]] [[education]] in the [[synagogue]] schools. Accordingly, in August of this year he entered upon his eventful school life at [[Nazareth]]. Already this lad was a fluent [[reader]], [[writer]], and speaker of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilingualism two languages], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic Aramaic] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language Greek]. He was now to acquaint himself with the task of [[learning]] to [[read]], [[write]], and speak the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language Hebrew language]. And he was truly eager for the new school life which was ahead of him.
123:5.2 For three years—until he was ten—he attended the elementary school of the [[Nazareth]] [[synagogue]]. For these three years he [[studied]] the rudiments of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah Book of the Law] as it was recorded in the [[Hebrew]] tongue. For the following three years he studied in the advanced school and committed to [[memory]], by the [[method]] of repeating aloud, the deeper teachings of the [[sacred]] [[law]]. He [[graduated]] from this school of the [[synagogue]] during his thirteenth year and was turned over to his [[parents]] by the synagogue rulers as an educated " [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_and_Bat_Mitzvah son of the commandment] "—henceforth a [[responsible]] [[citizen]] of the commonwealth of [[Israel]], all of which entailed his attendance at the [[Passover]]s in [[Jerusalem]]; accordingly, he attended his first Passover that year in company with his [[father]] and [[mother]].
123:5.3 At [[Nazareth]] the [[pupils]] sat on the floor in a semicircle, while their [[teacher]], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazzan chazan], an officer of the [[synagogue]], sat facing them. Beginning with the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Leviticus Book of Leviticus], they passed on to the [[study]] of the other [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Torah books of the law], followed by the [[study]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Hebrew_Prophets the Prophets] and [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Psalms the Psalms]. The [[Nazareth]] [[synagogue]] possessed a complete copy of the [[Hebrew Bible|Scriptures]] in [[Hebrew]]. Nothing but the Scriptures was [[studied]] prior to the twelfth year. In the [[summer]] months the hours for school were greatly shortened.
123:5.4 [[Jesus]] early became a master of [[Hebrew]], and as a young man, when no [[visitor]] of prominence happened to be sojourning in [[Nazareth]], he would often be asked to read the [[Hebrew]] [[scriptures]] to the [[faithful]] assembled in the [[synagogue]] at the regular [[Sabbath]] services.
123:5.5 These [[synagogue]] schools, of course, had no [[textbooks]]. In teaching, the chazan would utter a [[statement]] while the [[pupils]] would in unison repeat it after him. When having [[access]] to the [[written]] books of the law, the [[student]] learned his lesson by reading aloud and by constant [[repetition]].
123:5.6 Next, in addition to his more [[formal]] schooling, [[Jesus]] began to make [[contact]] with [[human]] nature from the four quarters of the [[earth]] as men from many lands passed in and out of his [[father]]'s repair shop. When he grew older, he mingled freely with the caravans as they tarried near the spring for rest and nourishment. Being a fluent speaker of [[Greek]], he had little trouble in [[conversing]] with the [[majority]] of the [[caravan]] [[travelers]] and conductors.
123:5.7 [[Nazareth]] was a [[caravan]] way station and crossroads of [[travel]] and largely [[gentile]] in [[population]]; at the same time it was widely known as a [[center]] of [[liberal]] [[interpretation]] of [[Jewish]] traditional [[law]]. In [[Galilee]] the Jews mingled more freely with the [[gentiles]] than was their practice in [[Judea]]. And of all the [[cities]] of [[Galilee]], the Jews of [[Nazareth]] were most [[liberal]] in their [[interpretation]] of the social restrictions based on the [[fears]] of contamination as a result of [[contact]] with the [[gentiles]]. And these conditions gave rise to the common saying in [[Jerusalem]], " Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? "[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_John#Chapter_1]
123:5.8 [[Jesus]] received his [[moral]] [[training]] and [[spiritual]] [[culture]] chiefly in his own [[home]]. He secured much of his [[intellectual]] and [[theological]] [[education]] from the chazan. But his real education—that equipment of [[mind]] and [[heart]] for the [[actual]] test of grappling with the [[difficult]] [[problems]] of life—he obtained by mingling with his fellow men. It was this close [[association]] with his fellow men, young and old, [[Jew]] and [[gentile]], that afforded him the [[opportunity]] to know the human race. Jesus was highly [[educated]] in that he thoroughly [[understood]] men and [[devotedly]] loved them.
123:5.9 Throughout his years at the [[synagogue]] he was a brilliant [[student]], possessing a great advantage since he was conversant with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilingualism three languages]. The [[Nazareth]] chazan, on the occasion of [[Jesus]]' finishing the [[course]] in his school, remarked to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph Joseph] that he feared he " had learned more from [[Jesus]]' searching questions " than he had " been able to teach the lad. "
123:5.10 Throughout his [[course]] of [[study]] [[Jesus]] learned much and derived great [[inspiration]] from the regular [[Sabbath]] sermons in the [[synagogue]]. It was customary to ask distinguished [[visitors]], stopping over the Sabbath in [[Nazareth]], to address the synagogue. As [[Jesus]] grew up, he heard many [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_philosophy#Ancient_Jewish_philosophy great thinkers] of the entire [[Jewish]] world expound their [[views]], and many also who were hardly orthodox Jews since the [[synagogue]] of [[Nazareth]] was an advanced and [[liberal]] center of [[Hebrew]] [[thought]] and [[culture]].
123:5.11 When entering school at [[seven]] years (at this time the [[Jews]] had just [[inaugurated]] a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_education compulsory education law]), it was customary for the [[pupils]] to choose their " birthday text, " a sort of [[golden rule]] to guide them throughout their [[studies]], one upon which they often expatiated at their [[graduation]] when thirteen years old. The [[text]] which [[Jesus]] chose was from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah Prophet Isaiah]: " The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to set the spiritual prisoners free. "[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.61]
123:5.12 [[Nazareth]] was one of the twenty-four [[priest]] centers of the [[Hebrew]] [[nation]]. But the [[Galilean]] [[priesthood]] was more [[liberal]] in the [[interpretation]] of the traditional laws than were the [[Judea]]n [[scribes]] and rabbis. And at [[Nazareth]] they were also more [[liberal]] regarding the [[observance]] of the [[Sabbath]]. It was therefore the [[custom]] for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph Joseph] to take [[Jesus]] out for walks on Sabbath afternoons, one of their favorite jaunts being to climb the high hill near their [[home]], from which they could obtain a [[panoramic]] view of all [[Galilee]]. To the northwest, on clear days, they could see the long ridge of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Carmel Mount Carmel] running down to the [[sea]]; and many times [[Jesus]] heard his [[father]] relate the [[story]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah Elijah], one of the first of that long line of [[Hebrew]] [[prophets]], who reproved [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahab Ahab] and exposed the [[priests]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal Baal]. To the north [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hermon Mount Hermon] raised its snowy peak in [[majestic]] splendor and [[monopolized]] the skyline, almost 3,000 feet of the upper slopes glistening white with perpetual snow. Far to the east they could discern the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Valley_(Middle_East) Jordan valley] and, far beyond, the rocky hills of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moab Moab]. Also to the south and the east, when the [[sun]] shone upon their marble walls, they could see the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Roman_world Greco-Roman] cities of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapolis Decapolis], with their amphitheaters and pretentious [[temples]]. And when they lingered toward the going down of the [[sun]], to the west they could make out the sailing vessels on the distant [[Mediterranean]].
123:5.13 From four directions [[Jesus]] could observe the [[caravan]] trains as they wended their way in and out of [[Nazareth]], and to the south he could overlook the broad and fertile [[plain]] country of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esdraelon Esdraelon], stretching off toward [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Gilboa Mount Gilboa] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaria Samaria].
123:5.14 When they did not climb the heights to view the distant [[landscape]], they strolled through the [[countryside]] and studied [[nature]] in her various [[moods]] in accordance with the [[seasons]]. [[Jesus]]' earliest [[training]], aside from that of the [[home]] [[hearth]], had to do with a [[reverent]] and [[sympathetic]] contact with [[nature]].
123:5.15 Before he was eight years of age, he was known to all the [[mothers]] and young [[women]] of [[Nazareth]], who had met him and talked with him at the [[Well|spring]], which was not far from his [[home]], and which was one of the [[social]] [[centers]] of contact and [[gossip]] for the entire town. This year [[Jesus]] learned to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milking_machine#History milk the family cow] and care for the other animals. During this and the following year he also learned to make [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milking_machine#Cheese cheese] and to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaving weave]. When he was ten years of age, he was an expert [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom loom] operator. It was about this time that [[Jesus]] and the [[neighbor]] boy Jacob became great [[friends]] of the potter who worked near the flowing spring; and as they watched Nathan's deft fingers mold the clay on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter's_wheel potter's wheel], many times both of them determined to be potters when they grew up. Nathan was very fond of the lads and often gave them clay to [[play]] with, seeking to [[stimulate]] their [[creative]] [[imaginations]] by suggesting [[competitive]] [[efforts]] in modeling various objects and animals.
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_123 Go to Paper 123]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 123 - The Early Childhood of Jesus]]
123:5.1 [[Jesus]] was now [[seven]] years old, the age when [[Jewish]] [[children]] were supposed to begin their [[formal]] [[education]] in the [[synagogue]] schools. Accordingly, in August of this year he entered upon his eventful school life at [[Nazareth]]. Already this lad was a fluent [[reader]], [[writer]], and speaker of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilingualism two languages], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic Aramaic] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language Greek]. He was now to acquaint himself with the task of [[learning]] to [[read]], [[write]], and speak the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language Hebrew language]. And he was truly eager for the new school life which was ahead of him.
123:5.2 For three years—until he was ten—he attended the elementary school of the [[Nazareth]] [[synagogue]]. For these three years he [[studied]] the rudiments of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah Book of the Law] as it was recorded in the [[Hebrew]] tongue. For the following three years he studied in the advanced school and committed to [[memory]], by the [[method]] of repeating aloud, the deeper teachings of the [[sacred]] [[law]]. He [[graduated]] from this school of the [[synagogue]] during his thirteenth year and was turned over to his [[parents]] by the synagogue rulers as an educated " [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_and_Bat_Mitzvah son of the commandment] "—henceforth a [[responsible]] [[citizen]] of the commonwealth of [[Israel]], all of which entailed his attendance at the [[Passover]]s in [[Jerusalem]]; accordingly, he attended his first Passover that year in company with his [[father]] and [[mother]].
123:5.3 At [[Nazareth]] the [[pupils]] sat on the floor in a semicircle, while their [[teacher]], the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazzan chazan], an officer of the [[synagogue]], sat facing them. Beginning with the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Leviticus Book of Leviticus], they passed on to the [[study]] of the other [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Torah books of the law], followed by the [[study]] of [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Hebrew_Prophets the Prophets] and [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Psalms the Psalms]. The [[Nazareth]] [[synagogue]] possessed a complete copy of the [[Hebrew Bible|Scriptures]] in [[Hebrew]]. Nothing but the Scriptures was [[studied]] prior to the twelfth year. In the [[summer]] months the hours for school were greatly shortened.
123:5.4 [[Jesus]] early became a master of [[Hebrew]], and as a young man, when no [[visitor]] of prominence happened to be sojourning in [[Nazareth]], he would often be asked to read the [[Hebrew]] [[scriptures]] to the [[faithful]] assembled in the [[synagogue]] at the regular [[Sabbath]] services.
123:5.5 These [[synagogue]] schools, of course, had no [[textbooks]]. In teaching, the chazan would utter a [[statement]] while the [[pupils]] would in unison repeat it after him. When having [[access]] to the [[written]] books of the law, the [[student]] learned his lesson by reading aloud and by constant [[repetition]].
123:5.6 Next, in addition to his more [[formal]] schooling, [[Jesus]] began to make [[contact]] with [[human]] nature from the four quarters of the [[earth]] as men from many lands passed in and out of his [[father]]'s repair shop. When he grew older, he mingled freely with the caravans as they tarried near the spring for rest and nourishment. Being a fluent speaker of [[Greek]], he had little trouble in [[conversing]] with the [[majority]] of the [[caravan]] [[travelers]] and conductors.
123:5.7 [[Nazareth]] was a [[caravan]] way station and crossroads of [[travel]] and largely [[gentile]] in [[population]]; at the same time it was widely known as a [[center]] of [[liberal]] [[interpretation]] of [[Jewish]] traditional [[law]]. In [[Galilee]] the Jews mingled more freely with the [[gentiles]] than was their practice in [[Judea]]. And of all the [[cities]] of [[Galilee]], the Jews of [[Nazareth]] were most [[liberal]] in their [[interpretation]] of the social restrictions based on the [[fears]] of contamination as a result of [[contact]] with the [[gentiles]]. And these conditions gave rise to the common saying in [[Jerusalem]], " Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? "[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_John#Chapter_1]
123:5.8 [[Jesus]] received his [[moral]] [[training]] and [[spiritual]] [[culture]] chiefly in his own [[home]]. He secured much of his [[intellectual]] and [[theological]] [[education]] from the chazan. But his real education—that equipment of [[mind]] and [[heart]] for the [[actual]] test of grappling with the [[difficult]] [[problems]] of life—he obtained by mingling with his fellow men. It was this close [[association]] with his fellow men, young and old, [[Jew]] and [[gentile]], that afforded him the [[opportunity]] to know the human race. Jesus was highly [[educated]] in that he thoroughly [[understood]] men and [[devotedly]] loved them.
123:5.9 Throughout his years at the [[synagogue]] he was a brilliant [[student]], possessing a great advantage since he was conversant with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilingualism three languages]. The [[Nazareth]] chazan, on the occasion of [[Jesus]]' finishing the [[course]] in his school, remarked to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph Joseph] that he feared he " had learned more from [[Jesus]]' searching questions " than he had " been able to teach the lad. "
123:5.10 Throughout his [[course]] of [[study]] [[Jesus]] learned much and derived great [[inspiration]] from the regular [[Sabbath]] sermons in the [[synagogue]]. It was customary to ask distinguished [[visitors]], stopping over the Sabbath in [[Nazareth]], to address the synagogue. As [[Jesus]] grew up, he heard many [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_philosophy#Ancient_Jewish_philosophy great thinkers] of the entire [[Jewish]] world expound their [[views]], and many also who were hardly orthodox Jews since the [[synagogue]] of [[Nazareth]] was an advanced and [[liberal]] center of [[Hebrew]] [[thought]] and [[culture]].
123:5.11 When entering school at [[seven]] years (at this time the [[Jews]] had just [[inaugurated]] a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_education compulsory education law]), it was customary for the [[pupils]] to choose their " birthday text, " a sort of [[golden rule]] to guide them throughout their [[studies]], one upon which they often expatiated at their [[graduation]] when thirteen years old. The [[text]] which [[Jesus]] chose was from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah Prophet Isaiah]: " The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to set the spiritual prisoners free. "[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.61]
123:5.12 [[Nazareth]] was one of the twenty-four [[priest]] centers of the [[Hebrew]] [[nation]]. But the [[Galilean]] [[priesthood]] was more [[liberal]] in the [[interpretation]] of the traditional laws than were the [[Judea]]n [[scribes]] and rabbis. And at [[Nazareth]] they were also more [[liberal]] regarding the [[observance]] of the [[Sabbath]]. It was therefore the [[custom]] for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph Joseph] to take [[Jesus]] out for walks on Sabbath afternoons, one of their favorite jaunts being to climb the high hill near their [[home]], from which they could obtain a [[panoramic]] view of all [[Galilee]]. To the northwest, on clear days, they could see the long ridge of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Carmel Mount Carmel] running down to the [[sea]]; and many times [[Jesus]] heard his [[father]] relate the [[story]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah Elijah], one of the first of that long line of [[Hebrew]] [[prophets]], who reproved [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahab Ahab] and exposed the [[priests]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal Baal]. To the north [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hermon Mount Hermon] raised its snowy peak in [[majestic]] splendor and [[monopolized]] the skyline, almost 3,000 feet of the upper slopes glistening white with perpetual snow. Far to the east they could discern the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Valley_(Middle_East) Jordan valley] and, far beyond, the rocky hills of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moab Moab]. Also to the south and the east, when the [[sun]] shone upon their marble walls, they could see the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Roman_world Greco-Roman] cities of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapolis Decapolis], with their amphitheaters and pretentious [[temples]]. And when they lingered toward the going down of the [[sun]], to the west they could make out the sailing vessels on the distant [[Mediterranean]].
123:5.13 From four directions [[Jesus]] could observe the [[caravan]] trains as they wended their way in and out of [[Nazareth]], and to the south he could overlook the broad and fertile [[plain]] country of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esdraelon Esdraelon], stretching off toward [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Gilboa Mount Gilboa] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaria Samaria].
123:5.14 When they did not climb the heights to view the distant [[landscape]], they strolled through the [[countryside]] and studied [[nature]] in her various [[moods]] in accordance with the [[seasons]]. [[Jesus]]' earliest [[training]], aside from that of the [[home]] [[hearth]], had to do with a [[reverent]] and [[sympathetic]] contact with [[nature]].
123:5.15 Before he was eight years of age, he was known to all the [[mothers]] and young [[women]] of [[Nazareth]], who had met him and talked with him at the [[Well|spring]], which was not far from his [[home]], and which was one of the [[social]] [[centers]] of contact and [[gossip]] for the entire town. This year [[Jesus]] learned to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milking_machine#History milk the family cow] and care for the other animals. During this and the following year he also learned to make [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milking_machine#Cheese cheese] and to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weaving weave]. When he was ten years of age, he was an expert [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom loom] operator. It was about this time that [[Jesus]] and the [[neighbor]] boy Jacob became great [[friends]] of the potter who worked near the flowing spring; and as they watched Nathan's deft fingers mold the clay on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter's_wheel potter's wheel], many times both of them determined to be potters when they grew up. Nathan was very fond of the lads and often gave them clay to [[play]] with, seeking to [[stimulate]] their [[creative]] [[imaginations]] by suggesting [[competitive]] [[efforts]] in modeling various objects and animals.
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_123 Go to Paper 123]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 123 - The Early Childhood of Jesus]]