Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§9.6 The Historical Context
'Jews'? The implication that first-century CE Galileans were descendants of the
Judean settlers a century earlier suggests a clear Yes answer. At the same time we
need to recall the degree of ambivalence in the term (§9.2). Shaye Cohen's suggestion,
that the shift in meaning of Ioudaios from (ethnic-geographical)
'Judean' to (religious) 'Jew' took place in the Hasmonean period (n. 28 above),
correlates with the archaeological evidence regarding Galilee's Jewish character.
But he also notes Josephus' readiness to regard 'Judea' as the name for the entire
land of Israel, including Galilee, 183 and various occasions on which Josephus
calls Galileans Ioudaioi, 184 while in other passages Galilaioi seem to be distinct
from the Ioudaioi. 185 And if the earlier reflections were on target, and 'Jew/
Judean' was more of an outsider's designation, the actual use of the term itself
would depend more on how others viewed them and be less a matter of selfidentity.
Probably, then, the designation of Galilee as part of Judea was a matter
of perspective, the dominant element in the state standing for the whole. 186
Ironically, in somewhat like manner, 'Israel', though applicable primarily to the
northern kingdom in the period of the divided kingdoms, was too precious an expression
of Jewish self-identity not to be used by all who claimed to stand in the
line of inheritance from the patriarchs. 187
The upshot is that we should have no qualms about calling Galileans in
general 'Jews', including Jesus of Nazareth. And even if the propriety and overtones
of the epithet are less clear-cut, the implication of the term itself, that the
Galileans in general were practitioners of 'common Judaism', should be allowed
to stand, whatever qualifications might be called for in particular instances.
183. Similarly Luke uses 'Judea' when he was probably thinking of Galilee (Luke 4.44),
and he certainly seems to think of Judea as including Galilee (Luke 23.5; Acts 10.37). In Luke's
Gospel Jesus does not leave Galilee till 17.11 and does not enter Judea proper till 18.35-19.10.
184. Particularly War 2.232; 3.229; Ant. 13.154; 20.43; Life 113. Cohen also observes
that diaspora Ioudaioi continued to be regarded as citizens of Judea (Beginnings of Jewishness
72-76).
185. Ant. 20.120; Life 346, 349.
186. We may compare the use of 'Holland' for the Netherlands, of 'Russia' for a wider
territory, including, e.g., the Ukraine, and of 'England' for the whole of the United Kingdom.
Cohen speaks of Ioudaioi as either 'broadly defined' (including Galileans) or 'narrowly defined'
(living in Judea) (Beginnings of Jewishness 73).
187. 'Israel implies the religious claim to be God's chosen people even when it is used in
secular contexts, with no religious emphasis, as the accepted designation' (Kuhn, 'Israel' 362,
with examples). Zeitlin, Jews 10, notes that the prophets of Judah (the southern kingdom) always
delivered their messages in the name of the God of Israel, never of the God of Judah.
297