Hakkinen, Sakari2016-11-112016-11-112016-09-22Häkkinen, S., 2016, ‘Poverty in the first-century Galilee’, HTS Teologiese Studies/HTS Theological Studies 72(4), a3398. http://dx.DOI. org/ 10.4102/hts.v72i4.3398.0259-9422 (print)2072-8050 (online)10.4102/hts.v72i4.3398http://hdl.handle.net/2263/57913Dr Sakari Häkkinen is participating as a research fellow in the project ‘Biblical Theology and Hermeneutics’, directed by Prof. Dr Andries G. van Aarde, Post Retirement Professor, Department of New Testament Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of PretoriaIn the Ancient world poverty was a visible and common phenomenon. According to estimations 9 out of 10 persons lived close to the subsistence level or below it. There was no middle class. The state did not show much concern for the poor. Inequality and disability to improve one’s social status were based on honour and shame, culture and religion. In order to understand the activity of Jesus and the early Jesus movement in Galilee, it is essential to know the social and economic context where he and his followers came. The principal literary source in first-century Galilee is Josephus, who provides a very incomplete glimpse of the political and economic character of the Galilee and his account is both tendentious and selfserving. There is no consensus among the scholars on the conditions of ordinary people in Galilee at the time of Jesus and the early Jesus movement. The evidence can be interpreted either so that first-century Galilee was peaceful and people had somewhat better times economically because of the large building projects, or just the opposite – the building projects demanded a lot more taxes and forced labour and made life even more difficult. In this article it is argued that the latter conditions explain better the birth and rapid increase of the early Jesus movement in Galilee.en© 2016. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.GalileePovertyEarly Jesus movementInequalityFirst-century GalileeJesusTheology articles SDG-01SDG-01: No povertyTheology articles SDG-08SDG-08: Decent work and economic growthTheology articles SDG-10SDG-10: Reduced inequalitiesTheology articles SDG-16SDG-16: Peace, justice and strong institutionsArticle