Map and History of Israel at the time of Jesus Christ

Map of Israel at the time of Jesus Christ

History of Israel at the time of Jesus Christ

Israel at the time of Jesus was under Roman rule.

The Roman occupation of Israel, when the army of the Roman Republic conquered the Hasmonean Kingdom in 63 B.C., was the last in a long line of invasions starting with the Assyrians and the Babylonians, then the Persians and the Greeks with Alexander the Great.

In 63 B.C., Pompey the Great captured Jerusalem and although the ruling dynasty, the Jewish Hasmonean Kings, continued to rule, they became 'puppet kings' who relied on Rome for their power and the Hasmonean Kingdom was broken up and set up as a Roman client state.

In 37 B.C., Herod the Great forced out the last Hasmonean rulers and married a Hasmonean princess, Mariamne, to legitimize his reign by marrying into a Jewish noble family. He was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate while the newly formed Herodian Kingdom of Judea continued to be a client state of the Roman Republic.

So, by the time of Jesus' birth, the Romans had established in Israel a system of government consisting of Roman overseers and local leaders who held and exercised power on behalf of Rome.

At the time of the birth of Jesus, the family of Herod the Great had grown to prominence and, although Jewish by religion and tradition, he and his family were Edomites and were hated by the people of Israel for their tyrannical rule and for not being Israelites by birth.

In an attempt to be accepted by the people as their ruler, King Herod ventured into massive building projects throughout the Kingdom of Judea, including his expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem originally built over 500 years before, called Herod's Temple.

Herod also built impressive military marvels, such as the stronghold at Masada and the Antonia Fortress, to guard the Temple Mount. He also constructed infrastructures, such as the great port of Caesarea Maritima, a Roman-style trading port, which became a vibrant port of sea commerce.

In the Gospel of Matthew, King Herod was the ruler of Judea who met with the wise men from the East and who ordered the massacre of all male children from two years old and under at the time of the birth of Jesus.

Matthew 2:1-3 - "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying: 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.' When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him."

Matthew 2:16 - "Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men."

When Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., the kingdom was divided among his sons and his sister into the Herodian Tetrarchy. In his will, Herod asked that the Kingdom of Judaea be divided mainly between his three sons: Herod Archaelaus was given Judea, Idumea and Samaria, Herod Philip II was given Gaulanitis (= the Golan Heights), Batanea (= southern Syria), Trachonitis and Auranitis (= Hauran) and Herod Antipas was given Perea and Galilee.

A small part of the kingdom, a district that included the cities of Jamnia, Jabneh, Ashdod, and Phasaelis, was given to his sister Salome I, while the ten cities, a.k.a. the Decapolis, were to become autonomous and directly administered by Rome.

His sons were also tyrannical rulers. Herod Antipas, who ruled over Perea and Galilee, was responsible for the beheading of John the Baptist. Herod Archelaus, who ruled over Judea, Idumea and Samaria, was so brutal in his exercise of power in Jerusalem, that Rome judged him as an incompetent ruler.

Matthew 2:19-22 - "Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying: 'Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead.' Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee."

In 6 A.D. the Roman Emperor Augustus deposed Archelaus and annexed his territory, turning Judea, Idumaea, and Samaria from a client kingdom into a Roman province called Judaea. After the death of Salome I in 10 A.D., her territory was also incorporated into the new imperial province. Augustus had no choice but to place this new territory in the hands of a Roman governor.

Consequently, he sent a prefect (later called a procurator) to govern this newly acquired province. He was supported by a small Roman army of approximately 3,000 men, with soldiers from nearby Gentile cities, especially Caesarea and Sebaste and with officers from Italy.

During Jesus' public preaching, the Roman prefect was Pontius Pilate (Latin full name: Marcus Pontius Pilatus), he was the fifth procurator of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26 to 36 A.D. He was an "equestrian" (= knight) of the Samnite clan of the Pontii (hence his name Pontius).

Luke 3:1-2 - "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod (= Herod Antipas) being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip (= Herod Philip II) tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness."

(As attested in the above passage of Luke 3, the sons of Herod took their father's name, just as the successors of Julius Caesar were commonly called Caesar.)

Although formally in charge of Judaea, Samaria, and Idumaea, the Roman governor / prefect / procurator did not rule his territory directly. Instead, he relied on local leaders. Jerusalem was the capital and the center of the Jewish world, but the governor and his small army lived in the Gentile city of Caesarea Maritima.

They came to Jerusalem only to ensure peace and quench potential uprisings during the annual Jewish Festivals of Passover (Pesach), Pentecost / Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), and Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), when large crowds would gather in the city.

Normally Jerusalem was governed by the high priest in collaboration with a local council. They were the mediators between the Roman procurator and the local people, which was hostile toward Gentiles and longed to be free of foreign domination and Roman rule.

The political responsibility of the high priest was to maintain order and to ensure that taxes were paid. Caiaphas was high priest in Israel in the days of Jesus, he held that position between 18 A.D and 36 A.D.

Pontius Pilate was the Roman official who presided over the trial of Jesus, initially recognizing His innocence and exonerating Him, but later giving in to the will of the crowd, the chief priests and the local rulers and ultimately sentencing Him to death.

Luke 23:13-19 - "Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them: 'You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. I will therefore chastise Him and release Him' (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast). And they all cried out at once, saying: 'Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas' who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder."

Luke 23:20-25 - "Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. But they shouted, saying: 'Crucify Him, crucify Him!' Then he said to them the third time: 'Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.' But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will."

The Roman province of Judaea was renamed Syria-Palaestina in the early 2nd century A.D.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, but grew up in Nazareth, a small town within the province of Galilee, close to the larger metropolitan centers of Tiberias and Sepphoris. After the death of Herod the Great, his son Herod Antipas was the ruler of Galilee during Jesus' time, while Pontius Pilate governed the province of Judaea.

The history of Israel at the time of Jesus Christ and the history of Rome are heavily intertwined and intersected at a pivotal moment, the very moment that changed the course of world history.

Map of Israel at the time of Jesus Christ

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Bible Pearls

Did you know that...

The two New Testament accounts of the Genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and one in the Gospel of Luke, are completely different. Both genealogies seem to refer to the bloodline of Joseph, but they don't match.

The unsolved mystery of these genealogies has plagued the church from its inception, with theologians coming up with theories that the text does not substantiate, but today you can finally learn the truth.

If you would like to know why the genealogies are different and solve the mystery, check out our article on this topic in our Bible Articles section and read about our exciting findings.