Chapter 151 of 404

Galileans and Jesus vs. Pharisees?

Some argue that charismatic teachers, less amenable to traditional restrictions than Pharisaic scribes were, may have been more common in Galilee than Pharisees were.³⁸ Galileans were loyal to the Jerusalem Temple, but not particularly loyal to the Pharisees or their successors (probably accounting for some subsequent rabbinic calumnies).³⁹ Even in the second century, Galilee did not accept the predominantly Judean Pharisees’ or rabbis’ leadership.⁴⁰ The rabbis tried to control Galilean Jewry purely in religious matters, but Galileans generally did not accommodate them even here.⁴¹ Jesus was probably not the only conservative Galilean Jew to run into conflicts with Pharisees or the Jerusalem elites, though he may have had one of the larger followings.

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