The Galileans were not regarded with full favor by the Jerusalem religious leaders and rabbinical teachers. Galilee was more gentile than Jewish when Jesus was born. [1]
Many of the Galilean fishermen carried heavy strains of gentile blood as a result of the forcible conversion of the gentile population of Galilee one hundred years previously. [2] Herod Antipas, like his father, was a great builder. He rebuilt many of the cities of Galilee, including the important trade center of Sepphoris. [3] Jesus always wished to meet apostles in the scenes and nature of Galilee. [4] Jesus’ preaching tours of Galilee:
Lack of wealth of Galileans did not imply social inferiority. [9] Galilee was a more beautiful and prosperous district than Judea, and it cost only about one fourth as much to live there as in Jerusalem and Judea. [10]
Jews from Judea used to say about Gelileans: “Search the Scriptures, and you will discover that out of Galilee arises no prophet, much less the Messiah”. [11] Pilate mingled Galileans’ blood with sacrifices blood in the temple. [12] Residents of Galilee only went to Jerusalem for three feasts each year. [13]
Although Jesus might have enjoyed a better opportunity for schooling at Alexandria than in Galilee, he could not have had such a splendid environment for working out his own life problems with a minimum of educational guidance, at the same time enjoying the great advantage of constantly contacting with such a large number of all classes of men and women hailing from every part of the civilized world. [14]