<h2>A Child's Life in Nazareth</h2><div class="chaptertitle">CHAPTER 11</div>
<div class='cap'>THE LITTLE Jesus must have been between two
and five years old when he was brought to Nazareth,
just coming out of babyhood and growing into a
little boy; and Nazareth was his home for at least
twenty-five years, all through his childhood, his boyhood
and his young manhood.</div>
<p>Jesus was not the only child living in that little
white house of one story and one room on the side of the
hill. Soon another baby boy came, who was named
James, who grew up to become a great man, and many
years after wrote one of the books in the Bible, the
Epistle of James. Then, one after another, came three
more boys, Joseph and Simon and Judas. When we
read that name "Judas" we are apt to think of the wicked
Judas, who sold the Lord Jesus for a few pieces of silver.
But that was a different Judas. This Judas, like his
brother James, long afterward wrote another book in the
New Testament, the Epistle of Jude. Somewhere in the
list of children were two girls—there may have been more
than two, but the number and names of the girls have
not been kept.</p>
<p>After a few years that little house must often have
been crowded, with children coming one after another,
and always a baby to be cared for. And much of the
time it was the shop where father Joseph did his work as a
carpenter. The floor of brick or of clay was often littered
with shavings and the workman's tools were on the table.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-088.jpg" width-obs="408" height-obs="600" alt="painting" /> <span class="caption">The child Jesus loved outdoor life, he knew the flowers that grew in the fields and the birds flying in the air.</span></div>
<p>The house had very little furniture; no chairs, no
bedstead with a mattress upon it, no stove and no pictures<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</SPAN></span>
upon the walls. In one corner a little fire was lighted for
cooking the meals, and the smoke went up through a
hole in the roof, unless the wind blew it back into the
room. They never made a fire to keep the house warm
in winter, but when it was cold just waited for the sun to
come out. Sometimes a snowstorm came, but the snow
seldom stayed more than two or three days. The
children of Joseph never took a sleigh-ride and never
coasted on sleds down the steep hills.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-089.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="355" alt="painting" /> <span class="caption">Jesus as a boy at the house of his father and mother</span></div>
<p>If there was a table for their meals, it was very low,
less than two feet high; and they sat around it on little
cushions, dipping their hands or pieces of bread into one
common dish for food. Sometimes the table was just a
round measure turned upside down; and sometimes the
meal was served on the floor, as we serve meals on the
grass at a picnic.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>When night came, they unrolled some mats, which
through the day were rolled up and stood against the
wall, spread them on the floor and lay down upon them
to sleep, throwing over themselves the long mantle
which had been their outside garment through the day.
When the door was shut, the house was dark, for its
only window was a little hole in the wall; and they
lighted it by an oil lamp, which stood either on a tall
stand or on a little shelf.</p>
<div class="figleft"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-090.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="364" alt="photo" /> <span class="caption">Women grinding grain in Bible timesWomen grinding grain in Bible times</span></div>
<p>But the house was used little in the daytime, for
everybody lived out of doors, in the open court in front,
in the streets and on the hills around. On pleasant days
Joseph took his tools in the court and worked in wood.
We are apt to think of Joseph as building houses, as in
our time that is the chief work of a carpenter. But the
houses were made of clay or rough stone, and the carpenter<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</SPAN></span>
did very little work upon them. His chief business
was in making wooden plows, yokes for the oxen, the
little tables, and the peck or bushel measure, which was
to be found in every house, and was also used in place of
a table.</p>
<p>One very useful article was either in the house or in
the court—the hand mill for grinding grain, made of two
round flat stones. Our flour comes to us from great
factories, but in that land each family had its own little
mill. They poured the grain into a hole in the upper
millstone, and then turned the stone round and round
by a handle until the grain was ground into flour. This
was hard work, but it was always done by the women.
Often two women helped each other to turn the handle
of the upper millstone. Mary's arms often ached in
making the flour needed for her large family. When her
daughters grew strong, they helped her in this work.</p>
<p>When Jesus became a boy six years old, he was sent
to school with the other boys. There were no schools
for girls among the Jews, so far as we know. The school
was held in the village church, which they called the
synagogue. The teacher was always a man, and he was
generally the janitor of the church, who kept the building
in order.</p>
<p>The Jews had a pretty name for the village school.
They called it "The Vineyard," as though the children
were bunches of little grapes, growing up to ripen in the
sun. In this vineyard-school there was only one book
for study. That was the Bible. The Jews had only the
Old Testament, for the New Testament had not yet
been written. Each of the larger books was in a separate
volume in the form of a long roll of parchment; that is,
a sheet made of sheepskin which had been made smooth,
on which the words were written. Several of the smaller
books were written on one roll. In the school there was<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</SPAN></span>
only one copy of the Bible for all the scholars, but each
boy had a board and a piece of chalk, with which he wrote
sentences from the Bible and then learned them by
heart. When his text had been learned, each pupil
cleaned off his board like a slate and wrote on it a new
lesson. All the teaching in a Jewish school was in the
Old Testament.</p>
<div class="figright"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-092.jpg" width-obs="300" height-obs="389" alt="drawing" /> <span class="caption">Roll of book</span></div>
<p>The copy of the Bible in the school was generally
one that had been used in the church until it had grown
old and worn out. When
they obtained a new set of
the books for the service
in the church, they gave
the old copies to the school.</p>
<p>You can see in that
same land now a school
of children just like those
in the time when Jesus was
a boy. The children sit on
the floor in a circle, the
teacher being one of the
ring. When they repeat
their verses in learning
them, all are talking aloud
at the same time, so that
the school is very noisy.
We could not study in such a din, but they do not seem
to mind it.</p>
<p>School was not very hard in that country. Our
children have one holiday in each week, free from school,
but in the school where Jesus was taught, they had two
holidays in every week, besides the sabbath. In addition
to these holidays there was a long recess of three hours in
the middle of each day, and no school at all if the day was
very hot.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>When Jesus was a small boy he was taken by father
Joseph to the church, which you remember they called
the synagogue. The men and boys sat on the floor upon
rugs or mats, while the women and girls were in a gallery,
looking down upon them. All the men and boys wore
their hats in the church. Their hats were turbans of
cloth wrapped around their heads. But each one as he
entered the door slipped off his shoes or slippers, and was
barefooted in the church at the hour of worship. If
at the hour of worship you go to a Mohammedan church
in that country—which they call a mosque—you will
see all the shoes standing outside the door.</p>
<p>In the church they had no minister to lead the
service and to preach a sermon. The men took turns
in charge of the worship. One read from one part of the
Old Testament, another from another part. If they
found a boy who was a good reader he was often called
upon to read the Bible in the church service. They had
prayers, always read from a book; they sang together
from the Psalms; and whoever wished to speak could
do so.</p>
<p>But we are not to think of the child Jesus as always
at school or at church. He was a strong, hearty, healthy
boy. He loved outdoor life, he knew the flowers that
grew in the fields and the birds flying in the air. He
played with other boys and knew all their games. Two
of these games he once happened to mention long after,
while he was teaching. One game was the wedding,
when they sang and danced; the other was the funeral,
when they cried with loud voices, making a mournful
wail. We know, too, that in those times the boys played
ball and marbles, and a game somewhat like ten-pins.</p>
<p>Jesus was not a lonely boy, living apart. He was
always fond of having others around him. When he was
a man, traveling and teaching over all the land, he had<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</SPAN></span>
his twelve chosen friends who were always with him,
and we may be sure that as a boy he liked to be with other
boys, and in turn was liked by the boys of his village.</p>
<p>We may be sure, too, that he grew up a good boy;
one who always tried to do right, at home, at school, or in
play. At home he would help Joseph in his shop and his
mother in her work or in caring for the smaller children;
in school we know that he learned his verses in the Bible,
because in after years he could always call them to his
mind and speak them; and in play he was always fair
and good-hearted and willing. We are told that he
grew in knowledge and in the favor of God and of all people.
In other words, he was a boy that everybody liked.</p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/illus-094.jpg" width-obs="500" height-obs="306" alt="photo" /> <span class="caption">The citadel of ancient Bethshean, in the Jordan valley, twelve miles south of sea of Galilee</span></div>
<hr class="chap" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</SPAN></span></p>
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