In the time of Jesus what percentage of the world's population was Jewish?

Answer 1

According to Luke Timothy Johnson, NT professor at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, the Jewish population was about 7 million. It was made up of 2 million in Palestine and 5 million throughout the Diaspora. The figures are derived from general population figures, archeological remains, including inscriptions, and written histories.

Answer 2

Answer 1

In 63 BC, the Romans invaded and conquered Jerusalem. At that time, there was a civil war among the Jews. For the Romans to keep control over the Galileans and Judean peoples, Julius Caesar and the senate installed Herod as king. The same Herod the king who ordered the infant Jesus to be killed.

Jesus was alive during the Roman Empire in the age of Caesar Augustus; and in that time only 10% of the entire Roman Empire were Jewish. The estimated population of the entire Roman Empire at that time was 45 million. The majority of the population practiced Hellenistic religion (Roman/Greek mythology). Jews were tolerated in the Roman Empire by diplomatic treaty. After Jesus Christ's death, those people who were brave to follow Jesus' teachings were thought of as pagans by the Roman Empire and were heavily persecuted, be it imprisoned or martyred.

Answer 2

However, even if the Jews were 10% of the Roman Empire (and that seems absurdly large to me) this does not take into account other civilizations such as the Parthians, Aryan States, and Imperial China and other tribes scattered across the world. The Jews were likely around 2-3% of the world population at the time.

Answer 3

Population estimates for the middle of the first century CE are uncertain, but it is believed that there were around 4 to 5 million Jews, half a million of whom lived in Palestine, mainly in the province of Judea. This estimate excludes Samaritans and pagans.

Answer 4

The Jews were a nation at the time of Jesus, living primarily in the area defined as "Judea". If you look at a map of Israel today it is somewhat similar to what Judea was at the time.

During Jesus's entire lifetime, Judea was occupied by Rome, meaning it was under Roman rule, with a puppet king (Herod) and a religious authority that was subordinated to Roman laws. At no time in Jesus's life did he know what it was like to live in a country governed by the laws of his people - Jewish law.

It was an uneasy time and when the people had had enough and attempted a revolt, in 70 C.E. (A.D.) after a long siege, Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple, as well as other centers of Jewish life, carted off holy relics to Rome such as the great Menorah from the Temple of Solomon, and left the area in ruin.

Prior to Roman occupation, Judea flourished and was ruled by a Jewish king and Jewish high priest and Sanhedrin (call it a religious court/legislature) almost in tandem. Jewish laws -- found in Torah and related writings and traditions, governed daily life, religious life and national life. Courts applying Jewish law. Being Jewish was a way of life as much as being an American living under the US Constitution is for us today. The imposition of Roman law superseded many of the Jewish laws, destroying the concept of a Jewish way of life, relegated the priests and the Temple into something of subserviency, and Herod as puppet king who was allowed to flaunt his allegiance to Rome.

Jews became uncertain what laws they were supposed to follow and what not to follow because to follow certain Jewish laws and/or not follow Roman laws, was to risk imprisonment and possibly a death sentence by Roman rule. Jesus is credited with saying, "Render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, and render to God that which is God's." Ultimately that became a failed strategy when Rome desolated the region.

Answer 5

The population of Juda is not given in history during the time of Jesus Christ.... the only known census of his lifetime would be the Roman census of 14 AD which indicates 4,937,000

Knowing that during that time women and children would have appeared on a different list than men (head of the household) and slaves would have appeared as property and therefore included as taxed assets.

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It takes vast assets of men, equipment, and liquidity in order to overthrow the entire world, which is why no one has ever successfully achieved such station. Afterward, one would need to be able to manage multiple millions of people effectively (today it would be billions). which is not as simple as one assumes looking at the surface.

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Recently (2007 -2016) there was an attempt to globalize the entire world under a single socialist government, which wound up in complete disaster. Now the EU is splitting up, which is an indicator of how difficult it is to manage one part of the worlds already socialist countries (Europe). South America remains in continual turmoil where socialism and communism thrive as the order of the day. Still the socialist Europe, Canada and socialist South American nations cannot agree to get along as a single set of socialist bloc states, as the great and perfect socialist utopia proclaims they shall.

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In closing I would take the Roman census data from 14 AD with a vast grain of salt, as 5m seems a bit low for and empire which stretched over the entire of the Mediterranean Sea at that time

Answer 6

about 200,000

Answer 7

The actual figure is not known.

Answer 8

About 700,00.

Answer 9

600,000 men, (besides children) left Egypt, Exodus 12.37. How many women left Egypt at the same time? Perhaps, another 600.000! Did the women carry the dough? After 40 years journey, many of those travellers would have died. Countless children would have been born,