What was life like growing up for Jesus?

Answer 1

Nobody knows for sure. Joseph was a carpenter,so it's quite possible that Jesus helped him with that. He probably followed Hebrew traditions, such as their festivals and holidays. He was a wise child, as he talked to the elders in the temple.

Answer 2

AnswerScholars have not yet reached agreement on whether Nazareth actually existed as early as the first half of the first century, but it would have been a small, rural village near the city of Sepphoris. The population of Nazareth was entirely Jewish, but the people would have come into frequent contact with the Gentiles of Sepphoris. Nazareth itself was far removed from the Sea of Galilee, so the people would have been used to dry-land farming in a fertile area where water was somewhat at a premium.

Artisans formed a lowly strata in society, so if Joseph was a carpenter, the family would have struggled financially. Joseph must have found much of his work in Sepphoris and other major centres of Galilee.

Because the Jews of Galilee had once been pagans, converted to Judaism during the invasions of the Maccabees, they tended to be looked down on by the people of Judea, whe believed that they alone were the real Jews and inheritors of David. However, Luke's Gospel says that Joseph's ancestors were from Bethlehem, while Matthew's Gospel indicates Joseph actually lived in Bethlehem before the birth of Jesus: either way, this may have given the family some social standing in Galilee.

Jesus would have been expected to follow his father as the village carpenter, so would have spent his childhood years learning carpentry. Basic literacy was fairly general, so he would have had some schooling, and would have learnt the Jewish scriptures.