Ancient Economics—Modern Interpreters: The World of Jesus

Abstract

Jesus was keenly aware of the economic realities in his age, and many of his sayings and parables reflect these realities. Contemporary readers, however, tend to “de-economize” them in order to extract theological truths or to read Jesus' words through capitalistic lenses. A considerate reader of the New Testament, however, needs an appropriate template for reading economic situations within their original contexts. Jesus' economic world was embedded within two major social domains: Kinship and politics (powers). These two social domains serve as twin institutions for understanding the economic language, imagery, and focus of Jesus' words. Jesus' saying about leaving family and land in Mark 10:29–31 serves as a test case for examining some of the prominent economic issues of Jesus' day.