When we think about pilgrimage in the Bible, the three major feasts given in the Old Testament Law come quickly to mind. Every year, Jews were required to travel to the Temple in Jerusalem for Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Like their ancestors, those who lived in Galilee in the first century, including Jesus, typically made the journey on foot, and it took from several days to as much as a week.
By what route did these pilgrims travel? There were three main paths from Galilee to Judea. The Biblical Archaeology Society’s Bible History Daily has a good summary of a longer article published recently by Jeffrey García that identifies the pilgrimage routes based on ancient sources. These travel patterns reflect some of the social and religious realities of Jesus’ day. The map and summary are worth a look to understand how Jewish pilgrims made the journey to the Temple in the light of the territory that they needed to cross.
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