Jesus

===Judea and Galilee in the 1st century===
[[File:The Ministry of Jesus.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Judea]], [[Galilee]] and neighbouring areas at the time of Jesus|alt=Topographical map of Palestine in the First Century highlighting places mentioned in the canonical gospels.]]
In AD 6, [[Judea]], [[Edom|Idumea]], and [[Samaria]] were transformed from a [[Herodian dynasty|Herodian]] client kingdom of the [[Roman Empire]] into an imperial province, also called [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]]. A Roman [[prefect]], rather than a client king, ruled the land. The prefect ruled from [[Caesarea Maritima]], leaving [[Jerusalem]] to be run by the [[List of High Priests of Israel|High Priest of Israel]]. As an exception, the prefect came to Jerusalem during religious festivals, when religious and patriotic enthusiasm sometimes inspired unrest or uprisings. Gentile lands surrounded the Jewish territories of Judea and [[Galilee]], but Roman law and practice allowed Jews to remain separate legally and culturally. Galilee was evidently prosperous, and poverty was limited enough that it did not threaten the social order.<ref name="Britannica" /> <!-- Is Encyclopedia Brittanica really the best source to be using here? There are much more subject-focused encyclopaedias written by University Presses that we could use instead. -->

This was the era of [[Hellenistic Judaism]], which combined [[Judaism|Jewish religious tradition]] with elements of [[Hellenistic]] Greek culture. Until the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] and the [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]] of the Eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were [[Alexandria]] (Egypt) and [[Antioch]] (now Southern Turkey), the two main [[Greek colonies|Greek urban settlements]] of the [[MENA|Middle East and North Africa]] area, both founded at the end of the 4th century BC in the wake of the conquests of [[Alexander the Great]]. Hellenistic Judaism also existed in [[Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period]], where there was conflict between [[Hellenizers]] and traditionalists (sometimes called [[Judaizers]]). The [[Hebrew Bible]] was translated from [[Biblical Hebrew]] and [[Biblical Aramaic]] into [[Jewish Koine Greek]]; the [[Targum]] translations into Aramaic were also generated during this era, both due to the decline of knowledge of Hebrew.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barr |first1=James |title=The Cambridge history of Judaism. Volume 2: The Hellenistic Age |date=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-05512-3 |editor1-last=Davies |editor1-first=W. D. |edition=1. publ. |location=Cambridge |pages=79–114 |language=en |chapter=Chapter 3 – Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek in the Hellenistic age |editor2-last=Finkelstein |editor2-first=Louis}}</ref>

Jews based their faith and religious practice on the [[Torah]], five books said to have been given by God to [[Moses]]. The three prominent religious parties were the [[Pharisees]], the [[Essenes]], and the [[Sadducees]]. Together these parties represented only a small fraction of the population. Most Jews looked forward to a time that God would deliver them from their pagan rulers, possibly through war against the Romans.<ref name="Britannica" />