Grec--Roman v Judean praxis regarding children, and Mark/Matthew/Luke

The contrast between Judean custom and Greco-Roman custom is nowhere more clearly visible than in the treatment of family, particularly the treatment of progeny.  The Greco-Roman male owned his wife and offspring, and with that ownership came right of life and death over them.   The Greco-Roman father also had the right to sell his offspring into slavery.  This type of activity was among those prohibited by Judean law:  Lev 18:21 and 20:2-4 ban giving offspring to a foreign god. 

It was only in the first century CE that the murder of a son by his father was considered a punishable offense, while the right to abandon a child was permitted into the fifth century.  A child who had not been officially recognized by its father would be killed or given to a slave to be disposed of, by abandonment or by leaving it close to refuse areas where it might be picked up by passers-by or left to die.  An abandoned child could be picked up by anyone who might choose to adopt and raise it, giving it their own name, or to keep it as a slave or sell it on.  Some people made a business of this: many of these children would be sold and find themselves slaves. They might work in houses, shops, prostitution and farming or fight as gladiators or race at the chariot races in the Circus Maximus.

Abandonment was not only the case of children born of affairs or of children born of rape. It was frequent among the poor, especially in the plebeian class.  It was not unheard of for plebeians to sell their own children into slavery so that they might have a better opportunity in life.

Greco-Roman custom was that once a wife had borne her husband three or more children she had done her duty and it would acceptable to lend her/marry her off to a friend whose own wife had not produced offspring for him.  Augustus Caesar provides a pretty extreme example: He married Livia while she was pregnant by her former husband (who attended the marriage ceremony).  Such an act would have been impossible in Judean society.

In contrast, the Judean marriage was a contract between two families to acquire a female for the purpose of producing progeny to perpetuate the family line, and while divorce was permissible, there was always the possibility that the female could be accused of attempting to pass the progeny of the former husband off as the progeny of the current husband.

Mark 10:13-6:

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Matthew 19:13-5:

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” And he laid his hands on them and went away.

Luke 18:15-7:

Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

The Markan verses follow the discussion of divorce which ends with remarks concerning adultery.  The Matthean verses follow the discussion of divorce which concludes with the statement that some men are eunuchs.  The Lukan verses follow the discussion of the tax-collector entering heaven.

In the Markan narrative the disciples rebuke people for bringing him their children,  Jesus becomes indignant about that, and blesses the children.  In the Matthean narrative, children are brought to him so he could lay hands on them and pray.  The narrator does not identify who brought the children.  The disciples rebuke the people, Jesus intervenes and lays hands on them.  In the Lukan narrative “they” brought children to him and the disciplies rebuked “them.”  Jesus intervenes, but does not lay hands on them and does not bless them.

The narrative seems to be predicated on the Greco-Roman model of family, which gave precedence to adult male prerogative over indulgence of children.  The Greco-Roman envisioning of Jesus has him welcoming children, when such an act would not necessarily be considered consistent with male dignity (the care and overseeing of children being the purview of women and slaves).  The actions of the populace, in bringing the children to him to be blessed, is consistent with Greco-Roman practice of presenting the young to the cult leader/seer to obtain his benision.  There is no known Judean equivalent of this practice.