Christian sports?

Dr. Shurk is the historian specializing in the periods of Jewish rebellion as well as sports in the ancient world at Beit Berel College

John the Evangelist

The New Testament mostly deals with various episodes from the life of the Jews in Judea and the Diaspora in the first century AD. From it, one can learn a lot about the daily life of the Jews (compared to the life of the upper classes, which is reflected in the writings of Joseph ben Matthieu) directly, indirectly or by interpreting symbols and questions.
The period in question is connected to the reign of Herod and his sons (from approximately 35 BCE to the middle of the first century CE. It should be noted, by the way, as a determining date, that Jesus was crucified, as a believing and faithful Jew, in 26 CE by order of the Roman governor in Judea, then Pontius Pilate).
Christianity, which grew out of Judaism, was in its beginnings, in the days of John the Baptist (between the end of the first century BC and the beginning of the first century AD), an integral part of Judaism, in all its streams and factions. In the period in question, against the background of a distressing economic and social situation (just as we witness this interesting factor in various societies throughout history), various groups emerged in Judea and Galilee, calling for social and moral reform, and some of them even, on a messianic, eschatological and apocalyptic background, sought to challenge the Roman rule and arouse voices of rebellion. In this atmosphere grows the group of John the Baptist, followed by Jesus, who was Jewish to all intents and purposes, and did not seek to develop a new religion, a different faith, but only to offer, as mentioned, like the groups mentioned here, corrections of this and interpretation of this for the way of applying Judaism. The attitudes of John the Baptist are not different from the approach of the Essenes in the east of the Judean Desert, and Jesus' wars against the corruption of the priesthood in the temple in Jerusalem (a kind of wealth and power, reminiscent not a little of the prophecies of wrath of Amos and Isaiah), were, without a doubt, brave on the one hand and blessed on the other.
In any case, the New Testament opens an interesting window to many fields, including a social (sporting) issue, as reflected in the life of the Jewish community in Judea and the Galilee during the period in question.

In this article I will try to focus light on physical activity as reflected in evangelical Christian literature, an activity which, as mentioned above, is primarily Jewish.
It is worth noting that the Bible is relatively abundant with evidence of various physical activities, which presents the Jews not in terms of "a people alone will dwell and the Gentiles will not be considered", but quite the opposite, as an inseparable part of the ancient civilizations, and just as the origin of sports and physical activity At the same point of intersection of war and battle on the one hand and refinement on the other, such as characterized the ancient society, the inhabitants of Judah and Israel were no different in the purpose of change from those civilizations, and which is why we are aware of interesting images from the world of sports, as they are embedded in biblical literature.

(Note: lest we get confused - the Bible is not, in terms of historical evidence, on the one hand, however, it contains reflections of "smells", "colors" and "tastes", of social-behavioral levels on the other hand).

In the Bible we therefore find evidence about lifting heavy loads (Jacob lifting the stone over the mouth of the well, Moses carrying the tablets and raising his hands during the war against Amalek, including the admiration of Samson's strength), wrestling (Jacob's confrontation with the "angel"), dancing, archery For the purpose, running and even swimming. And it would therefore be quite logical to find evidence of physical activity also in the Christian scriptures, i.e. - the New Testament.

Running as an athletic sport received many testimonies in the New Testament, and this is not surprising, since this sport occupied an honorable place in classical Greek athletics, and even in the Roman period. Jesus and his disciples, Yitzvain, were active mainly in the eastern Galilee and in Jerusalem, where (in Tiberias - the site of the stadium, in Trichai (tower) - the site of the hippodrome, a track for horse and chariot races, in Zipori and in Jerusalem, the owner of the sports facilities established by Jason in the Hellenistic period and by King Herod in the Roman period) There were many and varied sports activities, which had to influence the Jewish residents.
In the Gospel of John, it is told about a running competition between the apostle Peter and another disciple along these lines: "And they will both run together and the other disciple will hurry to run and pass Peter and come first to the tomb" (the Gospel according to John 4, and can be compared to the Gospel according to Luke 12:XNUMX). There are hands to crush because the running in question, in its special context, namely the running to the tomb of Jesus, reminds of the custom and accepted in classical Greece to hold sports competitions as part of the burial rites. This practice appears for the first time in Homer's "Iliad", when Achilles holds game competitions at the burial ceremony of his friend Patroclus.
These competitions were accompanied by a social symbol of participation in the family's grief and paying respects to the deceased. This honor was commemorated every year on the day of the death.
The questioner will ask, and rightly so, why don't we have the confidence, even if it is partial, both in this event and in the ones that follow, because it is indeed competitive running, or competitive wrestling, and not some casual running? Well, two considerations guided me in all reference to this or that source: First - whenever in the original (Greek) text the phrase "Agon" appears (the alphabet is punctuated by "opening" and the letter H is in a dream) in close proximity to some physical activity (running, wrestling, etc.) ), after all, this is a competition. The word/term "agon" has a clear intention in Greek terminology and means a sporting competition. (By the way, agony in English developed from this word, and it is interesting that its Hebrew translation is "agony", and not without reason, because the Greeks attached great importance to the effort, to the agony-agony of the athlete, and even valued more a winner who took first place in effort, than the one who went -Easily). For this reason I ignored, for example, all those mentions of casual running (such as the gospel according to Matthew 48:6; the gospel according to Mark 20:2; the gospel according to Luke XNUMX:XNUMX; the gospel according to John XNUMX:XNUMX and more).
Second - when in close proximity to the physical activity in question appear expressions borrowed, without a doubt, from the world of Greek gymnastics and agonistics, such as the crown of victory, the judges of the competitions, accepted customs of athletes, and more.

In his Epistle to the Hebrews, Paul uses a figurative sentence to illustrate his words before the Jews, and this sentence is devoid of the world of running: "We will patiently run the race that is set before us" (1:2), and it is interesting to compare this drawing, or rather the question and simile, to what appears in external literature (The Wisdom of Solomon XNUMX , XNUMX). By the way, jumping two thousand years into the future, the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Lloyd George, will turn to Chaim Weizmann, after publishing the Balfour Declaration, and tell him the following sentence: "Before you is the arena of the race. Try hard - you will win, get tired - you will fail". These last two sentences, despite their allegorical aspect, are given an interesting meaning, both from the point of view of the speaker and from the point of view of the listeners. Both "camps" were attentive and aware of physical activity, based on watching and/or taking part in the activities.

When the apostle Paul arrived in Antioch, he preached in front of the leaders of the Jewish community and the congregation in the synagogue, and in one of the verses of his sermon, he reminded the listeners of John the Baptist, and instead of saying "John stopped his words", Paul used the image "John stopped his running" (Acts 25:120). In this city, Antioch, numerous gymnastic and agonistic structures have been found since the Hellenistic period, and Yosef ben Mattathieu explicitly hints that the Jews of Antioch, and certainly the rich and aristocratic among them, engaged in physical activity in the Hellenistic gymnasium (Antiquities of the Jews 119, XNUMX-XNUMX) and this is how they did until the Roman rule and in general .

Running phrases are used by Paul as images and symbols to teach us about his awareness of the subject and the awareness of his listeners. The fulfillment of his mission is expressed by him in the phrase: "I have taken my race with joy" (Acts 24:16), and the considerable effort to accomplish the goal is presented in the image of the runner's efforts in the competition (Epistle to the Romans 12:XNUMX; Epistle to the Philippians XNUMX:XNUMX).
The interesting testimony on this subject comes prominently in the Epistle to the Corinthians, where Paul quotes an interesting verse (and next to it, after it, as we will see below, many expressions from the world of gymnastics and agonistics appear): In him" (First Epistle to the Corinthians 24:XNUMX). Both Paul, who was influenced by the competitions held in Galilee and Jerusalem, and his audience, the Corinthians (nearby where the "Isthmian" - the well-known "Corinthian" games were held) were well aware of those symbols from sports life. Both he and they knew that all the registered runners competed in the competitions; that the runners competed to win a prize (a wreath of bay leaves, olive leaves, caraway, or pine, with the latter given to the winner of the Corinthian games) and more. But Paul urged them to try and exert themselves like all the runners in the competition.
In the verse that follows, Paul testifies about himself that "therefore I run, not as in the dark..." (ibid., 26). That is, not as one who does not know the goal, as he emphasizes elsewhere: "Toward the goal I will pursue the reward of victory, which is in the call from above" (Epistle to the Philippians 14:XNUMX). This sentence is figurative, but these symbols were well known to Paul.
The goal may be interpreted as reaching the pole (in the "Stadium" run) or there and back (in the "Diolos" run), and perhaps receiving the first prize - the crown.
Paul asks in astonishment: "It is good for you to run, who has darkened (prevented) you from hearing the truth" (Epistle to the Galatians 7:XNUMX), and in another place he emphasizes that victory is not guaranteed to the competitor, unless he acts according to the rules, that is, Competition rules.
In the Gospel of John (11:11), Paul delivers the following sentence to the Jewish community in Philadelphia (the Rabbinate of Bnei Ammon, later Amman): "I am coming quickly! Hold fast as for you, so that no one takes your treasure" (Chazon Yohanan XNUMX:XNUMX). In this sentence, the taunting words of one of the runners to his friend, who claims the crown of victory in the second or is confident of his victory, what is more, in the verse after it, it is the common practice of commemorating the name of the winner in competitions on a special column.

As a Greek sport, wrestling also took second place in the evidence of the New Testament, relative to the many evidences of running.
In the Gospel according to Mark (16:17), Simon is referred to by the name "Petros" (stone or rock in Greek) "and Jacob the son of Zebedee and Yochanan, the brother of Jacob, and he called them by the name of Bnei Ragush, he is Bnei Ream" (ibid., XNUMX).
A classical scholar known as Harris refers us to the writings of Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Peter, who compares a strong Pancratian wrestler to a "rock" ("The Free and Good Man", 26), and that one of the victors from the city of Pergamon, at the end of the first century BC, was called " Thunder".
New Testament scholars have difficulty understanding the word "bo'an'arges", which appears in the original Greek and even Latin text. Some interpret this as a pair of Hebrew words - "sons of emotion", and perhaps from the world of wrestling, as a nickname for those who wrestle with great energy, foaming at the mouth, since "emotion" means "storm".
Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, addresses in figurative language and says: "Fight the good fight... and take hold of the life of the world" (12, 7). The prize is eternal, but borrowed from the world of the Greek competition of athletes. In another place too, Paul uses the image of "I have wrestled the good fight" (Second Epistle to Timothy XNUMX:XNUMX). Whether the reference is to a fair use of tricks or a fair competition per se, it is impossible to know with certainty. The use of the image is interesting and joins the treasury of expressions presented so far.
Paul also knew the lifestyle and customs of the wrestlers very well and knew that abstinence from luxuries and indulgences, from delicacies, wine and other foods that weaken the body, is an important condition for achieving victory (First Epistle to the Corinthians 25:XNUMX), just as we know from the classical Greek sources.

Paul testifies to himself, that not only is he not running without a goal, but "I fight and not as a fit of spirit" (ibid., 26). The term "suitable" hides more than an allusion to "shadow boxing", which was so popular in Greek sports, both in the training-tactical level and in the active one in the "ring". The phenomenon of the "shadow grip" finds an interesting expression in the writings of Philo of Alexandria, who says that "he deflects with one hand or the other the blows laid upon him." He moves his neck back and forth to avoid the blows. Sometimes he rises on his tiptoes and cowers, forcing his opponent to waste his efforts again, as if he were engaged in a shadow battle" (On the Cherubim, 81). The "shadow fight", as we know, was part of the boxer's training, when he would pretend to be a competitor in the boxing ring against an imaginary opponent, or try to avoid his own shadow, in order to develop speed, a sharp reaction, deceptive body movements and strong footwork.
In the next verse, which seems to seal the passage in question, Paul says: "I will oppress my body and enslave it, so that I, who call others, will not be fighting myself" (First Epistle to the Corinthians 27:XNUMX). The verse is connected, so it seems, to the obsession of an exerciser, who usually gives advice to others, or spurs them on to activity, but neglects his body.

An integral part of the athlete's training work was lifting heavy loads, especially stones, and this is probably alluded to by Paul's words about Simon "Peter" and "sons of thunder". He uses the phrase "stumbling block", not in consideration of a natural obstacle that appears here and there in the Bible, but as a gravity stone that the practitioner would have difficulty lifting, as evidenced by the classical Greek sources.

We will conclude our words by saying that alongside the many mentions in the New Testament of victory awards, and especially the natural crown, we also remember the custom of perpetuating the name of the athletic hero on a column.

The many evidences about physical activity in the New Testament are indeed seasoned with a symbolic, pictorial touch, but this technique is used to present a kind of turning point that took place in the world of sports and physical activity in Judea and the Galilee. And what is this reference? What is his nature?
Well, from the biblical evidence we find ourselves a bit drowning in the definitions of physical activity. This is presented more, as was common in Middle Eastern civilizations, as well connected to the combative, survival dimensions. The sport was born in the ancient Greek society and from there it spread to different places in the region. Following the establishment of the Hellenistic Empire under the leadership of Alexander of Macedon, Greek culture spread, and with it the sporting contexts, also in the Hellenistic East, including in Judea. This culture flourished and flourished during the reign of King Herod, who contributed greatly to the deepening and spread of the sport throughout his kingdom.
And so, step by step, physical activity passed from the combat-survival phase to the aristocratic-hedonistic phase and from there, in the period we are talking about now, it is more common among the population, and the best example of this is the figure of Paul, the faithful apostle of Christ. His knowledge of the subjects of gymnastics and agonistics is extremely impressive, and if he seasoned his sentences with sporting allegories, the audience listening to his sermons would have the impression that he knew what things meant, and took, in one way or another, even an active part in the activities.