A common accusation against the Bible has to do with literacy. It is assumed that people in biblical times were illiterate. That they were just dumb peasants and fishermen who could not read or write. Is this true?

What does archaeology show?

A recent study says no. The ancient Israelites were more literate than previously thought. After examining shards of pottery with writing from around 600BC found in a fort in Tel Arad, researchers foundthat “evidence suggests a high degree of literacy in the entire Judahite chain of command.” They could identify at least 6 different authors, ranging from the King down to the assistant to the quartermaster. “To support this bureaucratic apparatus, an appropriate educational system must have existed in Judah at the end of the first Temple period.” ((Download the study as a PDF)) This is no surprise since the Jewish people have treasured learning throughout history.

What does the Bible show?

Moses was literate. He was an Egyptian prince so he had to be able to read and write egyptian script. Most likely he knew Akkadian and other writing systems too. In Exodus there are a number of occations where he both reads and writes. As did Joshua. In fact, all kings and leaders were required to be able to read and write.

Deuteronomy 17:18-19 “And when he [the king] sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them,

And as archaeological evidence shows, in order for things to work, literacy was necessary far down in the ranks. Prophets and the authors of the biblical books were of course literate. For example:

Jeremiah 51:60 Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, all these words that are written concerning Babylon.

But even the common man was supposed to be literate. In fact the law given somewhere between 1500-1200BC((depending on when you date the exodus)) orders people to write the commandments on the doorpost:

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

If a man wanted to divorce his wife, he had to write a divorce certificate and give her. Obviously he needs to be able to write to do that.

Deuteronomy 24:1-3 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife,

In the book of Joshua, he picks out 3 men from each tribe to survey the land. They walked through the land and wrote a whole book describing it:

Joshua 18:4 Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land. They shall write a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me.

Joshua 18:8-9 So the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description and return to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.” 9 So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh,

Later on, during the time of the judges, Gideon captured a young man. This young man was no one special, just some young kid from the neighborhood. Still, he was literate enough to write down the names of the elders of Succoth:

Judges 8:14 And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men.

Jehu was a military man, and he wrote to people in several different ranks:

2 Kings 10:1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of the city, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying,

Women could also write:

1 Kings 21:8, 9 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city.And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people.

What about the first century?

When John the Baptist was born, his father wrote a message on a tablet which all his neighbors could read. These were just ordinary people:

Luke 1:63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.

What about Jesus?

Jesus could read. He read from a scroll. This was no extraordinary feat. People were used to hear the carpenter’s son read to them. It was his custom:

Luke 4:16-17 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

And someone who can read can usually write. Later on in his ministry, Jesus also wrote something:

John 8:6 ,8 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

One of Jesus parables also shines light on the situation. In it, common men who are debtors toa lender are advised to write new amounts in their debt bill:

Luke 16:6-7 He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

And when Jesus was crucified, common Jewish people had the ability to read the sign posted over his head:

John 19:20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.

It also shows common people were multilingual.

Conclusion

It is evident from both archaeological and historical evidence that literacy was common and wide spread among all strata of society, all the way back to the founding of the nation of Israel. Hence anyone who tries to cast doubt on the ability of common people like Jesus’ diciples to produce literature is clearly either ignorant or lying.

_{Image courtesy of dyskfirmowy0}