Judaism in the first century was a diverse phenomenon. In the first place, many Jews lived outside Palestine and spoke Greek rather than Hebrew or Aramaic. Then, within Palestine itself there were different parties or schools of Judaism: Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and Zealots, each of which had their own ideas about the proper form of Judaism. From time to time prophets would arise and stir up popular movements with great expectations. And there were the ordinary people who no doubt most of the time simply got along as best they could.

Others again must have found it difficult to remain true to their traditional way of life in any form. The options open to them varied considerably. At one end of the scale they could fall into various forms of destitution: slavery, begging, and brigandage. At the other end they could assimilate in one way or another to Hellenism. They might become officials, tax collectors, or courtiers of client kings who were effectively part of the international community of the Mediterranean. Less grandly they might move into the Hellenistic cities and seek to pursue their way of life there as best they could. Not all such Jews would by any means have seen themselves as abandoning the ways of their fathers.