Bible Dictionaries
School

Holman Bible Dictionary

Place and agency for education, particularly of children. The word school is not mentioned in the Old Testament and only once in the New where the reference is to a Greek school ( Acts 19:9 ). Until the Exile in Babylon (586 B.C.), the education of children was like that of all ancient peoples: it was centered in the home. The main concern of the Jewish people was for religious education in the home.

A new stage in Jewish education came about due to the catastrophe of the Babylonian Exile when the upper classes of Judea were transported to Babylon. The Exiles assembled on the Sabbath for prayer and worship. As time went by, buildings were erected in which the people could meet. These little gatherings were the origin of the synagogue, which ultimately became the center of Jewish religious life after the Exile. In the synagogue the scribes taught the Law to the people. Children were not taught in the synagogue until much later times. The father was responsible for transmitting what he had learned to his children.

The attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to eradicate Judaism by force brought about the fierce nationalistic revolt of the Maccabees (Jewish patriots) in 168 B.C. See Intertestamental History. The Jews who had remained faithful learned a lesson. They saw that they needed schools for the young as well as adult classes for their fathers. Simon ben Shetah, the leader of the Pharisees, founded schools for boys of sixteen and seventeen to promote the study of the Scriptures. A century later, as an inevitable consequence, private schools for younger children appeared. After the destruction of Herod's Temple by Titus in A.D. 70 and the disappearance of the Jewish state after the revolt of Bar-Kochba in A.D. 135, public instruction was instituted for all children.

The elementary school, significantly called Beth-hasepher , the “house of the book,” was originally housed in some easily available room; but by A.D. 200, it had become firmly established in the synagogue. Boys entered at the age of six or seven and continued until thirteen. Here, study was wholly devoted to the written Law. This involved the learning of Hebrew, since Aramaic had long before replaced Hebrew as the everyday language of the people. Knowledge of the written word, in school as in the home, had the religious goal of bringing about obedience to the Law.

The school was not only a place of learning but a house of prayer; its aims were not cultural but religious. A strong sense of community responsibility, evidenced by an education tax on all parents, had by A.D. 200 opened all schools to the children of the poor. However, the Jewish school, like the Greek school, remained an independent fee-paying institution. See Education; Scribes; Synagogue; Torah .

Jeff Cranford