Sit

Many of us sit for extended periods of time during our day; in fact you are probably sitting as you read this sentence. Of course, the posture of sitting was also a regular part of the day for the people of the ancient Near East.[238] People sat on the ground, on the floor, and on small, four-legged stools with flexible webbed seats.[239] Here we will explore exceptional types of sitting and their connotations as employed by the authors of the Bible.

First, sitting could be a posture that marked someone as a respected figure of authority; this was true of elders, kings, judges, and teachers. In ancient cities, prominent senior citizens took special seats in the gate of the city to discuss public policy, witness contracts, and decide legal cases. Lot, Ephron, Job, and others were identified as distinguished elders who sat in the gate (Gen. 19:1; 23:10; Ruth 4:1–2; Job 29:7–8; Prov. 31:23).

The royal throne was a symbol of power and authority, and those who sat on it became connected to those qualities. In that light, the Lord promised David, “You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel” (1 Kings 8:25). As two of David’s sons tussled for this honor, the biblical author reminds us of what was at stake by mentioning sitting on David’s throne over and over again in 1 Kings 1–2. Not just sitting on the throne but also sitting in proximity to it was a sign of honor whether that was at the king’s gate, at his right hand, or at his left hand (1 Kings 2:19; Esther 2:19, 21; 5:13; 6:10; Matt. 20:21–23; Mark 10:37–40). But the biblical authors never let us lose sight of the fact that the ultimate honor goes to the Messiah, who will sit at the right hand of his Father to rule forever (Ps. 110:1; Matt. 22:44; Acts 2:34; Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).

Respect was accorded to the elders who sat on benches within the city gate.

The roles of judge and teacher also were marked by sitting. Moses sat to judge the Israelites as Pilate sat to judge Jesus (Exod. 18:14; John 19:13). But once again the ultimate sitting to judge will fall to the Messiah, who will judge the nations on the last day (Joel 3:12; Matt. 25:31–32). Finally, it was teachers who were also marked for special honor by the posture of sitting. A special seat in the first-century synagogue called the seat of Moses became the spot where the rabbi sat when he interpreted the text that had been read (Matt. 23:2). When Jesus was in Nazareth, Luke tells us that he stood to read from the prophetic scroll and then sat down to teach (Luke 4:16–21). There are many other instances in which the Gospel writers tell us that Jesus sat not because he was tired but because he was teaching (Matt. 5:1; 13:1–2; 15:29; 26:55; Mark 4:1; Luke 5:3; John 6:3; 8:2). We can add here that students, like Mary, also sat to learn from their seated teacher (Luke 10:39). This may explain why Jesus was so emphatic about having the hungry masses sit down before receiving the food he was about to miraculously multiply. Their sitting marked that the diners were also students about to participate in a dramatic lesson served with dinner (Matt. 14:19; 15:35).

When the biblical authors note that someone is sitting, it may also be to draw attention to the person’s disposition in life, whether that is contentment or exhaustion. In the Old Testament the ultimate image of contentment is sitting under your own vine and fig tree (1 Kings 4:25; Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10). The shade provided by the large leaves of the fig tree and the nourishment provided within arm’s reach made this an ideal place to sit. Perhaps this explains why John emphasized the fact that Nathanael was sitting under a fig tree when Jesus called him. In this abbreviated form of the Old Testament formula, Nathanael was cast as a self-satisfied Israelite whose world was about to be rocked by meeting the Messiah (John 1:48–50).

Like those of us living today, people of the past sat down when they were physically exhausted. After hours of holding up his hands to secure an Israelite victory, Moses needed to sit down, as did Elijah after an exhausting flight from his enemies (Exod. 17:12; 1 Kings 19:4). Sitting can also connote deep grief or stress.[240] The Israelites sat before the Lord and wept in grief over the potential extinction of a tribe (Judg. 21:2–3). Ezra and Nehemiah sat down when confronted by the state of Jerusalem’s walls and the impenitence of its residents (Neh. 1:4). And Job sat among the ashes when physical and spiritual exhaustion overwhelmed him (Job 2:8).

At times the biblical authors used the notion of sitting to emphasize the fact that someone had chosen to stand rather than sit. The Lord sent Samuel to the home of Jesse in Bethlehem in order to identify the next king of Israel. After going through all the older sons, Samuel learned there was one more son but that he was some distance away tending the sheep. Samuel could well have taken a seat while waiting for David to arrive, but the urgency of the matter is suggested by his words: “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives” (1 Sam. 16:11). Similarly, Paul chose to stand rather than sit when he was speaking in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:16). Though his listeners might well have expected him to sit when teaching as he did at other times (Acts 16:13), counter to expectation he stood to emphasize the importance of what he had to say.

The seats in first-century synagogues such as this one in Gamla were simply stone benches located along the walls of the building. Those who gathered to listen as well as those who taught would sit on the benches.