• Luke 1

  • Video Introduction to the Book of Luke

  • Gospel of Luke—Some Major Events

  • Approaching the Entrance to Herod’s Temple

  • Symmachus’ Greek Translation Containing the Hebrew Tetragrammaton

  • Writing Tablets

  • Luke 2

  • Caesar Augustus

  • Winter in Bethlehem

  • Jesus in the Manger

  • Turtledove and Pigeon

  • View of the Valley of Jezreel

  • Luke 3

  • Tiberius Caesar

  • Coin Made by Herod Antipas

  • The Wilderness

  • Sandals

  • Threshing Tools

  • Luke 4

  • The Wilderness of Judea, West of the Jordan River

  • The Wilderness

  • Battlement of the Temple

  • The Great Isaiah Scroll

  • Synagogue in Capernaum

  • Luke 5

  • Remains of a Galilean Fishing Boat

  • Fish of the Sea of Galilee

  • First-Century Fishing Boat

  • Luke 6

  • North Shore of the Sea of Galilee, Looking Northwest

  • Upper Fold of a Garment

  • Fig Tree, Grapevine, and Thornbush

  • Luke 7

  • Royal Houses

  • The Marketplace

  • Bone Flute

  • Alabaster Jar

  • Luke 8

  • Domestic Lampstand

  • First-Century Fishing Boat

  • Remains of a Galilean Fishing Boat

  • Cliffs on the Eastern Side of the Sea of Galilee

  • Jesus Heals a Woman

  • Luke 9

  • Staff and Food Pouch

  • Coin Made by Herod Antipas

  • Baskets

  • Mount Hermon

  • Mount Hermon As Seen From the Hula Valley Nature Reserve

  • Foxes’ Dens and Birds’ Nests

  • Plowing

  • Luke 10

  • Wolf

  • Staff and Food Pouch

  • Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida

  • The Road From Jerusalem to Jericho

  • From Olive to Oil

  • Luke 11

  • Scorpions

  • Domestic Lampstand

  • Rue

  • The Marketplace

  • Luke 12

  • Modern-Day Valley of Hinnom

  • Raven

  • Lilies of the Field

  • “Your Clothing Has Become Moth-Eaten”

  • Luke 13

  • Coin Made by Herod Antipas

  • A Hen Gathering Her Chicks

  • Luke 14

  • Prominent Places at Evening Meals

  • Salt on the Shore of the Dead Sea

  • Luke 15

  • The Shepherd and His Sheep

  • Carob Pods

  • Luke 16

  • Written Agreement Acknowledging a Debt

  • Purple Dyes

  • Luke 17

  • Upper and Lower Millstones

  • Black Mulberry Tree

  • Luke 19

  • Sycamore Tree

  • Bethphage, the Mount of Olives, and Jerusalem

  • Colt, or Young Donkey

  • Stones From the Temple Mount

  • Luke 20

  • The Front Seats in the Synagogue

  • Prominent Places at Evening Meals

  • Luke 21

  • The Treasury Chests and the Widow

  • Stones From the Temple Mount

  • Judea Capta Coin

  • Roman Sword

  • The Arch of Titus in Rome

  • Luke 22

  • Upper Room

  • Vine

  • The Sanhedrin

  • Luke 23

  • Nail in a Heel Bone

  • Tomb Chamber

  • Luke 24

  • Nail in a Heel Bone

The items shown in the illustrations and 3-D video footage in the Media Gallery are based on extensive research. However, they are artists’ renditions and, at times, depict only one of several possibilities.

The Front Seats in the Synagogue

The Front Seats in the Synagogue

The reconstruction shown in this animation is partly based on the ruins of a first-century synagogue in Gamla, a city located about 10 km (6 mi) northeast of the Sea of Galilee. No synagogues from the first century have survived intact, so the exact features are uncertain. This depiction includes some of the features that were likely present in many synagogues of that time.

1. The front, or best, seats in the synagogue may have been located on or near the speaker’s platform.

2. The platform from which the Scriptures would be read. The exact location of the platform may have varied from one synagogue to the next.

3. Seating along the wall may have been occupied by people with status in the community. Others might have sat on mats on the floor. The synagogue in Gamla seems to have had four rows of seats.

4. An ark, or chest, in which sacred scrolls were kept may have been located on the back wall.

The seating arrangements in the synagogue were a constant reminder to those in attendance that some had greater status than others, a topic often debated by Jesus’ disciples.​—Mt 18:​1-4; 20:20, 21; Mr 9:​33, 34; Lu 9:​46-​48.

Related Scripture(s)

Mt 23:6; Mr 12:39; Lu 20:46
Luke 1
Luke 2
Luke 3
Luke 4
Luke 5
Luke 6
Luke 7
Luke 8
Luke 9
Luke 10
Luke 11
Luke 12
Luke 13
Luke 14
Luke 15
Luke 16
Luke 17
Luke 19
Luke 20
Luke 21
Luke 22
Luke 23
Luke 24