So let me get this straight. Micheal Satlow agrees that it is improbable to assume or believe that Jesus was literate. Timothy Beal on pg 94 out of 244 (I have an e-book so page #'s may vary) states that "... literacy in the Greco-Roman population was probably around 10 percent, never higher than 20 percent." Yet Timothy Beal says his story about a woman chanting from a codex in a synagogue around the end of the 1st century C.E. is historical fiction.
Chanting words from a book is something only people who are literate can do. Making this historical fiction seem more on the improbable side since a majority of cultures are patriarchal, and might not allow a woman such a job. Further more Beal claims his historical fiction about the woman would be typical. While we don't know for certain the state of Jesus's literacy, is it possible that if he was literate that he would have sung or chanted from a scroll?
Scrolls made from papyrus were common in the lifetime of Jesus, however Timothy Beal says that Jesus probably read from parchment, since there was a scroll found called “ the Great Isaiah Scroll ” and that was found on parchment. While I’m sure the possibility of Jesus being illiterate is an uncomfortable thought to some, since we have read the bible today and seen so many images of Jesus reading from a “book” bible rather than a scroll Torah I’m sure the idea of him chanting or singing is less uncomfortable while still being so different than our previous ideas about this important historical and spiritual/ religious figure.
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