Sages or Rabbis? Who Were the Teachers in Galilee during Late Antiquity, and What Did They Teach?

This study builds upon and refines current scholarship on Late Antique Judaism, which increasingly recognises that rabbinic sages did not dominate synagogue life. Rather than presenting this as a new discovery, the article emphasizes its unique contribution: that Judaism from the third to the sixth centuries CE. often reflected semi-polytheistic practices. Using literary, historical, and archaeological evidence—including dedicatory inscriptions and mosaic floors—this research demonstrates how Galilean Jewish communities adopted semi-polytheistic religious practices that incorporated pagan and Christian artistic influences, reflecting a theological framework that recognised multiple divine entities while maintaining primary devotion to one. This openness was facilitated by non-rabbinic leadership structures where local civilian leaders (archisynagogos or rosh knesset), rather than rabbinic sages, governed synagogue life. These educated administrators created space for religious practices diverging from emerging rabbinic orthodoxy. Synagogue visual culture provides compelling evidence for theological openness to divine plurality. This study, therefore, extends the consensus on synagogue diversity by demonstrating that post-Temple Galilean Judaism represented a distinct, more theologically inclusive branch of Jewish practice, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of Jewish religious diversity during Late Antiquity.