In AD 30/31 the tiny city of “Bethsaida” was barely known outside of Galilee (a region of Palestine),1 and in that year it's name was changed to “Julia.”2 This is relevant because the city played a key role in the Gospels, and in the Gospels the characters all know the city still as Bethsaida rather than Julia.3 That means the content of the Gospels is very fine-tuned indeed to AD 30 Palestine.
In the Gospels, Jesus spoke and argued in ways that mirrored contemporary Jewish rhetoric right around the time of AD 30.
• AD 30 Rabbis say “You have heard it said…”1
• AD 30 Rabbis oft say “to what shall I compare.”2
• AD 30 Rabbis oft say “So-and-so is like…”3
• AD 30 Rabbis say “get beam out of your eye first.”4
• AD 30 Rabbis spoke of “moving mountains.”5
• AD 30 Rabbis spoke of the “kingdom of heaven.”6
• AD 30 Rabbis oft spoke of “the Son of Man.”7
• AD 30 Rabbis spoke of “[animal] passing through needle-eye.”8
• AD 30 Rabbis give something like the Lord’s prayer.9
• AD 30 Rabbis linked the commands by “You shall love.”10
• AD 30 Rabbis give parables with interpretations.11
• AD 30 Rabbis gave proverbs & riddles.12
• AD 30 Rabbis used hyperbole and overstatement.13
• AD 30 Rabbis oft delivered beatitudes.14
• AD 30 Rabbis teach lust, hyperbolically, is adultery.15
• AD 30 Rabbis teach “you get the mercy you give.”16
• AD 30 Rabbis distinguished “light” & “heavy” commands.17
[These footnotes all come from Keener's “Suggestions for future study of rhetoric and Matthew’s Gospel.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 66(1) Art. #812 (2010).]
• Craig Keener: “Ancient novels usually reflect the environment of their authors far better than the environment in which the story is set. This tendency is true also of many later apocryphal gospels…1 By contrast, many of Jesus’s reported sayings in the Synoptics (and for that matter, some in John) address a setting that fits Jesus’s particular geographic or chronological milieu, even though these Gospels, too, are written for a later audience… These features likely reflect an origin far earlier than Mark’s…” [Christobiography (Eerdmans, 2019), 318.]
The Gospel-recorded debates Jesus engaged in with the pharisees actually super-fit rabbinic interests exactly in c. AD 30 Palestine.
• Rabbis debated purity via inside/outside cups.2
• Rabbis debated the divorce question asked of Jesus.3
The Gospels causally reference several known people in AD 30 Palestine
• Confirmed ruler: Annas—Luke 3; John 18; Acts 4.
• Confirmed ruler: Augustus—Luke 2.
• Confirmed ruler: Caiaphas—Matthew 26; Luke 3; John 11, 18; Acts 4.
• Confirmed ruler: Herod Antipas—Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 3, 23.
• Confirmed ruler: Herod Archelaus—Matthew 2.
• Confirmed ruler: Herod the Great—Matthew 2; Luke 1.
• Confirmed ruler: Herod Philip I—Matthew 14; Mark 6.
• Confirmed ruler: Herod Philip II—Luke 3.
• Confirmed ruler: Herodias—Matthew 14; Mark 6.
• Confirmed ruler: Lysanias—Luke 3.
• Confirmed ruler: Pilate—Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 18.
• Confirmed ruler: Quirinius—Luke 2.
• Confirmed ruler: Salome (daughter of Herodias)—Matthew 14; Mark 6.
• Confirmed ruler: Tiberius Caesar—Luke 3.
Gospel events puzzle-piece fit deep background truths of AD 30 Palestine.
• The blind rushing to Jesus, explained by their being aware of messianic-prophecy.
• Multiple rich background assumptions had by the woman at the well.
• Rich agrarian assumptions rightly contained within Jesus's parables.
• Jesus's parents avoiding Jerusalem, likely betraying knowledge of Archelaus’s unmentioned slaughter.
• Solid assumptions pertaining to Pilate's behavior, and Herod's behavior.
• Herod's fortress having two halls is assumed but not explicitly reported (correctly).
Incidental details in the Gospels are fine-tuned to local knowledge and experience in AD 30 Palestine.
• Superfits: The described Passover meal (with the Temple standing).
• Superfits: The Jewish feasts (recline etc.) super-fit.
• Superfits: The described trial of Jesus.
• Superfits: Roman crucifragrum (for the sake of the Jews).
• Superfits: Jesus's being buried (despite crucifixion).
The Gospels fail to even display incidental assumptions/details fine-tuned to a Palestinian milieu.
But no...
• Gospels cite 100+ known rulers, sites, etc.
• In Gospels all & only Palestine pop-names get clarity.
• NT name-ratios precisely match Palestine’s.
• Jesus’ Gospel sayings super-retrovert from Greek to Aramaic.
• Gospel details reveal coherent-smart travel-plans.
• E.g. Hope for a “Messiah” was hyper-Jewish (e.g. Peter’s cutting ear).
• E.g. The Jesus-HighPriest exchange was hyper-Jewish.
• E.g. Gospel society super-fits Palestine.
• E.g. Gospel set-pieces super-fit Palestine.
• E.g. Gospel pricings super-fit Palestine.
• E.g. Galilee Consideration of acoustics in that area.
• Hope for a “Messiah” (Kingly, e.g. Peter’s cutting ear).