37 And
as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he
went in, and sat down to meat.
38 And when the Pharisee saw
it, he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner.
39 And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the
outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of
ravening and wickedness.
40 Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that
which is within also?
41 But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold,
all things are clean unto you.
42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all
manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought
ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
43 Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in
the synagogues, and greetings in the markets.
44 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as
graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware
of them.
Two of the best preserved first century synagogues were at Gamala (Gamla) and Masada, both areas were conquered by Rome in the second half of the first century and were not built over by later development.
There were also first century synagogues found at Herodian and Magdala. The foundation and pavement of a first century synagogue was found at Capernaum below the ruins of the later white synagogue. There was an inscription from a first century synagogue found in Jerusalem upon a ridge near the upper Siloam pool. http://www.pohick.org/sts/jerusalem.html
Having the uppermost seat meant you might lean your back against the wall. Some Jews were more favored than others.
In Aphrodisias east of Ephesus there are the remains of an early third century synagogue with a list of names of the congregation¹. At the top of the list were the Jews, then there were names listed as Jewish proselytes and at the bottom where Greek worshippers of God, friends of the synagogue.
The Jewish religion attempted to grow through conversion, yet the proselytes may not have been able to gain the best positions in the community, as noted they were at the bottom of the list. There was prejudice in the Jewish community. Some sought positions they were not worthy of and used other means to try to justify themselves.
¹ In Search of Paul , by Crossan and Reed, ©2004 HarperCollins
