A gymnasium was a Greek school where young people learned physical education and academic subjects. When Greek culture spread across many countries, these schools became important places for teaching Greek culture. Students received training in sports, learning, and social skills. Only children from wealthy families could attend these private schools. Greek youths had to attend if they wanted to become citizens of their city.
At first, when a family from Macedonia called the Ptolemies ruled Jerusalem, the city did not have a gymnasium. Later, a different ruling family from Syria called the Seleucids took control. The Seleucids wanted everyone in their kingdom to follow Greek customs and ways of life. During this time, the Jewish high priest paid money to King Antiochus IV to get permission to build a gymnasium in Jerusalem (1 Maccabees 1:13–15; 2 Maccabees 4:9, New Living Translation marginal note).
Conservative Jews avoided the gymnasium. They thought it influenced Jewish children to adopt Greek cultural norms. Conservative Jews also disapproved of the Greek practice of nude participation in athletic contests. Young Jews sometimes removed or hid their circumcision to enter competitions (1 Maccabees 1:13–15).
Alexandrian Jews were less opposed to the gymnasium than Jews in Jerusalem. But Alexandrian Greeks disapproved of including non-Greeks like Egyptians and Jews in gymnasiums. Roman policy made the graduates of the gymnasium Greek citizens. Once gymnasium graduates had citizenship, they could participate in local government.
The apostle Paul and early Christians did not seem to have negative views of gymnasiums. Paul used athletic language to depict the Christian life (1 Corinthians 9:24–27; Galatians 2:2; 5:7; Philippians 1:30; 2:16).