Houses - Common
The houses of the rural poor in Egypt, as well as in most
parts of Syria, Arabia and Persia, are generally mere huts
of mud or sunburnt bricks. In some parts of Israel and
Arabia stone is used, and in certain districts caves in the
rocks are used as dwellings. Am 5:11 The houses are usually
of one story only, viz., the ground floor, and often ...
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Till their sojourn in Egypt the Hebrews dwelt in tents. They
then for the first time inhabited cities (Gen. 47:3;
Ex. 12:7;
Heb. 11:9). From the earliest times the Assyrians
and the
Canaanites were builders of cities. The Hebrews
after the
Conquest took possession of the captured cities, and
seem to
have followed the methods of building th...
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Known to man as early at least as Cain; the tent not until
Jabal, the fifth in descent from Cain (Genesis 4:7; Genesis
4:17; Genesis 4:20). The rude wigwam and the natural cave
were the abodes of those who, being scattered abroad,
subsequently degenerated from the primitive civilization
implied in the elaborate structure of Babel (Genesis 11:3...
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hous (bayith; oikos, in classical Greek generally "an
estate," oikia, oikema (literally, "habitation"), in Acts
12:1, "prison"):
I. CAVE DWELLINGS
II. STONE-BUILT AND MUD/BRICK-BUILT HOUSES
1. Details of Plan and Construction
(1) Corner-Stone
(2) Floor
(3) Gutter
(4) Door
(5) Hinge
(6) Lock and Key
(7) Threshold
(8) Hearth
(9) Window
(10) Roof
2....
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Built of
Stone
Le 14:40-45; Isa 9:10; Am 5:11
Brick
Ge 11:3; Ex 1:11-14; Isa 9:10
Wood
So 1:17; Isa 9:10
-Built into city walls
Jos 2:15
-Used for worship
Ac 1:13,14; 12:12; Ro 16:5; 1Co 16:19; Col 4:15; Phm
1:2
-"A man's castle,"
De 24:10,11
-ARCHITECTURE OF
Foundations of stone
1Ki 5:17; 7:9; Ezr 6:3; Jer 51:26
Figurative
Ps 87:...
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THE BIBLE IN THE JEWISH HOME OF CHRIST'S TIME
In the days when JESUS grew up as a boy in his Nazareth home, whatever else of the Hebrew Scriptures the youth may have been acquainted with, they grew up to hear recited a prayer called "The Shema." This prayer was in reality the quotation of three passages from the Pentateuch. It was repeated morning...
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DEDICATION OF A NEWLY BUILT HOUSE
THAT THERE WAS a generally accepted custom among the Jews of dedicating a newly constructed dwelling is indicated from the words of the Mosaic Law: "What man is there that hath built a new house and hath not dedicated it" (Deuteronomy 20:5). No doubt the social and also the devotional elements entered into the occ...
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FURNISHINGS OF THE HOUSE
The furnishings of a one-room Palestinian house were and still are very simple. Mats and cushions are in use to sit on by day. and carpets or mats are slept on at night. There will be vessels of clay for household needs, with perhaps some cooking utensils of metal. There will be a chest for storing bedding, a lamp either p...
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The fuel used. The peasant often uses dried dung as fuel for his fire. Some of the poorer classes use this themselves, and sell the sticks they find to those who can afford to buy them.28
A reference in the prophecy of Ezekiel indicates this use of fuel was common in Bible times (see Ezekiel 4:15).
In the Orient fuel is usually so scarce that dri...
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SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS
The Parable of the Importunate Friend which JESUS told, if understood in the light of an Oriental one-room house, will give information about sleeping arrangements.
"And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine...
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