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Manners & Customs

Metal Working

METAL WORKERS A study of working with metal would need to begin with "Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron" (Genesis 4:22). That is, he was the forger of every cutting instrument of brass [copper] and iron. The Orientals who lived three to four thousand years ago were very advanced in the mechanical arts. Some of the work...

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Jubal the First Musician

ORIGIN OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS - JUBAL, THE PIONEER MUSICIAN. Concerning him Scripture says: "He was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ [pipe]" (Genesis 4:21). Doubtless this means he was the inventor of these musical instruments, and as he was not many generations removed from Adam, we may infer that music has always played an imp...

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Musical Celebrations

SPECIAL OCCASIONS FOR THE USE OF MUSIC Among the Hebrews, vocal and instrumental music together with dancing were employed on most occasions of great joy. Victories in battle were thus celebrated. In this way the women of Israel ce1ebrated the victory of young David and the army of Saul over the Philistines. "And it came to pass as they came, when...

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Old Testament Musical Instruments

CHARACTER OF SOME OLD TESTAMENT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS It has already been indicated that the Old Testament word "harp" describes a "lyre." The word "organ" is the "pipe," and is more like our flute than any other instrument. The "psaltery" and "viol" are stringed instruments, there being much uncertainty concerning their exact nature. "The cymbal co...

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Jesus spoke of the Pipe

JESUS spoke of the children playing in the market place. "We piped unto you, but ye have not danced. We have mourned to you, and ye have not wept" (Luke 7:32). There are two groups of children represented here. One of them has a pipe, perhaps a shepherd's flute, and plays upon it as is done at a wedding procession all the way to the feast, saying: ...

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Ancient Walls

The Oriental Town or City WALLS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CITY AND VILLAGE, AS TO WALLS. In early Old Testament times the villages were smaller places of abode without walls around them, whereas the cities or towns were larger places that had walls around them. The Mosaic Law made such a distinction: "If a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city" (Le...

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The Potters Work

The equipment and method of the potter. Today the potter plies his trade in many sections of the East, just like his predecessors have done for centuries. His workshop is very rude. He works behind a coarse wooden bench. His equivalent consists of two wooden discs or wheels, with an axle standing up from the center of the lower disc: The upper whee...

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Carpenter Products

Products of the carpenter. There are several products of the Eastern carpenter's skill. Many have wondered what JESUS as a carpenter made. There is an old tradition that has come down to us, that he was a maker of plows and yokes. The yoke, and most of the plow, with the exception of the iron ploughshare, are constructed of wood, and so would be th...

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Wild Animals

Hide-outs for wild animals. Israel and Syria have their hide-outs for wild animals and fowl. Wild beasts have lived in the wild parts of the Lebanon Mountains to the north of the Holy Land through the years, but this was more the source of these animals for Syria rather than for the main part of Israel itself. The marshes immediately north of Lake ...

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Blacksmiths

Blacksmiths. In the days of King Saul the Philistines put a ban on Hebrew blacksmiths. "Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears" (I Samuel 13:19). The Philistines required the Hebrews to bring their coulters and mattocks to the vicinity of Ramle to be shar...

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