Bible History
Bible History
Choose a Category

Manners & Customs

Slaves to the Syrians

At a later date, the Syrian merchants came into camp in order to secure Jewish slaves. (l Maccabees 3:41 in the Apocrypha). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

Read More

Floors and Walls

FLOOR AND WALLS OF THE HOUSE Concerning the nature of the floor of these Oriental houses, Dr. George A. Barton says: "The houses generally had no floor except the earth, which was smoothed off and packed hard. Sometimes this was varied by mixing lime with the mud and letting it harden, and sometimes floors of cobblestones or stone chippings mixed...

Read More

Lamps

Character of the lamp. When the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land they adopted the lamp used by the Canaanites, which was an earthenware saucer to hold the olive oil, and a pinched lip to hold the wick. A thousand years later a Mesopotamian lamp was imported and used in some sections. This lamp had a closed tube for the wick, and thus co...

Read More

Milk

DAIRY PRODUCTS Milk. Milk in Bible times was considered, not simply as something that was added to their food in cooking, but was regarded as a substantial food for all ages. Babies were fed mother's milk (Isaiah 28:9). The Hebrews not only used cow's milk, but also sheep's milk (Deuteronomy 32:14), goat's milk (Proverbs 27:27), and, no doubt, cam...

Read More

Figs

Figs. This fruit was often used in Old Testament times, especially dried figs. Abigail took two hundred cakes of figs to David (I Samuel 25:18). A cake of figs was given the Egyptian to revive him (I Samuel 30:12), and cakes of figs were brought to David at Hebron, at a time of great rejoicing (I Chronicles 12:40). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lan...

Read More

Slaves to the Romans

And in the days of Rome's supremacy many Jews served as slaves of the empire. But slavery under Gentile dominion was indeed altogether different from slavery under the Mosaic Law. Masters were for the most part cruel and slaves were usually oppressed greatly. [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

Read More

Roof Purposes

USES MADE OF THE ROOF OF THE HOUSE The roof of an Oriental house is used today for a great variety of purposes, much like it was used in the days of the prophets and of the apostles. Used as a place to sleep. The roof is a popular place for the Oriental to sleep. For a great part of the year the roof, or "housetop,'" is the most agreeable place ...

Read More

Roof Construction

CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROOF The roof of these humble Palestinian houses is made by laying beams across from wall to wall, then putting on a mat of reeds, or perhaps thorn bushes, and over it a coating of clay or earth; sand and pebbles are scattered over this, and a stone roller is used to make it smooth and able to shed rain. This roller is usually ...

Read More

Lampstand

The lampstand. In early Bible times, lampstands were not in common use, and the lamps would be put on a place such as a stone projecting from the wall. In the days of CHRIST lampstands were in quite general use. They were tall and were usually placed on the ground. Archaeologists have unearthed some bronze lampstands fourteen inches high that had b...

Read More

Mangers

BETHLEHEM HOUSE AND MANGER The humble scene of the birthplace of the Baby JESUS is so often interpreted with Occidental instead of Oriental flavor that it would be well for Westerners to have the description of the kind of a Bethlehem house in which the Saviour was doubtless born, as given by John D. Whiting.40 Entering the door of this one-room ...

Read More

61 Bible Translations

Popular Articles

Explore the Bible Like Never Before!

Bible History Online

Bible Study Tools

Top Tags