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Manners & Customs

Slaves to the Phoenician

SLAVERY UNDER ISRAEL'S ENEMIES Many of the Jews experienced slavery under foreign rule in the time of the captivities. They became captives of war to the Phoenicians who sold them to the Greeks (Joel 3:4-6). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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Ancient Cattle

CATTLE The domestic cattle of Israel have been much like those raised in the West, only there have not been as many kinds of breed. In the time of Israel's prosperity, cattle were much more numerous than they have been among the Arabs today, and were probably better developed animals. The ancient Jews used the cattle for sacrifices, and for this ...

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Modes of Travel

Methods of travel. Traveling is sometimes done on foot, but more often on the backs of horses, mules, or donkeys, and when traveling in the desert, camels are mostly used. In order to avoid the intense heat, and to escape detection by robber tribes, traveling is often done by night. The guide will get his direction from the stars. Summer is the usu...

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Cows

Milk-giving cows, sometimes called "milch kine," were in common use (I Samuel 6:7; Deuteronomy 32:14). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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Traveling with Food

Food taken by travelers. Travelers going a distance will carry food with them, which will include bread, parched grain, dried olives, dried figs, and dates. Most travelers in the East now, as in the days of JESUS, will not go any distance from home without taking barley bread or meal or parched grain sufficient to last for one or two days. When JES...

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Bull Calves

Bull calves were often used in Bible times for meat. [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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Inns in Old Testament Times

NATURE OF EASTERN INNS Old Testament Inns. The inns of Old Testament days were merely stopping places for travelers overnight. The word refers only to a resting-place for the night, and a tent or perhaps a cave would most likely serve the purpose. [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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Turning Cattle Loose

During part of the year, the cattle in Israel are allowed to graze. In the thickly populated sections, a boy will act as herdsman to see that they do no harm. But in the thinly populated districts, the farmers will sometimes turn their herds loose and let the cattle forage, hunting their own pasturage. [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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Travel Distances

How distances are often measured in the Orient. In traveling in Bible lands, it is often customary to measure distances in units of time rather than in terms of space. One village is said to be three hours distant from another village, because it takes that long to travel from one to the other. In Old Testament days distance in traveling was simila...

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Oxen

But the chief use of oxen was by the farmer in his various activities. The Jews used the oxen where the modern farmer has used the horse. Oxen were put under the yoke and made to pull the plow. Cows as well as bulls were utilized, the latter having been castrated. "Elisha was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen" (I Kings 19:19). Oxen were used in thre...

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