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Manners & Customs

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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Inns in New Testament Times

New Testament Inns. The inns of New Testament times were not like Western hotels. It was because hospitality was considered to be a religious duty that therefore the modern type of hotel was unknown in olden days, and also does not exist today in many sections of Bible lands. If parties of travelers are not too many in number, they will be entertai...

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Wild Bulls

While doing this they take on some of the characteristics of a wild animal. The Bible refers to some of these habits. The Psalmist cried: "Many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion" (Psalm 22:12). The prophet Joel referred to the custom of turnin...

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Killing the Fatted Calf

Two occasions called for the slaying of this animal. First, if a special guest was to be received and thus honored, the calf was then killed. When the witch of Endor entertained King Saul with a meal, the account says that she "had a fat calf in the house; and she hasted, and killed it" (I Samuel 28:24). The well-known New Testament example was wh...

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The Fatted Calf

Special use of the fatted calf. The "fatted calf" as used by the Jews served a special purpose. This calf was stall-fed as is indicated by the prophet Malachi: "And grow up as calves of the stall" (Malachi 4:2). This animal is not only allowed to eat all that he wants to eat, but he is forced to eat more. The whole family, and especially the childr...

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Streets were Long, Narrow, and Windy

STREETS The words used in the Hebrew Bible for streets would indicate that there were three varieties of them. -The usual street was long, narrow, and winding (Joshua 2:19 etc.). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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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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Place to Find Employment

Laborers in the market place. In the Eastern city men who want employment stand in groups in the market place, waiting for someone to hire them. It was here that the man in the parable of JESUS went to secure workmen for his vineyard. "And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the market place, and said unto them; Go ye ...

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Land Purchasing Documents

Specific inclusions noted in transfer of property. When purchasing property in the East, especially from the Arabs, it is important to indicate in detail just what is included in the purchase. If this is not done the new owner will discover he is not the owner of all he thought he purchased. In the Orient it sometimes happens that a man owns a well...

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