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Manners & Customs

Ostraca

In ancient times when parchment was so expensive to possess, peasants would use fragments of pottery on which to scratch memoranda of business transactions. Many of these have been uncovered by archaeologists, and have proven to be of great value in revealing past history. They are called "ostraca." [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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Hunters Used Spears, Slings, Arrows, and Traps

When the pitfall or net was not used, then the hunter made use of one of the following methods: the arrows, slingstones, the spear or the dart. All of these are referred to in the LORD's message to the patriarch Job: "The arrow cannot make him flee: the slingstones are turned with him into stubble. Darts are counted as stubble: he laugheth at the ...

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Night Fishing

Fishing at night. Galilee fishermen often have fished at night. They light their way with a blazing torch, and sighting fish they let fly their fishing spear, or fling their net into the sea. But sometimes they fish all night with no results, as was the case with Simon Peter and his comrades. "Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken no...

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Coppersmiths

Coppersmiths. Moses described the land of Canaan as being "a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass [copper]" (Deuteronomy 8:9). Deposits of copper and iron have been discovered along the length of Wadi Araba which leads to the Gulf of Akaba. An excavation at Tel el Kheleifeh, which is the site of ancient Ezion-geb...

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Buying and Selling

Oriental buying and selling. This is quite different from purchasing in the West. No fixed price is put upon whatever is to be sold. Ordinarily the buyer must expect to spend from a few minutes to an hour or so to complete a purchase. The merchant begins by asking a high price and the buyer by offering a low price. Then the bargaining continues in ...

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Tax Collectors for Rome

Tax collection under the Roman Empire. A somewhat similar system to the Turkish system was in operation in the Roman Empire in New Testament times. The office of publican, or tax collector, was in itself legitimate enough, as it was necessary to have government taxes, and important to collect them. But there was resentment on the part of the Jews a...

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Hunters in Scripture

HUNTERS Nimrod the first hunter recorded by Scripture. He was called "a mighty hunter before the Lord" (Genesis 10:9). Of Ishmael it is said that he "dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer" (Genesis 21:20). Esau was "a cunning hunter" (Genesis 25:27). Isaac said to Esau, "Take, I pray thee; thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to...

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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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Shoals

The location of shoals. A Galilee fisherman was seen one day to use his hand net as he waded into the waters of the sea. He cast his net several times and it came up empty. But presently the man's companion on the shore shouted to him to cast to the left, and when this was done, the net was drawn up with fish in it. Shoals of fish are sometimes see...

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Workers of Silver and Gold

Silversmiths and goldsmiths. Nehemiah mentions the presence of goldsmiths (Nehemiah 3:8), and the most famous example of a silversmith is Demetrius, whose business was interfered with by the evangelistic work of the Apostle Paul (Acts 19:24). The Apostle Peter used the goldsmith's task as an illustration of the trial of the Christian's faith. "That...

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