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Manners & Customs

Money and Trade

Payment for goods. Payment is not always in cash or coins for goods purchased. Barter and trade originally took the place money. There was exchange of goods in kind. In early Old Testament times the giving of money took the form of weighing precious metals to be given the seller. Thus "Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the...

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Jesus and the Publicans

Because JESUS sought to be friendly with, and bring help to, the lowest of men, certain men of His day gave Him the title, "friend of publicans and sinners" (Matthew 11:19)....

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Olive Wood

The use of olive wood. Wood from the olive tree is often used in the East. It is close-grained and has a yellow tint. The Oriental carpenter is fond of using it. It is especially utilized in the construction of cabinets. King Solomon had the cherubim of the temple, and the inner and outer doors and posts of the sanctuary, all made of olive wood. (I...

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Preparing the Clay

Preparation of the clay for the potter. It was trodden by the feet in order that it might become of the right consistency. The prophet Isaiah speaks of this action when he says: "He shall come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth clay" (Isaiah 41:25). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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Symbolism

The symbolic use of the olive. The olive tree has been thought of as a symbol of peace, ever since the dove sent out by Noah from the ark came back, and "Lo, in her mouth an olive leaf plucked off" (Genesis 8:11). Throughout the Bible, oil is often used symbolically of the HOLY SPIRIT. And when the Apostle John speaks of the "anointing which ye hav...

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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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Three Harvest Times for Figs

THE FIG TREE Three crops of figs in Israel. The early figs, not very many in number, but large in size, are ripe a month before the main crop; the summer or main crop is used in August and September; and the winter figs remain on the trees until late in the fall of the year. Mention is made in Scripture of the firstripe figs as being desirable (Ho...

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Marring the Pottery

Marring the vessel. Dr. Thomson visited a large pottery at Jaffa and watched a potter work much like the one whom Jeremiah saw in his visit to the potter's house. The prophet of old noted one thing: "And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it"...

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Seasonal Figs

The fig tree a sign of the season. The fig tree shows sign of foliage later than some of the other fruit trees of Israel. The unfolding of the fig leaves and the deepening of their color is thought of as a sign that summertime is at hand. JESUS made reference to this idea: "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and put...

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Baking the Pottery

Baking the pottery. After the potter is through working with the vessel on the wheel, he places it on a shelf where there are rows of other vessels, and where they are kept from the direct rays of the sun, and yet where they are exposed to the wind from all directions. The brickkiln where they are baked is a shallow well of stone or brick around fo...

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