Manners & Customs

Obedience to Parents

Obedience to parents was demanded by the Mosaic Law, and a rebellious and disobedient child be punished by death (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). The Apostle Paul reiterated the injunction that children must obey their parents (Ephesians 6:1; Col. 3:20). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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Caring for Infants

CARE OF INFANT CHILD For years the Orientals of Bible lands have cared for an infant child much as it was done when JESUS was born. Instead of allowing the young baby the free use of its limbs, it is bound hand and foot by swaddling bands, and thus made into a helpless bundle like a mummy. At birth the child is washed and rubbed with salt, and the...

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Education Under the Mosaic Law

EDUCATION UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES The duty of the educating of the youth was delegated by the Mosaic law especially to the Hebrew parents. The home was to be a school and the parents were to be teachers. The regulation read thus: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy...

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Religious Education Under the Mosaic Law

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION UNDER THE LAW The law of Moses was very definite in its requirement that parents must train their children in the knowledge of GOD and His laws. Concerning these divine precepts it said: "Teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons" (Deuteronomy 4:9). Concerning the carrying out of this commandment, one writer has said: "Religious...

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Negotiating the Dowry

CONDUCTING NEGOTIATIONS TO SECURE A WIFE The customs of the Arabs in certain sections of Bible lands when they negotiate to secure a bride for their son, illustrate in many respects Biblical practices. If a young man has acquired sufficient means to make it possible for him to provide a marriage dowry, then his parents select the girl and the neg...

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Wedding Feast

THE WEDDING FEAST Every guest that attended the feast was required to wear a wedding garment (Matthew 22:12). The wedding banquet was presided over by the ruler of the feast (John 2:8,9). It was his duty to take care of the preparations, and during the feast he would get around among the guests, and see to it that they lacked nothing. He instructe...

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Aijalonin Easton's Bible Dictionary

and Aij'alon, place of deer. (1.) A town and valley originally assigned to the tribe of Dan, from which, however, they could not drive the Amorites (Judg. 1:35). It was one of the Levitical cities given to the Kohathites (1 Chr. 6:69). It was not far from Beth-shemesh (2 Chr. 28:18). It was the boundary between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, ...

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Headdress, Turbans, and Hair

The Jews of Bible times gave much attention to the care of their hair. The young people loved to wear it long and curled (Song of Solomon 5:11), and they were proud to have thick and abundant hair (II Samuel 14:25,26). Middle-aged men and priests would occasionally cut their hair but very little. Baldness was scarce and suspicion of leprosy was oft...

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Clothing of the Pharisees

SPECIAL DRESS OF THE PHARISEES The Pharisees in their religious garb, took two articles of dress which were worn by other Jews and emphasized them in a special way until they became their distinctive apparel. One of these was the phylactery. It was a little box of metal, or bands of parchment which was fastened to the hand or forehead by straps. I...

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The Wife

Position of the wife in relation to the husband. The wife held a subordinate position to that of her husband, at least in office, if not in nature. The ancient Hebrew women did not have unrestrained freedom as the modern women of the Occident have. In the Orient, social intercourse between the sexes is marked by a degree of reserve that is unknown ...

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