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Manners & Customs

Weaving Clothes with the Spindle

WEAVING CLOTH AND MAKING CLOTHES The Jewish women were responsible for making the clothing for the family. The wool which was used came from their flocks. It had to be spun into yarn without the use of modern spinning wheels. Concerning this process, the Book of Proverbs in its tribute to the ideal mother, describes it thus: "She layeth her hands ...

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Styles of Clothing

Dress and Ornamentation THE STYLES OF DRESS in Anglo-Saxon lands are undergoing a constant change, whereas, in Eastern countries, the manner of dress today is largely the same as it was centuries ago. There is a prevalent view in Bible lands that it is morally wrong to change anything that is ancient. Thus the prevailing Palestinian dress of moder...

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Candles

Biblical use of the word candle. The use of the word "candle does not carry the meaning of the word as we would be familiar with it, but rather with lamps. [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]...

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Porters and Porches

The porch and duties of the porter. The passageway inside the door and leading to the courtyard itself is called the porch. It is most often furnished with some kind of seats for the porter or for the servants. It was in this porch that one of Peter's denials, took place. "And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto...

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Roof Purposes

USES MADE OF THE ROOF OF THE HOUSE The roof of an Oriental house is used today for a great variety of purposes, much like it was used in the days of the prophets and of the apostles. Used as a place to sleep. The roof is a popular place for the Oriental to sleep. For a great part of the year the roof, or "housetop,'" is the most agreeable place ...

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Kinds of Bread

Kinds of bread used. Two kinds of bread were in use in the days when Bible events were being enacted: wheat bread, and barley bread. Both of these are in use in Israel today. There is this distinction between them: barley bread is used by the poorer classes, whereas if a family is able to have wheat bread, it is considered to have arrived at a plac...

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Lamps

Character of the lamp. When the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land they adopted the lamp used by the Canaanites, which was an earthenware saucer to hold the olive oil, and a pinched lip to hold the wick. A thousand years later a Mesopotamian lamp was imported and used in some sections. This lamp had a closed tube for the wick, and thus co...

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Mangers

BETHLEHEM HOUSE AND MANGER The humble scene of the birthplace of the Baby JESUS is so often interpreted with Occidental instead of Oriental flavor that it would be well for Westerners to have the description of the kind of a Bethlehem house in which the Saviour was doubtless born, as given by John D. Whiting.40 Entering the door of this one-room ...

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Upper Rooms

THE UPPER ROOM The upper room or chamber is a well-known part of many Oriental houses today, and is frequently referred to in the Bible (cf. II Kings 1:2; 23:12; Acts 9:37; 20:8, etc.). Those who cannot afford such a room are content with booths or arbors on the roof of their houses. But when it is possible to do so they construct a room. It provi...

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Loaves of Bread

Form of loaves. In the Holy Land where the old customs prevail, bread takes three forms: First, there are the small loaves which somewhat resemble the light bread biscuits of this country. It was this kind the lad had and gave to Jesus. Second, there are the larger loaves, nearly as heavy as the modern loaves of the West, but round instead of rec...

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