Life & Times in Biblical Israel

Session 2:

Social and Family Norms

The Home – Bedouin Tents

The Home – Permanent Dwelling

Typical Israelite houses during Iron Age (1,200 BC – 600 BC)

• Smaller homes consisted of 3 rooms• Lower level: housed animals, kitchen, and produce/supply storage

• Upper level: living quarters

• Roof: Additional storage/sleeping in warm weather

• Access between levels were staircases or ladders

• Walls made with stone and brick mortar• Wooden crossbeams for support of upper levels

• Sticks and vines interwoven with clay for roof construction

- Info from University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Family Life

• The houses of Ancient Israelites supported a Patriarchal system• An extended family (living together) consisted of 3 generations.

• The Father, married sons, and grandchildren

• According to the U of Penn, • “Excavated houses from the Bronze and Iron Age are small and suggest an

average family size of four to eight people. Although extended families might have occupied more than one house, high mortality rates probably kept most families from achieving the biblical ideal.”

Family Life - Marriage• People were married in their early youth

• The Father typically arranged the marriage within a small circle of clan• Preventing foreign beliefs or practices from infiltrating the family

• Fathers of the sons negotiated a transfer of wealth to the daughter’s fathers

• “This transfer is part of the socioeconomic system of provisions and should not be thought of as a purchase of chattel. Typically took place in two parts: a small ‘down payment’ offered as surety that the wedding would take place, with the remainder changing hands shortly before the wedding.”

• “In the Nuzi texts of the mid-second millennium BC, bride prices averaged 30-40 shekels of silver, or 3-4 years of average income.”

- P. 59 Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Gen 24:50-54…contract for Rebekah’s marriage to Isaac)

Family Life - Clothing

Family Life – Clothing• Most garments were made from wool, though linen was also used (made

from flax grown in the Jericho area or imported from Egypt).

• Both men and women would normally wear an ankle-length tunic next to the skin, often held at the waist by a belt (which could also be used as a purse). A cloak could be worn over this, especially at night or if the weather was cool during the day.

• If shoes were worn at all, they would generally have been leather (or perhaps wooden) sandals.

• Jewish law required the cloak to have tassels attached to its four corners. Each tassel was to include a blue cord and was intended as a way of helping people to remember to keep God's Law.

- https://dailylifeinthetimeofjesus.weebly.com/daily-life-at-the-time-of-jesus.html

Family Life - Food

Family Life - Food• Staple diets consisted of seasonal vegetables (e.g. beans, onions, lentils,

leeks, cucumbers), flavored with herbs and salt, and bread (made from wheat or barley flour).

• Local fruit in Biblical times rarely experienced citrus. Bananas and berries would have been popular, along with nuts, honey and cheese.

• Fish were plentiful, especially around Galilee, and could be preserved by drying and salting.

• Meat would have been something of a luxury.

• For the Jews, there were strict regulations about which animals could be eaten and which were regarded as 'unclean’.

• - https://dailylifeinthetimeofjesus.weebly.com/daily-life-at-the-time-of-jesus.html

Family Life – Death & Burial

• In Matthew 8:21-22, we read about the cost of following Jesus.• “Another disciple said to him, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But

Jesus told him, ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

• Jesus’ response sounds harsh to 21st century readers.

• According to the Jewish Study Bible…• “The seemingly piercing rebuke was not aimed at this disciple’s desire to care

for his father, but toward the delay that would be caused by following a Jewish tradition concerning burial.”

Family Life – Death & Burial

• “This tradition required the body of the deceased be placed in the ground on the day of death (first burial). The family then observed a 7-day period of mourning called shiv’ah, during which they were not permitted to leave the house. The body was put in a burial chamber to decompose. The Talmud says, “When the flesh had wasted away, the bones were collected and placed in small chests called ossuaries. After the flesh was gone from the bones, and they were placed in ossuaries, the son stopped mourning. The transfer of bones to the ossuary was known as the second burial.”

- The Complete Jewish Study Bible, P. 1398

Why do Jews place rocks on grave stones?

• During the times of the Temple in Jerusalem, Jewish priests (kohanim) became ritually impure if they came within four feet of a corpse. As a result, Jews began marking graves with piles of rocks in order to indicate to passing kohanim that they should stay back.

• The Talmud mentions that after a person dies her soul continues to dwell for a while in the grave where she was buried. Putting stones on a grave keeps the soul down in this world, which some people find comforting. Another related interpretation suggests that the stones keep demons and golems from getting into the graves.

• Rabbi Simkha Weintraub, rabbinic director of the New York Jewish Healing Center offered another traditional interpretation: “The Hebrew word for ‘pebble’ is tz’ror – and it happens that this Hebrew word also means ‘bond.’ When we pray the memorial El Maleh Rahamim prayer (and at other times) we ask that the deceased be ‘bound up in the bond of life’ – tz’rorhaHayyim. By placing the stone, we show that we have been there, and that the individual’s memory continues to live on in and through us.”

- https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ask-the-expert-stones-on-graves/

Education

Education• In the Old Testament, teaching priests were charged to teach God’s Word to the

people, and parents were charged to teach their children. Through the biblical

system of education, young adults acquired an intimate knowledge of their God

and His Word. In Deuteronomy 6:7 we read, “You shall teach them diligently to

your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by

the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”

• Every occasion in life was an opportunity for teaching – an opportunity to learn. Young adults also learned a trade to support their family and community.

- https://www.shilohuniversity.edu/2020/03/education-in-bible-times/

Education• Formal education was only allowed for boys, and began formally at the age of five in a local synagogue, where they were taught by rabbis. Synagogues had an equivalent of both elementary and secondary school. Starting at five years old in "elementary school," students studied the written Torah. Students wrote on papyrus scrolls, which were no longer than around thirty feet each. People also learned Hebrew, the language of the scriptures. Students studied seven days a week, and even went to school instead of synagogue. The reason people were allowed to do this wasn't because they considered biblical education more important than worship. It was because they didn't separate education of the Torah from worship. In fact, education of the Torah was considered the highest form of worship. Studying scripture was very tedious and often times consisted of memorization, repetition and reading out loud. In order to memorize all this information, people often times made mnemonic devices, and repeated information to themselves out loud throughout the day.

• When you turned ten, you entered "secondary school," in which you studied oral Torah, and learned Greek, which was considered the language of business and politics in the Roman world. During this time students would also find a teacher to "follow", and in a way become their apprentice. When Jesus was a student he chose to follow John the Baptist.

- https://sites.google.com/site/educationinjesustime/

Education• Girls received their education at home. A girl's mother taught her what she needed to know to be a good wife and mother.

• She learned about such things as dietary laws which had to do with the family's devotion to God. Girls learned the practical side of the laws the boys studied.

• A girl learned how to make the home ready for special holidays and Sabbath. In such preparation she learned the manning of the customs and history behind the events. This heritage she would be able to pass on to her own children in their very early years.

• The girl would learn a variety of skills such as weaving, spinning, and treating illnesses. She might also learn to sing and dance and play a musical instrument such as a flute or harp.

- Holman Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/hbd/e/education-in-bible-times.html

Occupations

Occupations• Men’s jobs were typically farmers, craftsmen, or fishermen

• Women learned cooking and household duties. Women memorized scripture, but it was forbidden for them to read or write.

• The more fortunate would have been taught a trade by their father—as Jesus himself seems to have been.

• Many of those without a steady job would have been casual laborer's whose day's wage depended on the whim of those who hired a group of workers each morning. (Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Matt 20:1-16)

• Some individuals were therefore reduced to a life of begging or even slavery.

- https://dailylifeinthetimeofjesus.weebly.com/daily-life-at-the-time-of-jesus.html

Pay

• According to the Cultural Background Study Bible, a denarius was roughly a day’s normal wage (p.1652, notes on Matt 20:2)

• By today’s numbers, the amount of silver in a denarius is worth about $3.62.

• According to Money Metals Exchange, • “In early biblical times, ‘money’ just meant pieces of silver that were checked

for purity with a touchstone and weighed out when a transaction was made (Jeremiah 32). Money belonged to the people. Silver was used for trade and transactions while gold became a way to hold and preserve wealth.”

A Brutus L. Plaetorius Cestianus denarius - 42 BC

Ancient Jewish Silver Temple Tax Shekel Coin, 116 BCToday’s value = $4,500

Banking• In OT times, people usually buried treasures and valuables (Josh 7:21)

• Palaces and temples were depositories of wealth

• Lending was not for capital purposes, but to help people in need (Deut 15:7-11)

• During Babylonian Exile, Jews learned trading and banking business. (Euphrates scholars found archives of wealthy banking house known as Murasu and Sons (450 BCE) containing Jewish names.

• Banks as we know them, became prominent in Palestine (Israel) during Roman Empire.

- Biblegateway.com/bank/banking

Healthcare

Healthcare• “By the fifth century B.C., physicians and the god of healing had

become intrinsically linked, with Asklepios as the divine patron of the medical profession. Hippocrates, the most famous physician of antiquity, lived during this time, and medical treatises that he authored would be used as medical textbooks for centuries to come. From such writings, as well as other inscriptions, we see that ancient physicians knew that lancing, draining and cleaning infected wounds promoted healing, and that they knew of certain herbs that had healing and disinfecting properties' Wild ginger was known to be helpful for nausea, and a particular clay found on the Greek island of Lemnos was believed to be helpful for ailments such as dysentery.”

- https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/daily-life-and-practice/medicine-in-the-ancient-world/

Healthcare• During the period when the Hebrew Bible was being written, no

organized medical system existed in the lands of Israel and Judah. Most illnesses were probably treated at home, as illustrated in stories such as the prophet Elisha’s healing of a child (2Kgs 4:32-36). Physicians existed (the Hebrew word literally means “healer”), but biblical writers mention them rarely and with some disdain. For example, Job compares his so-called friends to “worthless physicians” (Job 13:4), and 2Chr 16:12 implies that Asa erred in turning to doctors. Far more frequently, biblical texts refer to a single true healer—God.

Healthcare• The Hebrew Bible provides glimpses of a world in which ailments

were often treated at home by family members, prophets, or healers, using a combination of prayer and other remedies. It is possible that certain remedies had genuine medicinal effects. In general, however, the Hebrew Bible presents the view that medical treatments were little more than a distraction and that the real healing power rested with God. With the influence of Greek philosophy and science, this view gradually changed, so that in the apocryphal book of Ben Sira (200-180 B.C.E.), physicians were portrayed as God’s creations whose skills should be valued. Nonetheless, the older view persisted into New Testament times, as shown by Mark 5:25-26. According to this perspective, the sick should seek divine forgiveness and healing.

- https://www.bibleodyssey.org/people/related-articles/medicine-and-the-hebrew-bible; Marian Broida, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion, Gustavus Adolphus College

Healthcare

• Rain was virtually unknown in the summer months and they had to rely on streams, wells and storage cisterns.

• The local well would be a natural centre of village life, a fact implied in the way the Samaritan woman in John 4:6-7.

• Though water and milk were drunk, there was always the danger of their being polluted. This problem, together with the answer to it, is reflected in a reference in Paul's first letter to his young friend Timothy: 'Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses' (1 Tim. 5:23).

- http://www.biblefellowshipunion.co.uk/2013/May_Jun/DailLife.htm

Civil/Religious Laws of Ancient Israel

Civil/Religious Laws of Ancient Israel• Ancient Hebrew/Jewish Civil laws evolved with changes in

environments between nomadic, agricultural, and trading cultures

• In Patriarchal family systems, laws centered around family units• Torah (also known as the Pentateuch) - the first 5 books of the Bible

• Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

• Here is the first law in the modern sense, a series of statutes and ordinances succinctly expressed and written down by the authority of a lawgiver. The Torah legislates for a stage of society higher than that of the nomad. It is intended for a people settled on the soil and devoted largely to agriculture.

Civil/Religious Law of Ancient Israel

• The bulk of the civil law found in the Torah are related to slaves, land, inheritance, pledges, loans and interest, bailments, torts, marriage and divorce, treatment of the constitution and jurisdiction of the courts; treatment of the laws of the jubilee, of the Sabbatical year, and of ransom; and treatment of the poor.

• The Babylonian captivity probably influenced the development of the Jewish civil law both in substantive law and in procedure.

• On the return from the Captivity, the influences which under the monarchy had resulted in breaking down the old land system were no longer in actual operation, but new conditions promoted the same result.

Civil/Religious Law of Ancient Israel

• Accordingly they began to engage in commerce to a larger extent than before. There was less need of the soil as a source of livelihood and more need of freedom of alienation.

• Contemporaneous with this decline of the laws relating to the soil was the origin of the great body of law relating to personal rights and obligations, the law of contract. The people were now by force of circumstances compelled to play an important part in the affairs of the world at large, and this, together with the growth of their commercial activity, created sweeping changes in the law.

Enforcement• Within the nomadic and agricultural cultures of Patriarchal society…

• The Father within the family unit enforced Torah Law

• Priests often declared sentences for broken laws

• Later, Judges heard cases (no distinction between criminal/civil laws)

• With the leadership of Kings came emphasis on criminal laws• Cases would be heard by political leaders

• Sentences of prison, public beatings, and death penalties by military