Manners & Customs in the Bible: An Illustrated Guide to Daily Life in Bible Times

by Victor H. Matthews

Opening New Windows onto Bible People, Customs, and Contexts Directly after a good concordance and a Bible dictionary, a thoroughly reliable guide to the manners and customs of the Bible is the next must-have resource for any student of the Bible. Now fully updated with vivid new photos and images, this excellent resource will help readers gain valuable cultural background on the biblical world. What people wore, what they ate, what they built, how they exercised justice, how they mourned, how they viewed family and legal customs—all are "manners and customs" and all vary from period to period throughout Israel’s history. How can one fully comprehend the Old Testament book of Ruth without understanding ancient Israelite marriage traditions? Even a quick skim of the Gospels starts readers wondering about tax collectors, religious officials, fishermen and farmers. And so much is missed when reading Acts and the Epistles without some grasp of Roman law and government. Countless questions crop up when reading the • Why would Lot even think of throwing his daughters to a mob? • How did the Exile change Israel’s religious life? • What were the differences between Sadducees, Pharisees, scribes, and Essenes? Offering much more than fascinating color pictures, each chapter furnishes an introduction to the political and physical setting of specific periods in Israel’s history, and outlines the basic structure of its social world. Featuring Scripture passages alongside the text to keep relevant biblical passages in view, it includes all new illustrations and photos for an invaluable visual experience of the world of Abraham, David, Jesus, and Paul.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Christian, Theology, Old Testament, History, Religion

Hardcover

First published December 12, 1988

About the author

Victor Harold Matthews (PhD, Brandeis University) is dean of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs and professor of religious studies at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. He is the author of numerous books, including Manners and Customs in the Bible, Studying the Ancient Israelites, Old Testament Turning Points, and The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Genesis–Deuteronomy.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is split into five chapters that move chronologically through the Bible:

1. Patriarchal period
2. Exodus/settlement period
3. Monarchy period
4. Period of exile and return
5. Intertestamental and New Testament period

Each chapter is then further broken down into subsections that consider different aspects of the culture: agriculture, marriage customs, burial customs, warfare, clothing, medicine, social and political organization, legal practices, economics, family life, religious customs, etc. Other than using the biblical text itself, the author sources contemporaneous texts from the surrounding cultures, archaeological evidence, and anthropological research. Maps, photographs, and illustrations throughout.

The book does an excellent job of fleshing out some of the things that are mentioned in passing in the text of the Bible and provides an excellent picture of what it would have been like to live in those time periods. One minor quibble: the intertestamental and new testament periods could have benefited from being split into separate chapters.

For a mere 283 page book (with wide margins to boot), the author managed to pack an awful lot of information in this book. How much information? Well, I imagine nobody has ever really wondered what kind of ingredients Jezebel used in the making of her cosmetics but if you ever have – well, it's in here.

[Mike DePue, OFS · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review of the title’s Revised Edition. In writing the original edition, the author “tried to answer in a readable and informative way the sort of questions I have heard from my students.” After going through several printings, the Revised Edition received a few design changes and an updated bibliography that reflects a “substantial amount of new scholarship.” (pp. xi-xii)

The author’s goal of “readable and informative” has been achieved admirably. The text is augmented by such features as a table of archaeological and biblical periods, a Jewish and Christian festal calendar, and a 587 BC – AD 135 timeline. The line drawings, maps, and b/w photos are well-chosen.

Here to be found is a wealth of information on the developmental periods of Israel’s history. Although I’ve been learning and teaching in this subject for decades, I still found new information and insights in this book. A very satisfactory treatment, indeed!

[Sae-chan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last chapter, Intertestamental and New Testament Period, was really interesting. I really enjoyed reading the history around the holy land through non-biblical source.

Too bad for the other chapters, the sources given were very limited. I think it was even non-existent in Exile and Return chapter. Probably the sources available were not in agreement with the bible, but in my opinion it is still necessary to include them.

[Nicholas Maulucci · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry. Dry.

[sistaotey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This made many scriptures become so much more clear when the historical influences are revealed.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure this would be a great resource, but it just wasn't that interesting to read cover-to-cover.

[Glyn Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

An invaluable book for any Bible scholar.

[Covenant Presbyterian Springfield Ohio]

Call Number: 220.9 MAT

Available.