Great People of the Bible and How They Lived

by G. Ernest Wright (Editor)

Draws upon biblical sources and recent archaeological findings to profile great figures found in the Old and New Testaments

Genres: History, Religion, Reference, Nonfiction, Christian, Biography, Ancient

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Joe Krakovsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

GREAT PEOPLE OF THE BIBLE AND HOW THEY LIVED is a great companion to the Bible. If you were like me you probably had a hard time struggling through the chapters in the Bible where line after line said something like, "Aaron, who was the son of ... who was the son of ... who was the son of..." I found this especially frustrating when I couldn't pronounce the names to begin with. This book mentions why this information was important. When foreign armies transported conquered people to different parts of the empire, this memorization of one's heritage was necessary when trying to find a spouse of one's people. Also, one needed to know this to claim the right to be in the priesthood of Aaron.

Now I knew that when the people were righteous they were blessed, and when they weren't they were punished. Sometimes punishment was by plague, drought, or invasion. The funny thing was, the Jews were never wiped out as a people for God had made a promise to Abraham. What did happen was the wicked kings, priests and their families who caused Israel to sin were killed by the invaders and many of the people were moved far from home. Ironically, these transported people often ended up more devoted to their God than those back home, for they ended up living in their own communities whereas those back home found themselves surrounded by newly arrived pagans. According to this book, the people taken to Babylon kept their covenant with God. So if a man was seeking a wife from a certain tribe, it paid to know who to look for. Unlike today you just didn't marry someone who caught your eye, was promiscuous, powerful, or had money, regardless of their race or sex. What mattered the most was finding a fellow believer who would worship your god with you and help raise your children the same. Knowing a genealogy was a good place to start.

Besides religious material, other background material is covered, such as the role of men and women in those days. What they did for a living was interesting to read about.

Sometimes they went into more detail or explained things more clearly to today's readers. Take for instance Saul, the first king of Israel. Saul was a righteous man who listened to the Prophet Samuel for guidance. But the people wanted a king, like other nations, to tell them what to do. I guess that like today, they thought man's wisdom was greater than God's. They were warned, a king meant wars, taxes, forced labor of the people, and hereditary kings. And in time this was what they got. Solomon, a later king, built a beautiful temple, but it was done by forced labor and heavy taxation. And many of Salomon's descendants made Israel to sin.

Some of the things they mentioned about famous people were merely speculation, but it also serves to make them appear more human. Did you ever wonder what kind of life Mary, the mother of Jesus, might have lived?

The travels of the apostles are mentioned more clearly for me than the Biblical text.

The persecution of the early Christians are touched upon.

Some interesting tidbits. Roasted grasshoppers on a stick was a common food. And here I thought locus was probably another name for some middle eastern fruit! After the second Jewish revolt against Rome in 132 A.D., Judea was renamed Palestine, after the ancient enemies of Israel, the Philistines. The Codex Sinaiticus, written in Greek, is the earliest known complete text of the New Testament. It looks like a modern book instead of a scroll. Corinth, known widely for its immorality, was where Paul founded one of his most successful churches. Poor Jews sold their daughters into slavery, but they were not to be mistreated. Jesus probably wore a short tunic rather than long flowing robes. The first Christian churches were actually rooms in a rich member's home.

This fine book is richly illustrated and includes maps. After each chapter are references to chapters in the Bible one can refer to. If you have a serious desire to read the Bible you should search out this book.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this funny old 1974 Reader's Digest text at a used book sale and have read bits and pieces over the last year as I finished other books. I really enjoyed its mix of religion and anthropology to tell the story of the individuals and peoples of the Bible. The Biblical narrative of the Jewish people and their faith history is embellished by illustrations and highlights detailing things like local geology, economy, tribal rivalries, and customs such as clothing and art. This approach added new color and context to the narrative of the Bible.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book marshalls carefully curated historical and archaeological data to support the study of the Bible rather than creating a coherent historical narrative. Much of the historical data is also incorrect. For example, it claims that the first pharaohs of the nineteenth dynasty enslaved the local Canaanite (Hebrew) population for forced labour. In reality, captured prisoners of war had been used for labour since the eighteenth dynasty, hundreds of years before the first written mention of the word Israelite. This isn't even something that would be incompatible with the biblical narrative, but the authors completely missed it. Some of this may be due to the fact that this book is over forty years old rather than sloppy scholarship, but it still means that this is a lousy historical source.

[Peter Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible journey, reading this book, for someone who never learned the story of the Bible. The writers struck a wonderful balance between the mythical and the factual - the Biblical stories, the miracles, etc. were told as is, but these were accompanied by what we know about the people, politics, cultural, and clashes of the time. Part mythical, part archaeological, the book accomplishes what I believe it set out to accomplish, for the reader to understand how the Bible came to be, and how Christianity came to be. You understand that Moses, Isaac, David, Luke, Paul, Solomon, King Herod, Jesus - not to mention Alexander the Great and the Pharaohs - were real people going through what everyone else was going through two and three thousand years ago, and then you see how the greatest story ever told was told - by them. Incredibly well researched and thoughtfully presented.

[Andrew Ziebro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well done

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful detailed resource on how the people of the Bible and nearby lands led their daily lives.

Starts at the beginning of the Old Testament through to the end of the New Testament it brings to life the details of the history of the Israelites and Christians. Filled with colored photos of the beautiful areas that the events took place with drawings of scenes in their lives, diagrams of houses and temples, maps of the various journeys, how they did things like making agreements and descriptions of ordinary things like spinning thread and making papyrus.

[Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love history and this book helped to clearly explain the history of the Bible and how the people lived, what they ate, how they worked, etc.
It helped me to see a timeline of all the Prophets and what happened when they were disobeyed. How the Jews moved from place to place during wars and the rebuilding of the Temple and beliefs of the different cultures that controlled them. I was sorry when it ended because I really enjoyed it.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative but too many names and places to keep straight.

[Cws]

220.92osb

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readers Digest always does such a nice work of making information accessible. Thorough without being overwhelming.

[Covenant Presbyterian Springfield Ohio]

Call Number: 220.9 REA

Available.

[Johannes Bertus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource

[Kingsley Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may be ancient but it is so informative in a way rarely seen these days.