DEDICATED
to the companion of all my journeys,
my partner in work and study,
my husband,
Frank Henry Bowen
FOREWORD
Frequently after our lectures on the land and the people of the country of our Lord, people have requested us to bring together in a book some of the customs and thoughts and ways of these people that appear strange to us.
Palestine has changed very little since Bible days, the people are chiefly Ishmaelites and dress, eat, live and think as their ancestors did. They live this very primitive life because their parents and grandparents for a hundred generations have lived so.
They say, “Our father Abraham lived as we do, what was good for him is good for us; what was good enough for yesterday is good enough for tomorrow.”
A better understanding of their lives, their homes, their dress, their work and their ways of thinking will help us to comprehend many Scriptures that now appear strange.
This small book contains nothing new, but brings together information on many customs differing so widely from those of our part of the world that we hope it will help Sunday school teachers and young people to a little better understanding of some parts of THE BOOK.
- Barbara M. Bowen
***
CHAPTER 01 — PERPLEXING SCRIPTURES
“Salute No Man By the Way”
“Go Not from House to House”
“Suffer Me First to Bury my Father”
“The Lord Hath Made Bare His Arm”
“He Shall Dwell Between His Shoulders”
“Thy Youth Renewed Like the Eagle's”
“The Eagle Stirreth up Her Nest”
“And David Danced Before the Lord”
“Bathed His Feet with Tears”
“Water on the Hands of Elijah”
Cursing the Fig Tree
Lying at the Feet
“Bring the Veil Which Thou Hast upon Thee”
“The Wringing of Milk Bringeth Forth Butter”
Quails
Bosom
Anointing
Ashes
“Whited Sepulchres”
“Coals of Fire”
“Selah”
“A Covenant of Salt”
CHAPTER 02 — WOMEN
“Who Can Find a Virtuous Woman?”
A Contentious Woman
The Ointment of the Right Hand
Two Women at the Mill
“Graven on the Palms of My Hands”
Thou Wast not Swaddled at All
Weaning of a Child
Lost Coin
“And She Painted Her Face”
CHAPTER 03 — GARMENTS
Seamless Coat
Garment Not to be Taken in Pledge
Sackcloth
“They Enlarge the Borders of Their Garments”
Coat of Many Colors
“Now We See Through a Glass Darkly”
“A Good Name is Better than Precious Ointment”
Veil
Saul Lay Sleeping
CHAPTER 04 — CLOTHING AND JEWELS
“Her Clothing Is Silk and Purple”
“She Took a Veil and Covered Herself”
“Mine Horn is Exalted in the Lord”
“With Their Loins Girded”
“Round Tires Like the Moon”
A Gold Chain about Joseph's Neck
“I Put a Jewel on Thy Nose”
“Thy Signet, and Thy Bracelets, and Thy Staff”
Ornaments of the Feet and Legs
Beds and Bedchambers
“My Children are with Me in Bed”
“Israel Bowed Himself upon the Bed's Head”
“A Cottage in a Vineyard, A Lodge in a Garden of Cucumbers”
“A Lamp in Jerusalem”
“I Will Pour Water on Him that is Thirsty”
Broken Sherd
Rings
“I Will Make Thee As a Signet”
CHAPTER 05 — PEASANT MEN
“Take it For Nothing”
“Go to the Ant, Thou Sluggard”
“They Made Broad their Phylacteries”
“The Sabbath Was Made for Man”
“A Writer's Inkhorn by His Side”
“He Wrote on the Ground”
A White Stone
Little Children
“Hands of the Masters”
“Kicking Against the Pricks”
“Iniquities Like a Heavy Burden”
“I Cast out My Shoe”
“As Trees Walking”
Redemption of the Purchased Possession
“They Comfort Me”
“A Bruised Reed”
White Asses
CHAPTER 06 — HOME LIFE
“Sit down in the Lowest Seat”
“Oh That I Had A Lodging Place”
“The Key Will I Lay upon His Shoulders”
The House Top
“They Uncovered the Roof”
A Strong Tower
“Thy Word is a Lamp unto My Feet”
“Rachel Took the Images”
Bed
Bottles
Cruse of Oil
CHAPTER 07 — FEASTS
“Use Hospitality One to Another”
Dipping the Sop
Calling to a Feast
Table or Scamba
“If His Son Ask Bread, Will He Give Him a Stone?”
“Go Ye Into the City”
“So Shall He Sprinkle Many Nations”
Arab Hospitality
Eaters of Barley Bread
“And They Sighed for the Cucumbers”
“His Birthright for a Mess of Pottage”
CHAPTER 08 — FIELDS
“The Grass of the Field”
“While Men Slept, the Enemy Sowed Tares”
Bread in Bible Lands
Parched Pulse
Ruth Gleaning
“Thou Shalt Not Remove thy Neighbor's Landmark”
“They Shall Still Bring Forth Fruit in Old Age”
The Snare of the Fowler
Elisha Plowing with Twelve Yoke of Oxen
Weights and Scales
“He Drinketh Up Scorning Like Water”
A Bag With Holes
CHAPTER 09 — TOMBS AND TENTS
“She Covered Him with a Mantle”
The Needle's Eye
Maniacs in the Tombs
Christ Three Days and Three Nights in the Heart of the Earth?
Superscriptions on the Cross
Impure Bible Stories
David's Sin
CHAPTER 10 — GATES AND TRADES
In the Gate of Samaria
The Seat of Justice
“An Artificer of Brass and Iron”
“And They Fetched the Carved Image”
“And Hiram Sent Masons”
“The Carpenter Encouraged the Goldsmith”
“Took Bread and a Bottle of Water”
“Go Down to the Potter's House”
Vessel of Mercy
Vessel of Wrath
A Clean Vessel
A Chosen Vessel
Holy Vessel