Family & Human Body

Anointing Oil

Anointing oil consisted of a mixture of oil and fragrances. Mixing anointing oil was a job for a professional: a member of the guild of perfumers.

Baby

Not much is known about the care of infants in the time of the Bible.

Belt

A belt was a broad strip of cloth worn around the middle of the body. It was mostly made of linen, sometimes of leather. A belt could be worn around a tunic or a cloak. The folds of the broad strip of cloth could be used as a kind of pouch for carrying small objects.

Blood Vengeance

When someone was murdered, there was the option for his family to take revenge by killing the murderer. However, this blood vengeance was subject to certain rules.

Burial

In biblical times, the dead were normally buried. Leaving a body unburied or cremating was seen as a severe punishment.

Children

In Bible times, it was important to have children. Childlessness was felt to be a big problem. Unlike the way things are today, children were also a practical necessity.

Circumcision

Both the Israelites and some of the peoples living in the vicinity circumcised their men. In the Bible, circumcision means removing the foreskin from the male sex organ. Female circumcision is unknown.
More information about circumcision can be found under:

Circumcision outside of the Bible

Circumcision is not just found in the Bible. The custom was also common among the nations around Israel.

Clan

Each tribe consisted of a number of clans. So the clan is the second largest unit within the ancient Israelite society. The members of a clan are (distant) relations.

clothes common man

Clothing

In biblical times, men, women and children wore the same items of clothing:

Concubine

In Old Testament times a man could not only have several wives, but also one or more concubines. These concubines had a lower status and their main purpose was to bear children. They were also a symbol of wealth and power. Concubines do not feature in the New Testament.

Divorce

In the world of the Bible, divorce is a legitimate custom, and a husband could send his wife away if he no longer wished to be married to her.

Dowry

When a woman was given in marriage, the (family of the) husband had to pay a dowry or a bridal price.

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Family

Family was very important in the time of the Bible. Family, in this case, means extended family, a father and his wife (or wives), children, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and slaves.

Foot-Washing

In the Bible, there are frequent accounts of people washing their feet or having them washed. The washing of feet was necessary because in Bible times open sandals were often worn, so that feet quickly became dirty. In addition, the washing of feet is also part of the purity rules for priests. Finally, the washing of someone’s feet can also be a gesture of hospitality.

Funeral

In Israel there were a variety of different customs surrounding funerals that were very similar to those of the cultures surrounding them.

Grave

When people died, they were buried. There were different types of graves, graves in the ground or a space hewn out of a rock were the most common.

Head-Covering

In Bible times both men and women wore a cloth around their head as a head-covering.

Heart

In the Bible, the heart does not just have a physical function, but also a spiritual one. It is the place in the body where the emotions, feelings, courage, insight, knowledge and wisdom can be found. The heart is the symbol for the inner person, in every respect.

Jewellery and Make-Up in Ancient Israel

Just as in modern day society, a lot of time and effort was put into one’s appearance in Ancient Israel. Not just rich women, but also those who were less wealthy wore jewellery, used make-up, cared for their bodies with creams and fragrant lotions, and used perfume. In the Bible there are frequent references to jewellery and products for looking after one’s appearance.

Jewellery in Ancient Israel

Archaeologists have found the following items of jewellery in Israel, most of which are mentioned in the Bible as well:

Levirate Duty

Levirate duty is a biblical custom, also known as Levirate marriage or brother-in-law marriage (levir is the Latin word for brother-in-law). If a man died childless, his brother or another member of the family had to marry the widow.

Make-Up and Body Care in Ancient Israel

In the hot, dry climate of the ancient Near East, skin care was almost as common as now, and at a very advanced stage of development. Women applied fragrant ointments to protect their skin from drying out. They also made up their faces with bright colours, used perfume and lacquered their nails.

Marriage in the New Testament

In the New Testament, marriage is patriarchal (via the man) in character, as it is in the Old Testament: the man married, his wife was married to him.

Marriage in the Old Testament

Marriage customs in the Old Testament come to the fore mainly in stories. Laws relating to marriage are few in number.

Mourning

When someone died, there were a variety of rituals that allowed people to mourn.

Name-Giving

In the Old and New Testaments, names often have a meaning. In many stories, it is the mother who chooses her child’s name at the birth.

ossuary

Redemption

Redemption is a familiar custom in the Old Testament. It was intended to ensure that people and possessions (such as a field) remained within one’s own family.

Rock Tomb

In Israel, people were buried in rock-cut tombs from the First Temple period (around the eighth century before Christ until 586 BC) until the end of the Second Temple period (first century BC to AD 70).

sandals

When shoes are mentioned in the Bible, this generally means sandals. Sandals were made of leather and were fastened at the ankles with straps.

Sandals

When shoes are mentioned in the Bible, this generally means sandals. Sandals were made of leather and were fastened at the ankles with straps.
The sole was made of a number of layers of leather fastened together with leather thongs.

Sickness and Healing in Jesus Sirach

In Bible times, many people were suspicious of doctors. We hear another message from the Jewish scholar Jesus Sirach. For him, sickness is a consequence of a person’s sin against his creator, but the sick person still has to go to a doctor for healing.

Son and Daughter

The words for “son” and “daughter” in Hebrew indicate a direct family relationship, as they do in English.

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