Customs and Culture of the Bible
The Bible was written in cultures very different from our own. Explore customs, institutions, daily practices and figures of speech that help explain what biblical writers and their first readers would have understood.
188 customs found
Rabbi, Teacher and Disciple
Teachers gathered students or disciples who learned not only information but ways of interpreting Scripture and living faithfully.
Primary Scripture: Mark 3:13-15
Reclining at Meals
Formal meals in the New Testament world were often eaten while reclining around a low table rather than sitting upright in chairs. This helps explain several details in the Gospel meal scenes.
Primary Scripture: John 13:21-30
Removing a Sandal in Legal Transactions
Ruth describes removal and transfer of a sandal as a customary way of confirming a transaction involving redemption and exchange.
Primary Scripture: Ruth 4:7-8
Right Hand as a Place of Honor
The right hand could symbolize strength, favor, and the place of highest honor beside a ruler.
Primary Scripture: Psalm 110:1
Ritual Handwashing Before Meals
Some Jewish groups practiced ritual handwashing before eating as part of traditions concerning purity. The dispute in Mark 7 concerns ritual tradition, not ordinary hygiene.
Primary Scripture: Mark 7:1-23
Ritual Purity and Uncleanness
Biblical ritual impurity was a temporary religious status associated with such things as bodily discharges, childbirth, skin disease, certain foods, and contact with the dead. It was not automatically the same thing as sin.
Primary Scripture: Leviticus 15
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