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
Ancient Calendars and Reckoning Days
Biblical peoples used calendar systems based on months, lunar observation, agricultural seasons, regnal years, and festival cycles. Ancient time reckoning can affect chronological interpretation.
Primary Scripture: Exodus 12:1-20
Ancient Doorways, Thresholds and Doorposts
Doorways marked the boundary between household and outside world and could carry practical, legal, religious, and symbolic significance.
Primary Scripture: Exodus 12:7
Ancient Education and Childhood
Children learned primarily within households and communities, acquiring religious traditions, practical skills, and social expectations. Formal scribal or literary education existed but was not universal.
Primary Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Ancient Marketplaces
Marketplaces were public commercial and social spaces where goods were exchanged, laborers sought work, news circulated, and civic activity could occur.
Primary Scripture: Matthew 20:1-7
Ancient Weapons and Armor
Biblical soldiers used combinations of spears, swords, bows, shields, helmets, body armor, and other equipment that changed considerably across the biblical periods.
Primary Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:4-7
Ancient Weights and Measures
Trade depended on conventional units of weight, volume, and length, but the exact value of named units could vary by place and historical period.
Primary Scripture: Leviticus 19:35-36
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