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
Idols, Images and Cult Statues
Cult images represented deities in many ancient religions and could serve as focal points for divine presence, ritual care, procession, and worship.
Primary Scripture: Isaiah 44:9-20
Imprisonment, Stocks and Chains
Ancient imprisonment was often used to hold people awaiting judgment, punishment, ransom, or political decision rather than as a standardized long-term sentence.
Primary Scripture: Acts 16:23-26
Inheritance by the Firstborn
The firstborn son normally held a privileged inheritance position, and Deuteronomy protects his right to a double portion even when family favoritism might favor another son.
Primary Scripture: Deuteronomy 21:15-17
Jewish Burial and Mourning
The dead were normally buried promptly, and mourning involved family, neighbors, lamentation, and visits to the tomb. In the Second Temple period, rock-cut family tombs were common among those who could afford them.
Primary Scripture: John 11:17-44
Jewish-Samaritan Relations
Jews and Samaritans shared important elements of Israelite heritage but differed over ancestry, sacred geography, Scripture, and worship. Their strained relationship gives special force to several teachings and encounters of Jesus.
Primary Scripture: John 4:4-42
Jubilee
The Jubilee legislation proclaimed liberty in the fiftieth year and addressed ancestral land, Israelite servitude, and the restoration of family holdings.
Primary Scripture: Leviticus 25:8-17
Kinsman-Redeemer
An Israelite kinsman-redeemer could act to preserve family property, protect family interests, and redeem what had been lost. The institution is central to the story of Ruth and Boaz.
Primary Scripture: Ruth 4:1-12
Kosher Food and Clean Animals
Israel's food laws distinguished animals that could be eaten from those classified as unclean. These rules became important markers of Jewish covenant identity.
Primary Scripture: Leviticus 11
Lamentation and Professional Mourners
Mourning could include formal lament, wailing, music, and people skilled in leading communal expressions of grief.
Primary Scripture: Jeremiah 9:17-20
Laying Garments at a Witness's Feet
Those who stoned Stephen laid their outer garments at Saul's feet, apparently freeing themselves for the violent act while placing the garments under his supervision.
Primary Scripture: Acts 7:58
Laying on of Hands
Placing hands upon a person or sacrifice could express identification, blessing, commissioning, prayer, healing, or appointment, depending on context.
Primary Scripture: Acts 13:1-3
Leaven and Unleavened Bread
Leavened dough was ordinarily produced by retaining fermented dough from an earlier batch, while unleavened bread omitted that fermentation process.
Primary Scripture: Exodus 12:14-20
Lepers Outside the Camp and Community
Persons diagnosed with certain serious skin conditions could be declared ritually unclean and excluded from normal access to the camp or community until examined and restored.
Primary Scripture: Leviticus 13:45-46
Levirate Marriage
Levirate marriage provided for a widow whose husband died without a son by assigning a family duty intended to preserve the deceased man's name and inheritance.
Primary Scripture: Deuteronomy 25:5-10
Loans, Interest and Pledges
Loans to impoverished Israelites were regulated to prevent creditors from exploiting desperation. Biblical law also protected essential pledged property.
Primary Scripture: Deuteronomy 24:10-13
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