Free Republic

Death and Burial at the Time of Jesus Msgr. Charles Pope • March 30, 2017 • Death and Burial at the Time of JesusN.B.: I am in the Holy Land at this time. As my travel schedule is heavy, I am republishing some articles about life in Jesus’ day. I hope you will enjoy reading (or re-reading) them as much as I did. The Jewish people took the burial of the dead quite seriously; this was the way a community paid their last dues to the one who had died. The Scriptures laid down quite firmly that no dead...

What Sort of Clothing Did People in Jesus’ Time Wear? Msgr. Charles Pope • March 29, 2017 • N.B.: I am in the Holy Land at this time. As my travel schedule is heavy, I am republishing some articles about life in Jesus’ day. I hope you will enjoy reading (or re-reading) them as much as I did.Determining what clothing was worn in Jesus’ day is surprisingly complex. First of all, there are many presumptions we make based on how many dress in the Middle East today. The typical form of clothing there now (the women in veils, and...

What Were Houses Like at the Time of Jesus? Msgr. Charles Pope • March 21, 2017 • N.B.: I am in the Holy Land at this time. As my travel schedule is heavy, I am republishing some articles about life in Jesus’ day. I hope you will enjoy reading (or re-reading) them as much as I did.The smallest homes of the very poor might be little better than a square, stone structure, covered with a whitewashed sort of stucco. There would typically be one larger multi-purpose room and a smaller back room for the animals. Some houses in hilly...

What Is the Geography of the Holy Land Like? Msgr. Charles Pope • March 21, 2017 • N.B.: I am in the Holy Land at this time. As my travel schedule is heavy, I am republishing some articles about life in Jesus’ day. I hope you will enjoy reading (or re-reading) them as much as I did.Karya ini diberi lisensi dan tunduk di bawah ketentuan Creative Commons Atribusi versi 3.0. Nomenclature – The land today called Israel or the Holy Land, was known to the Greeks and Romans in Jesus’ day as Palestine. This name came from the Philistines,...

What Was the Climate Like at the Time of Jesus? Msgr. Charles Pope • March 22, 2017 • N.B.: I am in the Holy Land at this time. As my travel schedule is heavy, I am republishing some articles about life in Jesus’ day. I hope you will enjoy reading (or re-reading) them as much as I did.The climate in Palestine, both today and at the time of Jesus, has two distinct seasons. The wet or rainy season runs from the mid-October to the mid-April while the dry season lasts from the mid-June to mid-September. During the dry season...

Marriage and Family at the Time of Jesus Msgr. Charles Pope • March 26, 2017 • N.B.: I am in the Holy Land at this time. As my travel schedule is heavy, I am republishing some articles about life in Jesus’ day. I hope you will enjoy reading (or re-reading) them as much as I did.The word family had a wider meaning both in Aramaic and in Hebrew than it does in English. The Hebrew, ah, and the Aramaic, aha, could be used to refer to brothers, sisters, half-brothers, half-sisters, cousins, and even other near relations. Extended family networks...

Workers and Trades in Jesus’ Time Msgr. Charles Pope • March 28, 2017 • By Ian Macilwain (Peter Currie, Springbank Distillery) [GFDL, via Wikimedia CommonsFarmers – Early each morning (except the Sabbath) farmers walked to reach their vineyards, wheat and barley fields, and olive groves. They might work as many as twelve acres. Unfortunately, it was not uncommon for these parcels of land to be in different areas, making the tending much more time-consuming. During periods of more intense cultivation or fieldwork, they might live in rudimentary tents or shacks out in the fields, especially if the fields were...