Even though there is little consensus about the history of biblical times, archaeological and historical investigation has brought to light a vast amount of information. It’s hard to keep abreast of the many new discoveries and detailed studies. I would argue that we now know more than ever about biblical times. We know broadly how the people lived who first heard the Psalms and the Prophets. We know about settlement patters, about trade and economics. We have word studies and comparisons with other ancient literature. There’s plenty to be able to interpret the Bible in its world. And yet, often historical criticism has been abused. We explain away the passages we don’t like and focus on the passages that accord with our own worldview. Historical criticism is only valuable, if it is consistently used, not as a way to pick and choose.

Nevertheless, historical criticism has often been condemned by Christians. Tom Wright was referring to the New Testament, but it is equally relevant to Old Testament Studies.

Much Christianity is afraid of history, frightened that if we really find out what happened in the first century our faith will collapse. But without historical enquiry there is no check on Christianity’s propensity to remake Jesus, never mind the Christian god, in its own image. Equally, much Christianity is afraid of scholarly learning, and in so far as the Enlightenment programme was an intellectual venture, Christianity has responded with the simplicities of faith.
N.T. Wright The New Testament and the People of God. 1992 (page 10)

Many evangelicals insist that God speaks directly to us through Scripture with the aid of the Holy Spirit. We don’t need to try to discern the meaning in its historical context.

On the other side of the spectrum is the post-modern critique of historical criticism. This insists that we can never know what the original author intended or even what the exact historical circumstances were. We should not even try to reconstruct these. Rather, we should focus on the interaction between reader and text.

These are valuable critiques. But I find these approaches somewhat irresponsible. We have so much information. Surely, we can do our best and take the historical context into account when interpreting the Bible. Then it can also become more relevant to us today, rather than being some disembodied text.

Some basic assumptions of biblical historical criticism:
• The whole Bible was written firstly for its immediate, historical audience, and only then also for all people everywhere. The original meaning and intent has primacy.
• Our own cultural, political and ideological situation is different from that of the past. We need historical enquiry to arrive at an understanding of the world of the Bible.
• Once we know the meaning in the historical context, we can understand the message of the Bible more clearly.
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• In the witness of the Bible, historically understood, we can see God, the “other”, who is so different from how we want God to be, rather than “my” God.
• We are part of the history of the people of God. God’s actions continue today.
• Our life should be a response to the actions of God, following the witness and the response of the people of God in the past.

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Gustaf Dalman describes the use of camels in early 20th century Palestine. For Bedouins the camel was essential, as they were continually on the move, at times in the desert. The camel carried their tents and belongings. Camels kneel so that the load is easy to secure. When they rise, they lift the back first, getting on their hind legs, and then stand on their front legs. When a camel kneels down, it first gets on the knees of the front legs, then the knees of the hind legs. A saddle is required to secure the load on the back of the camel. It is usually made out of wood. For travle in the Sinai desert a load of 125kg is seen as normal. In the less demanding environment of Pelestine with food and water available this can be increased to 200 – 250 kg.

Camels were used to carry the load of the great trading caravans. At night they would often camp out in the field, with the cargo heaped in the middle of the circles of camels. When the travelled, the camels walked in a long row one behind the other. A camel boy (gamal) rode alongside the camels on a donkey to watch them, for “the intentions of the camel are not the same as the intentions of the camel boy” – so an Arab saying. Indeed, in folklore, the camel is seen as mean and devious, so that it is said of some people that they are “more devious than a camel”.

Camels usually graze on wild plants, such as the salt bush, but also grass. Indeed, they are easy to satisfy. Caravan camels were often fed with cakes of barley and darnel. Dalman gives reports that camels can go five days without water. Nevertheless, in his time he heard of events when hundreds of camels died, when tribes were unable to reach water in time.

The camel was also used by farmers in Pelstine, sometimes instead of cattle to haul the plow, to bring grain to the threshing floor, and even for threshing.
Canel hair was used for weaving, hides for hose -and sandal making. Camel dung was used to feed fires. Camel urine was used to clean beard, hair, face, teeth and hands. And butchering a camel yields a lot of meat. Female camels are able to provide up to 7 liters of milk per day. It is little wonder that the Bedouins regard such a versatile animal highly.

In the Hebrew Bible the camel was considered unclean to eat, but it was not unclean to the touch and its milk and hair could be used.

Both cows and bulls are used for agriculture. In Palestine, cattle were used for plowing during winter. In spring they were often sent to the Jordan Valley for a month to get fresh green feed. After that, they returned to their home to plow the field for the summer crop and the orchards. During the harvest, cattle ate the stalks in the harvested fields. They then threshed the grain. Sometimes they were sent to the Jordan Valley again in autumn for grazing.
During winter cattle were fed chaff and darnel. They were also kept inside the home until March. The winter stable for cattle was usually inside the Palestinian farmhouse, where donkeys were also kept. In summer the cattle of the entire village were often kept in an enclosure, where a cow herder would look after them.

The fattened calf is mentioned several times in the Bible (Genesis 18:7; 1 Samuel 15:9; 1 Samuel 28:24; 2 Samuel 6:13; 1 Kings 1:9; Proverbs 15:17; Amos 6:4; Matthew 22:4; Luke 15:23). It was seen as a sumptuous meal. But in Palestine beef was not regarded highly. Lamb was considered the best meat. A cow would give 400–700 liters of milk per year. Other breeds, however, that were fed on fresh green grass could give up to 5,000 liters of milk per year. The hides of cattle were also considered valuable.

Butter milk remains in the churn. Sometimes it is used immediately. By heating it, the butter milk can be processed further. The water is poured off and fed to the dogs. The remainder is dried and formed into small balls. These can be used to bake cake, mixed in drinks or used in cooking. Dalman recounts that in Aleppo these butter milk balls are mixed with olive oil so that they can be kept for a whole year.

According to Gustaf Dalman there were 252,773 sheep in Palestine in 1930, of which 149,254 were butchered. Clearly, sheep were kept largely to supply meat. Still, other uses are important, too. An adult sheep supplies about 2kg of wool annually, and a ewe gives approximately 40kg of milk per year. In Palestine, the fat-tail sheep (Ovis laticaudata) is the preferred breed. Apparently, the tail itself can weigh up to 10kg in rams.

Rams have thick horns; ewes do not grow any horns. Most of the sheep are white, but some have a brown or black head, others darker spots on the wool. The shepherds have a broad terminology for distinguishing the different colours of sheep.
If the rams are put out to the ewes early, in June, lambs are born in November. Usually, shepherds prefer only a few early lambs. Often the rams are put to the ewes in August, so that the lambs are born in February or March. That allows the ewes to eat fresh, green grass when suckling the lambs. Usually a farmer in early 20th century Palestine would own 15 to 20 ewes.
Even in Palestine, a lamb was chosen as a sacrifice to guarantee the welfare of the flock. Usually, the lamb was chosen in February, its ear marked and then slaughtered in April. Many Arab Christians would choose the lamb at the beginning of Lent.
Wool was one of the main fabrics for textile production in Palestine, just as it would have been in Ancient Israel. The hides of a sheep were often used for hose manufacture, or as leather for shoes.
Dalman observed that people preferred lamb over any other meat. He quotes a proverb: “Be not enticed by the cattle and the amount of its fat, but take a piece of lamb and taste its meat!”

When the night is warm and the moon is full, sleep and rest does not come easily. Often, talking on the open roofs will carry through town and village. A loud voice in the street may sing about the longing of love and the pain of separation, while others answer in appreciative echoes. When the night is cold and the sky is dark, the town and village appears forlorn and lonely.

Shortly after midnight, the cock crows for the first time. From then on the quiet of the night slowly becomes disturbed, as people wake and return to their work. Early in the morning, well before sunrise, women begin to grind grain.

It is considered dangerous to go out at night before the cock crows. Demons are wandering in the dark. That’s why, according to Jewish tradition, one should not greet another person at night: that person might in fact be a demon. The light of a torch, the moon’s light, and the company of other people affords protection against demons. Particularly springs are the favourite haunts of demons.

In early 20th century Palestine the night was divided into 11 or 12 hours or parts. In Ancient Israel, the night was divided into three watches. During Roman times that division may have been changed to four watches. It was said that donkeys brayed during the first watch, dogs howled during the second watch, and women nursed their babies during the third watch. Dalman agreed that these are the noises of the night in Palestine. He experienced it often enough. But for him the braying of the donkeys early in the morning was more memorable than their noises early in the night.

At times, shepherds would have stayed in the field with their flocks. Often shepherds would have used simple tents or would build huts out of branches. Sometimes the flock would be kept in stone enclosures.

Caves were also used to stable animals, sometimes even with feed troughs. The picture above shows the entrance to a cave near Tell Halif which was later used as a stable, though previously it may have served as a cellar of a house. In it I found this door jamb and feeding trough. Others might call it a manger.

Sheep and goats would have been often kept in enclosures, but cattle were usually kept inside the house. People and animals lived in close proximity. Sometimes separate stable buildings would have been used for cattle. These were close to other houses.

In addition, some animals were kept in huts: wooden shelters, such as Jacob built for his livestock in Succoth (Genesis 33:17). These probably consisted of a frame made out of poles, covered by branches.

In the Gospel of Luke we are not told what stable Jesus was born in, indeed whether he was born in a stable. But we are told that he was laid in a manger, a feeding trough. That feeding trough could have been in a cave used to house animals, in a house, or in a separate stable. In any case, it was not luxury accommodation.

Happy Christmas!

The disappearance of the warming rays of the sun is immediately felt in Palestine, where there are few places to seek shade. People often start to shiver, as they have to adjust quickly to the change in temperature. At this time everybody seeks to be under their own roof or that of a host, even if it is only a Bedouin tent. Any traveller still on the road will speed up to get to a hospitable place quickly. Dalman relates from personal experience that animals often have a more stable footing than humans as light fades. Many people let the donkey lead, when they hasten home in the coming dark.

The time after sunset, when there is still daylight, is called “between the suns.” According to tradition, Adam and Eve were evicted from paradise at this time.