Because the Bible describes a culture very different from that of Western countries today, what it says is sometimes puzzling to modern readers. In many cases, however, the ways in which Near Eastern merchants and farmers carry on their daily work have hardly changed over the intervening centuries since the inspired authors wrote. The aim of this interesting volume is to clarify familiar scriptural phrases and texts by explaining some unusual Eastern customs, thereby shedding new light on the unchanging truth of God's word. Here are fascinating insights into a number of areas of life in biblical lands yesterday and today--clothing and jewels, feasts, home life, women, peasants, fields, tombs, tents, trades, and much more.