In this new edition of a successful book (over 120,000 copies sold), now updated throughout, a leading expert on the social world of the Bible offers students a reliable guide to the manners and customs of the ancient world.
From what people wore, ate, and built to how they exercised justice, mourned, and viewed family and legal customs, this illustrated introduction helps readers gain valuable cultural background on the biblical world.
The attractive, full-color, user-friendly design will appeal to students, while numerous pedagogical features--including fifty photos, sidebars, callouts, maps, charts, a glossary of key terms, chapter outlines, and discussion questions--increase classroom utility.
Previously published as Manners and Customs in the Bible.
"Matthews provides a reliable guide to the world of the Bible. Readers will be enlightened by the many details that he pulls together from a wide range of sources. His broad knowledge of the ancient world and its texts will serve well the reader who desires to dig deeper into the Bible and understand it in its cultural context." John Walton, professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College
"With impeccable skill, detailed research, and a thoroughly engaging style, Victor Matthews has produced a text that captures the complexity, beauty, and magnificence of the ancient biblical world. The study provides a window into the richness of an ancient people's historical, cultural, social, and religious life, beginning with the ancestral period and continuing through the intertestamental and New Testament periods. This work is perfect for undergraduate and beginning graduate courses in Bible." — Carol J. Dempsey, professor of theology (biblical studies), University of Portland
Victor H. Matthews (PhD, Brandeis University) is dean of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs and professor of religious studies at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, where he has taught for thirty years. He is the author of numerous books, including The Old Testament: Text and Context, The Hebrew Prophets and Their Social World, and Studying the Ancient Israelites.
