Page 41 - Biblical Backgrounds

Other social factors that were problematic at the time included the importance of hospitality. A
community or household was completely responsible for the safety and comfort of a guest. As a result,
some of the most brutal and grotesque stories in the Bible come from the Old Testament. They make
little sense to us, but made perfect sense at the time they were written. One story involves a group of
men who sexually abused the concubine and the daughter of a man. That man gave them to the abusers
because they wanted to homosexually abuse his guest. The concubine was raped all night and killed. The
man who gave her to them cut her body to pieces and sent the pieces throughout the land. This aroused
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anger and led to what Voss called a “civil war.” The tribe of the abusers came from Benjamin, who
would not give them up to justice. To give them up would be to fail as hosts. This was unthinkable. The
tribes that hosted the man and his abused concubine could not let the evil go unpunished. That also was
unthinkable. This resulted in a war between that tribe and the others. The importance of hospitality in
the Jewish community would carry over into the New Testament times. It was the reason Jesus sent the
70 disciples out without extra clothes and provisions. The communities they traveled through would
never allow them to go without hospitality in such a state. Such a failure would be a great shame to the
community. In that culture, shame was not something you could overcome easily, if at all.

Pottery and other textiles have been found from this era. In addition to these commercial trades, the
tending of livestock, fishing, farming, and trading have all come up as vehicles of commerce. Other
methods of earning a living likely included fabric making, carving idols for religious use, educating
students, and many other, less well-known trades.

Important people groups to know about in this time period:

Egyptians:
The Egyptians had begun to lose power with the disaster at the Red Sea. In the midst of their decline,
other kingdoms began to rise.

Philistines:
The Philistines are best remembered in Scripture for their wars with Israel in the time of David. The cry
that David killed more of them than Saul led Saul to seek to kill David. The Philistines lived on the coast
of Canaan. They were a Canaanite people who inhabited many cities, but the most prominent cities
were Gath, Joppa, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Gaza. As mentioned before, Goliath came from Gath. The
story of Samson in Judges recounts many battles with the Philistines as well.

Phoenicians:
Many have heard of the cities of Tyre and Sidon, but few are aware that they were prominent
Phoenician cities. Phoenicia grew in power and extended south. The might of the Philistines halted their
military growth in that direction.

Edomites:
In the Bible, these people are the descendants of Esau. Edom was located southeast of the Jordan and
the land of Canaan. The most prominent city in Edom, its capital city, was Mount Sier. Edom bordered
the Dead Sea. It also bordered the Gulf of Aquaba. Because of this, it was on one of the major trade
routes and would have had an economic benefit from that. David defeated them in battle. Edom is
known for many negative encounters with the Israelites. In Numbers 20, they refused to let Israel pass

85 Voss, Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners and Customs, 138.

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