Tischler Nancy M. All Things in the Bible. An Encyclopedia of the Biblical World. Vol. 1-2

Westport, Connecticut.: Greenwood Press. 2006. - 779p. - (Volume 1: A-L; Volume 2: M-Z). - ISBN: 0–313–33082–4, eBook, English.The Holy Bible is rooted in fact, in the common life of the people. The words of Scripture are thick with imagery drawn from everyday life: the voice of the turtledove in spring, the wondrous fl ight of the eagle in the air, the sturdy industry of the ant. Although the Bible reaches through time into eternity, from life on earth to mansions in Heaven, yet it is fi rmly rooted in things, people, and places. The Hebrews were a people whose way of thinking was concrete and vivid, fi lled with insights from the world around them. They were also a people with a genius for metaphor, seeing transcendent meanings behind simple things.
Their history, that great drama of God’s love of his creation, their disobedience and suffering, their redemption and eternal hope, is narrated through a series of books. The Bible is this collection of poetry, stories, chronicles, proverbs, and prophesies that form their grand epic. To visualize the context in which the stories unfold and to understand the nuances of the prophetic words in Scripture, the reader must have a wide and deep knowledge of the things that were the everyday stuff of the ancient world.
Things(as defi ned for the purposes of this study) need not be inanimate objects: they can be animals, concepts, titles, or historical events. The term things is used here to refer to groups of people (such as professions, nationalities), commonly referenced cultures and places (such as Egypt, Galilee), theological constructs (such as the Fall of Man, the Resurrection), events and activities (festivals, the Great Flood), and pagan gods (Dagon, Asherah). They are the common reference points among the people who walk through the pages of Scripture.
This journey included the tending of sheep, the mending of coats, the selling of grain, and the swaddling of newborn babes. The Jews and Christians were also intensely aware of the neighboring peoples who threatened Israel’s existence or martyred the early Christians.