The world that forms the backdrop to the Old and New Testaments was, in a thousand ways, a very different world from the one in which we now live. But, to fully understand the text of the Bible and to appreciate the depth and richness of its teaching, we need to familiarise ourselves so far as possible with that ancient world and its manners and customs. That is where this section of the Bible Brief will try to help. For a start, I am including here the entire contents of Peeps into Palestine by the Revd James Neil.

I bought this little book, second-hand, some time ago and I not only enjoyed reading it but found that it contained several insights into Biblical expressions that I had not found in the mainstream books that cover manners and customs of Bible Times. It was printed and published in the UK, and the publishers were Stanley Martin & Co Ltd, but it contains no publication date. It does however contain a reference to another book by the Revd James Neil — Every-day Life in the Holy Land — of which I also have a copy. This was published in 1913, and I suspect that Peeps into Palestine was published shortly afterwards. I am in no doubt however that the little book is long out of copyright and, because parts of it might be of real interest and use to visitors to this site, I am re-publishing it here. It consists of three parts:

Joppa; or, Discoveries on Stepping Ashore
Jerusalem; or, Discoveries during Life in the Holy City
Further Peeps into Palestine