PART 3. THE CHOSEN PEOPLE1. JEWISH TRAITSOur geographical trip round the Holy Land being completed we shall nowstudy the people of Palestine and their way of life. We start with the individual,then place him in more and wider social contexts: family, village, and nationallife. Already in Jesus' time a purely Jewish race no longer existed: a generallyvalid description is thus impossible, but we can give certain characteristics.Writings from ancient times permit some insight into external appearance,clothing, disposition and character.1. External AppearanceThe Jew was not big built (average 1.65m). He saw himself as small incomparison to the people of neighbouring countries. Most Jews were slim andproud of the fact. "Thamar", palm, was an idealised name for women, who, inorder to carry water, should be able to walk with deportment. The skin waswhite, but the men, due to their outdoor lifestyle, were bronzed. The crookednose was common, but of modest dimensions.Much attention was given to the haircut. Though not going as far asAbsalom, who had his hair cut only once a year (2 S.14:26), men liked to weartheir hair long, a habit which "is degrading" (1 Co.11:14). Josephus tells us thatdecadent young men sprinkle it with gold powder to attract attention, and thatold bucks, such as Herod, dyed it. The hair, dark brown or black, was rolled upunder the headgear. At banquets, it was a custom that the host or a female slavepoured scented oil over the head of the guest of honour (Mt. 26:7). The tousling,shaving and pulling-out of hair were signs of sorrow and grief (Jb.1:20), or ofbeing cured of leprosy (Lv.13:33). In hair care, use was made of golden, ivory orwooden combs. The mirror of polished metal with a handle had been knownsince the exile in Egypt (Ex.38:8; Jb.37:18).The hair of a Nazirite or one who is dedicated to God was not cut for theduration of his vow (Nm.6:5; Jg.13:5). When this time was past or if he had bymisfortune sullied himself (e.g., by touching a corpse),...