Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PEASANTRY

In the anthropological sense, a class of rural cultivators whose surpluses were exploited by the dominant class(es). Characterized as autonomous/independent and conservative/traditional, they embody the transition and contradiction between two opposing types of social formation: “feudalism” and the nation-state. Because written sources, including the Bible, are the product of the scribal class as a subsidiary of the royal court, the peasantry is largely undocumented.

The agrarian basis of Israelite life was characterized by a combination of grain-farming, stock-breeding, and cultivation of vine and tree crops. The Israelite farmer produced and lived off his varied yield: grain (wheat and to a lesser extent, barley); milk, meat, and skins of sheep and goats; and olive oil, figs, and wine from his orchard and vineyard. Some products were used in trade and barter for needed materials such as tools. In semiarid Israel, with variable rainfall and few perennial rivers, famine and want remained a constant threat (Gen. 12:10; 26:1; 41:56; 47:4, 13; Ruth 1:1; 2 Sam. 21:1; 1 Kgs. 18:2; 2 Kgs. 6:25; 25:3). Farming was a family enterprise, with all members performing the various daily chores.

The Israelite house, typified by the pillared multi-roomed house with a courtyard, was as much an agricultural facility as it was living space for the family. Large storage jars filled with grain, wine, and oil would likely have been stored in several of the rooms, along with other ceramics and tools. Animals may have been stabled within the house during the night. The courtyard often served as a work area where agricultural installations were found, and also as an outdoor pen for animals.

Archaeology and biblical accounts suggest that much of the population lived in small villages or cities. Heb. pĕrāzôn (Judg. 5:7, 11) probably represents the inhabitants of unfortified villages in the open country surrounding walled cities (cf. Esth. 9:19; Ezek. 38:11); in time of warfare they were permitted refuge within the walls in exchange for service as warriors (cf. Hab. 3:14; Heb. przw). Some scholars propose a peasant revolt model for the Israelite conquest.

Bibliography. O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel (Winona Lake, 1987); M. Broshi and I. Finkelstein, “The Population of Palestine in Iron Age II,” BASOR 287 (1992): 47-60; B. Rosen, “Subsistence Economy in Iron Age I,” in From Nomadism to Monarchy, ed. I. Finkelstein and N. Naʾaman (Washington, 1994), 339-51; Y. Shiloh, “The Four-Room House: Its Situation and Function in the Israelite City,” IEJ 20 (1970): 180-90; L. Stager, “The Archaeology of the Family in Ancient Israel,” BASOR 260 (1985): 1-35; E. R. Wolf, Peasants (Englewood Cliffs, 1966).

Carey Walsh/Allen C. Myers

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PEASANTRY

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)