The design of this course and the one on the New Testament is to illustrate the Bible by an explanation of the Oriental customs to which it refers. The Bible becomes more than ever a real book when we can read it understandingly. While this is eminently true of its doctrines, it is also true of its facts. A distinguished author has aptly said: "In studying the Bible the Dictionary of Things is almost as important as the Dictionary of Words." It is a part of this "Dictionary of Things" that we propose to furnish in this course, though not in the form of a dictionary. The items are arranged in the order in which they occur in the Bible, and are accompanied by explanations of the customs to which they allude. This method seems to be the most natural for Bible study.
 
Though the Bible is adapted to all nations, it is in many respects an Oriental book. It represents the modes of thought and the peculiar customs of a people who, in their habits, widely differ from us. One who lived among them for many years has graphically said: " Modes, customs, usages, all that you can set down to the score of the national, the social, or the conventional, are precisely as different from yours as the east is different from the west. They sit when you stand ; they lie when you sit ; they do to the head what you do to the feet; they use fire when you use water; you shave the beard (if you are a man), they shave the head ; you move the hat, they touch the breast ; you use the lips in salutation, they touch the forehead and the cheek; your house looks outwards, their house looks inwards ; you go out to take a walk, they go up to enjoy the fresh air; you drain your land, they sigh for water; you bring your daughters out, they keep their wives and daughters in : your ladies go barefaced through the streets, their ladies are always covered."