Loyalty to family and kin is fundamental

Honour (sharaf) refers to uprightness of character, integrity, glory even. It is joked that ‘he who has no family has no backbone’.

Piety brings honour. Hard work, wealth, success, generosity – all bring honour. Age brings honour. There is honour in having a hoary head. In traditional Bedouin society the tented area reflects the honour of its inhabitants. It is a point of honour to be hospitable.

The relationships between the sexes are governed by what the ‘group’ prizes. In their purity is invested the honour of all the lineage. The Semite culture of OT times reflects the tensions of a society operating along equivalent times. Premarital virginity in girls has not so much to do with sex per se, but is a sign of the successful seclusion of women by their male relatives. For Middle Easterners, the coloured bed linen doesn’t convey thoughts of intercourse but of honour and pride.

The theme of honour and its gain, retention and loss, forms a strong component of most Middle Eastern cultures.

FAMILY AND SOCIETY

About evanlaar1922

Have you ever noticed how many special ways God refers to us, His dear children? He calls us His beloved sons and daughters, the righteous, children of the kingdom, His anointed, royal priesthood, the faithful in Christ, His temple, His friends, and so many other loving names that speaks to who we are in Him. Also in many cases, the names we are given at birth have both biblical and heavenly identities tied into them. Our Heavenly Father who watches over us daily has created the ideal path for each of us to take to travel the journey of life, just as a father will make plans for his own child by putting things in place at a very early age for education, health, graduation, and marriage. God has predestined and equipped each of us to carry out a specific purpose that will create the design He desires to be in place for His kingdom to be effective in the earth.

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