1) Why did the ancients typically recline to ear?
2) I tried it.
3) It is just awkward, sloppy, and actually uncomfortable!
4) Have you considered the possibility tradition had it wrong? Could it be that they actually sat up at a table?
5) Did not David refer to a table spread?
6) Wonder if it had fried chicken and okra!
1) I'm not sure...comfort?
To me, sitting at a table is less comfortable than reclining or lying slightly back on a pillow.
2/3) Depends on how one does it, I suppose.
If done without proper support, it can be fairly uncomfortable, IMO.
4) Possibly, which is why I'm digging into Scripture for an answer.
Here are some results:
Sitting ( is this literal? I think so ): Matthew 9:10, Luke 24:30.
Eating at a literal table: Judges 1:7, 1 Kings 4:27, Matthew 15:27, Mark 7:28, Luke 22:29-30, John 12:2.
To me, it's difficult to sit at a table without having a chair ( seat ) to sit in.
5) Yes. Psalms 23:5 among others.
6) Fried chicken?
Frying is mentioned ( or at least the frying pan is ) in Leviticus 2:7, as well as other means of cooking mentioned in the same chapter.
Chicken being in the Middle East?
Fowl in general come in different sub-species, and are found all over the world...and for thousands of years in the past.
Okra?
That's like asparagus, kale and spinach ( I like it raw, not cooked ), isn't it?...bleah.
To me, they are weeds that need flavoring to get them past the gag reflex.
... Brother Glen
