Bible Encyclopedias
Couch

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kouch (substantive.). See BED .

Couch (verb): רבץ , rābhac , "to crouch," "lurk," as a beast in readiness to spring on its prey. "If thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door" (Genesis 4:7 , the King James Version "lieth"), waiting for it to open. Cain is warned to beware of the first temptations to evil, in his case especially a sullen and jealous disposition (compare Dante, Inferno , I, 30). See ABEL; CAIN . The tribe of Judah is compared for its bravery to a recumbent lion or lioness (Genesis 49:9; compare Numbers 24:9 f); and Issachar to "a strong ass, couching down between the sheepfolds" ( Genesis 49:14 , the King James Version "between two burdens"; compare Judges 5:16 ). "The deep that coucheth beneath" (Deuteronomy 33:13 ), probably the springs of water, or possibly, as Driver suggests, "the subterranean deep, pictured as a gigantic monster." See ABYSS .