In Luke 19:23, the Greek word τράπεζα, table, is rendered "bank" in the modern sense of the term, which, by a similar appropriation, is derived from the same root as bench. In Matthew 21:12; Mark 11:15; and John 2:15, it is employed literally, and denotes the "table" of the money-changer (q.v.), at which he sat in the market-place, as is still the custom in the East, and also in the outer court of the Temple. In other passages it denotes an ordinary table for food.
The term "bank," סֹלְלָה, solelah', also occurs in 2 Samuel 20:15; 2 Kings 19:32; Isaiah 37:33, as the name of the mound raised against a besieged city; it is elsewhere rendered "mount" in the same sense. (See SIEGE).
The "bank" or shore of a river or sea is designated by the Hebrews term גָּדָה or גִּדְיָה, gadah' or gidyah', and שָׂפָה, saphah', a lip.