Bible Encyclopedias
Funeral

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Burying was (as generally, Cicero, Leg. 2:22; Pliny, 7:55) the oldest, as in all antiquity the customary, and among the Israelites the only mode of disposing of corpses (Genesis 23:19; Genesis 25:25; Genesis 35:8; Judges 2:9; Judges 8:32; 1 Samuel 25:1, etc.; John 11:17; Matthew 27:60, etc.). So likewise among the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Persians (Lucian, Suet. 21; Curtius, 3:12, 11 and 13), of which people ruins of necropolises and tombs still remain. Of burning, (which among the Greeks was a well-known custom — although in no age altogether prevalent, see Becker, Charicles, 2:181 sq.), the first trace occurs in 1 Samuel 31:12, and even there as an extraordinary case (1 Samuel 31:10). The practice has also been inferred from Amos 6:10, where the term מְס רְפוֹ, mesarepho', "he that burneth him" (i.e., the nearest relative, who kindled the pyre; compare Genesis 25:9; Genesis 35:29; Judges 16:31), occurs; but De Rossi, with several MSS., reads (so Hitzig, ad loc., although Rosenmuller, ad be., otherwise explains) מְשָׂרְפוֹ, alluding to the different custom of burning — not the body itself, but sweet spices at the funeral, as in Chronicles 16:14; 21:19; Jeremiah 34:5 (comp. Deuteronomy 12:31), as confirmed by Josephus (War, 1:33, 9; see Geier, De luctu, 6:2 sq.; Kiirchmann, De funerib. page 248 sq.; Dougtaei Analect. 1:196 sq.). After the exile the burning of dead bodies was still less an Israelitish custom, and the Talmud classes it with heathenish practices; hence even Tacitus (Hist. 5:5, 4) mentions burial as an altogether Jewish usage. The same conclusion is confirmed by the fact that combustion of the person is affixed by the Mosaic law (Leviticus 20:14; Leviticus 21:9) as a special penalty for certain crimes (see Michaelis [who, however, reaches a false result], De combustione et humatione mortuoruom ap. Hebraeos, in his Syntagma comm. 1:225 sq.). (See GRAVE).

To leave the dead unburied was to the Hebrews a most dreadful thought (1 Kings 13:22; 1 Kings 14:11; 1 Kings 16:4; 1 Kings 21:24; Jeremiah 7:33; Jeremiah 8:2; Jeremiah 9:22; Jeremiah 14:16; Jeremiah 16:4; Jeremiah 25:33; Ezekiel 29:5; Psalms 79:3), and was regarded by the ancients universally as one of the grossest insults (Sophocles, Ajax. 1156; Herodian, 8:5, 24; 3:12, 25; Plutarch, Virt. mul. page 226, ed. Tauchn.; Isocr. Panath. page 638; see Musgrave, in Soph. Antiq. 25); hence to inter the remains of the departed was a special work of affection (Tobit 1:21; Tobit 2:8), and was an imperative duty of sons toward their parents (Genesis 25:9; Genesis 35:29; 1 Maccabees 2:70; Tobit 6:15; Matthew 8:21; compare Demosth. Aristog. page 496; Vas. Max. 5:4, ext. 3; see Kype, Obsess. 1:46), and next devolved upon relatives and friends (Tobit 14:16). If the corpse remained uninhumed, it became a prey to the roving, hungry dogs and ravenous birds (1 Kings 14:11; 1 Kings 16:4; 1 Kings 21:24; Jeremiah 7:33; 2 Samuel 21:10 [2 Kings 9:35 sq.]; compare Homer, Il. 22:41 sq.; Eurip. Heracl. 1050). Nevertheless, that was not often the fate of the dead among the Issraelites, except in consequence of the atrocities of war, since Deuteronomy 21:23 (Josephus, War, 6:72) was held to entitle even criminals to interment (Josephus, War, 4:5, 2; comp. Matthew 27:58; yet it was otherwise in Egypt, Genesis 40:19). According to the Talmud (Lightfoot, Hosea Heb. page 499) there were two especial burial-places at Jerusalem for executed persons. (See TOMB).

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.