Coffin
Coffin
(, aron’, a box for gathering articles; Sept. ) is used with reference to the burial of Joseph (Gen 50:26): They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. This was undoubtedly a mummy- chest, such as are now found in the tombs of the same country, and frequently exhibited in modern museums, SEE MUMMY, a mode of burial peculiarly favorable to the removal of that patriarch’s remains to Palestine (Genesis 1; Gen 26:25, where the term bones is evidently used in this general sense). SEE BURIAL; SEE SEPULCHRE.
The same word is spoken in the original of a money-chest (2Ki 12:10-11), SEE TREASURY, but most frequently of the sacred ark, in which were deposited the tables of the law. SEE ARK. It has been thought by some that the iron bedstead of Og (Deu 3:11) was rather his coffin. SEE GIANT.
Numerous coffins of earthenware were disinterred by Loftus at Wurka and by Layard at Niffer, varying in length from three to six feet, and closed by an oval lid; the corpse having been swathed in linen and then smeared with bitumen, except the features (Layard, Nin. and Bab. p. 474 sq.).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Coffin (2)
(prob. from Saxon Cofa = a cave). The slight wooden case in which bodies are now interred appears to be of comparatively recent origin; in earlier ages the graves were sometimes lined with slabs of stone, but usually a stone coffin formed of a single block was used, and the body placed in it, either enveloped in grave-clothes, or clad in some particular dress: ecclesiastics were generally buried in the habit of the order to which they belonged, the dignitaries of the Church frequently in their official robes and accompanied with the ensigns of their office, and sovereigns in their robes of state. Numerous stone coffins exist in this country which appear to be as old as the eleventh and twelfth centuries; they are formed of a single block of stone hollowed out to receive the body, with a small circular cavity at one end to fit the head. and they are usually rather wider at this end than at the other; there are generally one or more small holes in the bottom to drain off moisture: these coffins were never buried. deeply in the ground; very frequently they were placed close to the surface, so that the lid was visible, and when within a church formed part of the paving; sometimes, in churches, they were placed entirely above the ground.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Coffin (3)
The following additional particulars are from Walcott, Sac. Archaeol. s.v.: “The early Christians adopted the custom of the heathens in using coffins. Stone coffirs were ordered for the interment of monks, by abbot Warin, of St. Alban’s, 1183-95; they had hitherto been buried under the green turf. In the 10th and following two centuries a low coped coffin of stone, with a hollow for the body, and a circular cavity for the head, was in use; one palm deep in St. Anselm’s time. The boat shape is the most ancient, the ridge being next in point of age. St. Richard of Chichester, in the 13th century, was buried in a wooden coffin. Those of the Templars, in the Temple Church, London, are of lead, decorated with ornaments of elaborate design in low relief. An old legend represents St. Cuthbert, in his stone coffin, floating down the Tweed.”
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Coffin
used in Gen. 50:26 with reference to the burial of Joseph. Here, it means a mummy-chest. The same Hebrew word is rendered “chest” in 2 Kings 12:9, 10.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Coffin
COFFIN.Gen 50:26 only (of the disposal of Josephs body in Egypt). Israelitish burial rites (see Mourning Customs, Tomb) did not include the use of coffins.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Coffin
kofin. See CHEST; BURIAL.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Coffin
Coffin [BURIAL]
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Coffin
Being made in Egypt and for an embalmed body, Joseph’s coffin doubtless resembled the ancient mummy cases. Gen 50:26. They were ornamental cases larger than European coffins.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Coffin
General references
Gen 50:26 Burial
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Coffin
Coffin. See Burial; Sepulchres.