Couch
COUCH
See BED.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Couch
(, yatsu’d, something spread, Gen 49:4; bed, 1Ch 5:1; Job 17:13; Psa 63:6; Psa 132:3; , mishkab’, something to lie upon, Job 7:13, elsewhere bed; , eres, something erected, Psa 6:6; Amo 3:12; Amo 6:4; bed, Job 7:13; Psa 41:3; Psa 132:3; Pro 7:16; Son 1:16; bedstead, Deu 3:11; , a little bed, Luk 5:19; Luk 5:24; , a pallet, Act 5:15, elsewhere bed). Feather-beds, as among us, are unknown in the East, as indeed generally in southern climates. The poor sleep on mats or wrapped in their overclothes (Exo 22:27; Deu 24:13; comp. Theocr. 18:19; Stobaei Serm. 72, p. 404: as to Rth 3:9; Eze 16:8, see Biel in the Miscell. Lips. Nov. v. 209 sq.), and, in the open air, sometimes have only a stone for a pillow (Arvieux, 3, 216; comp. Gen 9:21; Gen 9:23; Gen 28:11). The wealthy use bolsters or mattresses (Russel, Aleppo, 1:195), stuffed with wool or cotton. These are not laid upon a bedstead, but on a raised portion (divan, q.v.) along the side of the room, which by day serves for a seat (Harmar, 1:134; 2:71; Rosenmller, Morgenl. 3, 211; 6:14; Lorent, Wander. p. 32). Whether the couches of the ancient Hebrews for the sick or sleeping, which are usually termed , mittah’ (Gen 47:31; 1Sa 19:13 : 2Sa 4:7; 2Ki 1:4), , mishkab’ (Exo 21:18; 2Sa 13:5; Son 3:1), , e’res (Job 7:13; Son 1:16; Pro 7:11; properly a bedstead, see Deu 3:11), were upon such a platform, is uncertain, as they appear to have been movable (1Sa 19:15), and were probably used in the daytime, like sofas, for sitting down and repose (1Sa 28:23; Eze 23:41; Amo 3:12; Amo 6:4; yet compare 2Ki 4:10). Costly carpets graced the houses of the rich (Pro 7:16 sq.; Eze 23:41; Amo 3:12); those who lay upon them covered themselves with similar tapestry, and placed a soft fur under their head (l Samuel 19:13). A canopy, or bed with a tester, is names in the Apocrypha (Jdt 16:23), and elsewhere a hanging bed or hammock (, Isa 24:20), such as watchers in gardens used (Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 750; comp. Niebuhr, Beschr. p. 158). In the Mishna various kinds of beds or couches are referred to; e.g. the , dargash’ (Nedar. 7:5). The couches (, ) for the sick, named in the N.T. (Mat 9:6; Mar 2:4; Mar 6:55; Luk 5:18; Act 5:5, etc.) were movable (Becker, Charicl. 2:72). SEE BED.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Couch
(Gen. 49:4; 1 Chr. 5:1; Job 7:13; Ps. 6:6, etc.), a seat for repose or rest. (See BED)
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Couch
COUCH.The word couch is found in Luk 5:19; Luk 5:24 (as translation of ), where Mat 9:2; Mat 9:6 and Mar 2:4; Mar 2:11 have bed ( and respectively; also in Luk 5:18). It is found also in (Revised Version margin) of Mar 7:4 as translation of . In Act 5:15, where the Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 have beds and couches, the correct text is , small beds and couches, or, as some render, small couches and beds. The fact is, the terms used for couch and bed are not always sharply distinguishedcertainly not by translators. The distinction made by Bengel and Kuinoel between (TR [Note: R Textus Receptus.] of Act 5:15) and , that the former denotes soft and costly, and the latter poor and humble, beds is quite arbitrary (Meyer). In English usage the distinction between bed and couch is clear enough; a couch is a piece of furniture on which it is customary to repose or recline when dressed. A like distinction was made by the Romans, and in a measure by the Jews in the time of Christ, when couches were often used for the purpose of reclining at meals. They were known among the Romans as triclinia, because they ran round three sides of a table. Such couches were undoubtedly in common use among the Jews of Christs day, though they are not mentioned in the Gospels in express terms, unless, against the best authorities, we accept in Mar 7:4. They were provided with cushions, such as are now in vogue, on which the left elbow could rest, so as to leave the right arm free; and were often arranged around three sides of a table in the form of a parallelogram, the fourth side of which was left open for the convenience of those waiting on the guests.
This practice of reclining at table first appears in the Bible in the prophecy of Amos (Amo 6:4, cf. Eze 23:41), and is denounced by the prophet as of foreign origin and as savouring of sinful luxury. The couches there coming into view were of costly cedar-wood inlaid with ivory (Amo 6:4); the feet were plated with silver, and the backs covered with gold-leaf (cf. Son 3:10). They were usually furnished with pillows and bolsters, often of fine Egyptian linen or silk, and richly embroidered coverings, costly rugs, etc. (cf. Pro 7:16). The Tel el-Amarna tablets show how early such luxury prevailed in Palestine, and state that even in those ancient times couches of rare and costly wood inlaid with gold were sent as presents from Palestine to Egypt.
Keeping this in mind will throw light on some otherwise obscure passages in the Gospels, e.g. where the woman is spoken of (Luk 7:36-38) as washing and anointing the feet of Jesus while He was sitting (reclining) at meat in the Pharisees house; where our Lord washed the feet of His disciples while they were at supper (Joh 13:5); and where it is said of the beloved disciple at the supper that he, leaning back, as lie was, on Jesus breast, spoke to Him of His betrayer (Joh 13:25).
There is reason to believe, however, that among the Jewish people in general, in the most ancient times and later, the bed, so far as use went, was bed and couch in onea plain wooden frame with feet and a slightly raised end for the head (Gen 47:31), differing very little, indeed, from the bed of the Egyptians represented on the monuments (Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. i. 416, fig. 191). In the daytime and at meals people sat on it, in the most ancient times, perhaps, with crossed legs; and then at night they placed it here or there, as the season or need suggested, and slept on it. In the East to-day the beds are often made by laying bolsters on the raised part of the floor, or on the low divans which run along the walls, and the sitting-room of the day becomes a bedroom at night. (See Bed, Closet).
Geo. B. Eager.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Couch
COUCH.See House, 8. The verb to couch occurs in Deu 33:13 the deep that coucheth beneath. The word means simply to lie down, but it is used almost exclusively of animals, as is the Heb. word also. The subterranean deep, says Driver, is perhaps pictured as a gigantic monster.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Couch
kouch (substantive.). See BED.
Couch (verb): , rabhac, to crouch, lurk, as a beast in readiness to spring on its prey. If thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door (Gen 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 (Gen 49:9; compare Num 24:9 f); and Issachar to a strong ass, couching down between the sheepfolds (Gen 49:14, the King James Version between two burdens; compare Jdg 5:16). The deep that coucheth beneath (Deu 33:13), probably the springs of water, or possibly, as Driver suggests, the subterranean deep, pictured as a gigantic monster. See ABYSS.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Couch
Couch [BEDS]
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Couch
Couch. See Bed.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Couch
“a small bed,” a diminutive form of kline, “a bed” (from klino, “to incline, recline”), is used in Luk 5:19, Luk 5:24 of the “bed” (kline, in Luk 5:18) on which the palsied man was brought. See BED.
see BED, No. 4.