Burial in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

ber'-i-al (qebhurah; compare New Testament to entaphidsai): I. IMMEDIATE BURIAL CONSIDERED URGENT 1. Reasons for This 2. The Burial of Jesus 3. The Usual Time 4. Duties of Next of Kin II. PREPARATIONS FOR BURIAL 1. Often Informal and Hasty 2. Usually with More Ceremony 3. Contrasts between Jewish Customs and Other Peoples' (1) Cremation (2) Embalming III. ON THE WAY TO THE GRAVE 1. Coffins Unknown 2. Professional Mourners IV. AT THE GRAVE 1. Graves Dug in the Earth 2. Family Tombs. Later Customs 3. Sealed Stones 4. Stated Times of Mourning 5. Excessive Mourning 6. Dirge-Songs V. FAILURE TO RECEIVE BURIAL A CALAMITY OR JUDGMENT VI. PLACES OF BURIAL: HOW MARKED LITERATURE It is well to recall at the outset that there are points of likeness and of marked contrast between oriental and occidental burial customs in general, as well as between the burial customs of ancient Israel and those of other ancient peoples. These will be brought out, or suggested later in this article. I. Immediate Burial Considered Urgent. 1. Reasons for This: The burial of the dead in the East in general was and is often effected in such a way as to suggest to the westerner indecent haste. Dr. Post says that burial among the people of Syria today seldom takes place later than ten hours after death, often earlier; but, he adds, "the rapidity of decomposition, the excessive violence of grief, the reluctance of Orientals to allow the dead to remain long in the houses of the living, explain what seems to us the indecency of haste." This still requires the survivors, as in the case of Abraham on the death of Sarah, to bury their dead out of their sight (Gen 23:1-4); and it in part explains the quickness with which the bodies of Nadab and Abihu were Carried out of the camp (Lev 10:4), and those of Ananias and Sapphira were hastened off to burial (Acts 5:1- 11). Then, of course, the defilement to which contact with a dead body gave occasion, and the judgment that might come upon a house for harboring the body of one dying under a Divine judgment, further explain such urgency and haste. 2. The Burial of Jesus: It was in strict accordance with such customs and the provision of the Mosaic law (Dt 21:23; compare Gal 3:13), as well as in compliance with the impulses of true humanity, that Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus for burial on the very day of the crucifixion (Mt 27:39 ff). 3. The Usual Time: The dead are often in their graves, according to present custom, within two or three hours after death. Among oriental Jews burial takes place, if possible, within twenty-four hours after death, and frequently on the day of death. Likewise Mohammedans bury their dead on the day of death, if death takes place in the morning; but if in the afternoon or at night, not until the following day. 4. Duties of Next of Kin: As soon as the breath is gone the oldest son, or failing him, the nearest of kin present, closes...