Dictionary
Devil
(Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man's spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Rev. 2:10; Zech. 3:1). He is called also "the accuser of the brethen" (Rev. 12:10). In Lev. 17:7 the word "devil" is the translation of the Hebrew sair, meaning a "goat" or "satyr" (Isa. 13:21; 34:14), alluding to the wood-daemons, the objects of idolatrous worship among the heathen. In Deut. 32:17 and Ps. 106:37 it is the translation of Hebrew shed, meaning lord, and idol, regarded by the Jews as a "demon," as the word is rendered in the Revised Version. In the narratives of the Gospels regarding the "casting out of devils" a different Greek word (daimon) is used. In the time of our Lord there were frequent cases of demoniacal possession (Matt. 12:25-30; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 4:35; 10:18, etc.).
Dictionary
Funeral
Burying was among the Jews the only mode of disposing of corpses (Gen. 23:19; 25:9; 35:8, 9, etc.). The first traces of burning the dead are found in 1 Sam. 31:12. The burning of the body was affixed by the law of Moses as a penalty to certain crimes (Lev. 20:14; 21:9). To leave the dead unburied was regarded with horror (1 Kings 13:22; 14:11; 16:4; 21:24, etc.). In the earliest times of which we have record kinsmen carried their dead to the grave (Gen. 25:9; 35:29; Judg. 16:31), but in later times this was done by others (Amos 6:16). Immediately after decease the body was washed, and then wrapped in a large cloth (Acts 9:37; Matt. 27:59; Mark 15:46). In the case of persons of distinction, aromatics were laid on the folds of the cloth (John 19:39; comp. John 12:7). As a rule the burial (q.v.) took place on the very day of the death (Acts 5:6, 10), and the body was removed to the grave in an open coffin or on a bier (Luke 7:14). After the burial a funeral meal was usually given (2 Sam. 3:35; Jer. 16:5, 7; Hos. 9:4).