Reference: Ancestor-worship
Hastings
Every people whose religious beliefs have been investigated appears to have passed through the stage of Animism, the stage in which it was believed that the spirits of those recently dead were potent to hurt those they had left behind on earth. The rites observed to-day at an Irish wake have their origin in this fear that the spirit of the dead may injure the living. There are several traces of a similar belief in the OT. When a death took place in a tent or house, every vessel which happened to be open at the time was counted unclean (Nu 19:15). It remained clean only if it had a covering tied over it. The idea was that the spirit of the dead person, escaping from the body, might take up its abode in some open vessel instead of entering the gloomy realms of Sheol. Many mourning customs find their explanation in this same dread of the spirit but lately set free from its human home. The shaving of the head and beard, the cutting of the face and breast, the tearing of the garments
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And every open vessel which has no covering bound upon it, it is unclean.
If brothers live together, and one of them dies and has no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry outside to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her and take her as a wife for himself, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. And it shall be, the first-born whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his dead brother, so that his name may not be put out of Israel.
I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I put any of it away for unclean use, nor have I given of it for the dead. I have listened to the voice of Jehovah my God, and have done according to all that You have commanded me.
And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head, and covered it with a cloth.
And Michal took an image and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair at its head, and covered it with a cloth.
And the messengers came in, and behold, the image was in the bed with a pillow of goats' hair at its head.
And the messengers came in, and behold, the image was in the bed with a pillow of goats' hair at its head.
And the king said to her, Do not be afraid. For what did you see? And the woman said to Saul, I saw gods coming up out of the earth.
And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh. And they fasted seven days.
And David took hold on his garments, and tore them. And likewise all the men with him did so.
And David said to Joab and to all the people with him, Tear your clothes and gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And King David followed the bier.
And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it for herself upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven. And she did not allow either the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
In the streets they shall clothe themselves with sackcloth; on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, everyone shall howl, melting in tears.
And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters; they came to the cisterns, and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, nor shall men mourn for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. Nor shall anyone tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead. Nor shall anyone give them the cup of comfort to drink for their father or for their mother.
some men from Shechem came from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even eighty men, with their beards shaved, and their clothes torn, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of Jehovah.
For the king of Babylon shall stand at the parting of the way, at the head of the two highways, to practice divination. He shall shake arrows; he shall ask household idols; he shall look at the liver.
Groan but be silent; make no mourning for the dead; tie your turban on you, and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your lips, and do not eat the bread of men.
They shall not pour wine to Jehovah, nor shall they be pleasing to Him. Their sacrifices shall be like the bread of sorrows to them; all who eat of them shall be defiled. For their bread is for their soul, it shall not come into the house of Jehovah.