Reference: Grave
Easton
Among the ancient Hebrews graves were outside of cities in the open field (Lu 7:12; Joh 11:30). Kings (1Ki 2:10) and prophets (1Sa 25:1) were generally buried within cities. Graves were generally grottoes or caves, natural or hewn out in rocks (Isa 22:16; Mt 27:60). There were family cemeteries (Ge 47:29; 50:5; 2Sa 19:37). Public burial-places were assigned to the poor (Jer 26:23; 2Ki 23:6). Graves were usually closed with stones, which were whitewashed, to warn strangers against contact with them (Mt 23:27), which caused ceremonial pollution (Nu 19:16).
There were no graves in Jerusalem except those of the kings, and according to tradition that of the prophetess Huldah.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
When {the time of Israel's death drew near}, he called to his son, to Joseph. And he said to him, "If I have found favor in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh, that you might [vow] to deal kindly and faithfully with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt,
'My father made me swear, saying, "Behold, I [am about] to die. In the tomb that I have hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan--there you must bury me." So then, please let me go up and let me bury my father; then I will return.'"
Anyone {in the open field} who touches {one who has been slain}, or a corpse, or a bone of a person, or a burial site, he will be unclean for seven days.
Now Samuel died, and all Israel assembled and mourned for him. They buried him at his house at Ramah. Then David got up and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
Then David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David.
'What {business do you have} here, and who {do you have} here, that you have cut a grave cutting here for yourself, carving his grave [on] the height, a dwelling place for him in the rock?
And they brought out Uriah from Egypt and they brought him to King Jehoiakim, and he struck him down with the sword, and he threw his dead body into the burial sites of the sons of the people.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean!
and placed it in his [own] new tomb that he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a large stone to the entrance of the tomb [and] went away.
And as he approached the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, his mother's only son, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.
(Now Jesus has not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha went to meet him.)
Hastings
Morish
The principal words are
1. qeber, qeburah, ?????, from 'to bury,' and hence any description of burying place, as Ge 35:20; 50:5; Mt 23:29, etc. They are often translated SEPULCHRE. Ge 23:6; De 34:6; Mt 23:27.
2. sheol, ????, the place of departed spirits. Ge 37:35; Ps 6:5; Ho 13:14; 1Co 15:55, etc. See HELL.
3. ?????, ????????, from 'to remember,' hence a memorial tomb or monument. Mt 27:52-53, etc. It is often translated SEPULCHRE, as in Joh 20:1-11; and TOMB, as in Mt 8:28, etc.
The graves were of various descriptions: some were simply holes dug in the ground and at times covered over with one or more large stones, over which men might walk unawares. Lu 11:44. Some were hewn in the rock, and a single stone placed or rolled against the mouth, the tomb of Lazarus and that of Joseph in which 'the body of Jesus was laid' being of this description. Other sepulchres or tombs were said to be built; an ornamental structure being erected over the place where the body was laid, similar to those found in nearly all modern cemeteries. Mt 23:29.
In places, and especially near Jerusalem, there are long passages, with holes cut in the sides in which the bodies were placed; and by continuing these passages such tombs could be enlarged to any extent. We read in the O.T. of the TOMBS OF THE KINGS. Those now bearing this name may be seen marked on maps to the north of Jerusalem; and others called the TOMBS OF THE PROPHETS are placed on the mount of Olives. These of course may not be those referred to in scripture.
Natural caves were also used as graves, as the cave of Machpelah. Ge 23:3-20. In Lu 8:27 we read of a demoniac who lived in the 'tombs:' these were doubtless natural caves.
The Lord compared the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees to whited sepulchres, the outward beauty of which stood in strong contrast to the dead men's bones and uncleanness within. There is a tradition that the sepulchres were white-washed once every year, that they might be readily seen and avoided. The hour comes when all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and come forth, some to the resurrection of life, and others to the resurrection of judgement. Joh 5:28-29.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from his dead, and he spoke to the Hittites [and] said, "I [am] a stranger and an alien among you; give to me {my own burial site} among you so that I may bury my dead from before me. read more. And the Hittites answered Abraham [and] said to him, "Hear us, my lord, you [are] a mighty prince in our midst. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites. None of us {will withhold his burial site} from you [for] burying your dead."
"Hear us, my lord, you [are] a mighty prince in our midst. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial sites. None of us {will withhold his burial site} from you [for] burying your dead." And Abraham rose up and bowed to the people of the land, to the Hittites. read more. And he spoke with them, saying, "{If you are willing} [that] I bury my dead from before me, hear me and intercede for me with Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may sell to me the cave of Machpelah which {belongs to him}, which [is] at the end of his field. At full value let him sell [it] to me in your midst as {a burial site}." Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. And Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city, [and] said, "No, my lord, hear me. I give you the field and the cave which [is] in it, I [also] give it to you in the sight of the children of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead." And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "{If only you will hear me}--I give the price of the field. Take [it] from me that I may bury my dead there." And Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him "My lord, hear me. A [piece of] land [worth] four hundred shekels of silver--what [is] that between me and you? Bury your dead." Then Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver {at the merchants' current rate}. So the field of Ephron which [was] in the Machpelah, which [was] near Mamre--the field and the cave which [was] in it, with all the trees that [were] in the field, which [were] within all its surrounding boundaries--{passed} to Abraham as a property in the presence of the Hittites, with respect to all [who were] entering the gate of his city. And thus afterward Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah near Mamre; that [is] Hebron, in the land of Canaan And the field and the cave which [was] in it {passed} to Abraham as {a burial site} from the Hittites.
And Jacob erected a pillar at her burial site. That [is] the pillar of the burial site of Rachel unto this day.
And all his sons and daughters tried to console him, but he refused to be consoled. And he said, "No, I shall go down to my son, to Sheol, mourning." And his father wept for him.
'My father made me swear, saying, "Behold, I [am about] to die. In the tomb that I have hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan--there you must bury me." So then, please let me go up and let me bury my father; then I will return.'"
And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor. But until this day no one knows his burial site.
For there is no remembrance of you in death. In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?
Should I redeem them from {the power} of Sheol? Should I deliver them from death? Where [are] your plagues, Death? Where [is] your destruction, Sheol? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
And [when] he came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from among the tombs met him, very violent, so that no one was able to pass by along that road.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean!
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous,
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous,
And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
And [as] he got out on the land, a certain man from the town met [him] who had demons and for a considerable time had not worn clothes and did not live in a house, but among the tombs.
Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, and the people who walk over [them] do not know [it]!
"Do not be astonished [at] this, because an hour is coming in which all those in the tombs will hear his voice and they will come out--those who have done good [things] to a resurrection of life, but those who have practiced evil [things] to a resurrection of judgment.
Now on the first [day] of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, [while it] was still dark, and saw the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord from the tomb and we do not know where they have put him!" read more. Then Peter and the other disciple went out and were going to the tomb. And the two were running together, and the other disciple ran ahead, faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first. And bending over to look, he saw the [strips of] linen cloth lying there, though he did not go in. Then Simon Peter also came following him, and he went into the tomb and saw the [strips of] linen cloth lying there, and the facecloth that was on his head--not lying with the [strips of] linen cloth, but folded up separately in one place. So then the other disciple who had come to the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed. (For they did not yet know the scripture that it was necessary for him to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went away again to their [own homes]. But Mary stood outside at the tomb, weeping. Then, while she was weeping, she bent over to look into the tomb,
Smith
Grave.
[BURIAL]
See Burial, Sepulchres