Bolster

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Kebir 1 Samuel 19:13,16 1 Samuel 26:7,11,16 Genesis 28:11,18 Ezekiel 13:18,20

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

The pillow of goat's hair which Michal put for a bolster ( 1 Samuel 19:13) was probably a curtain to protect the sleeper from mosquitoes, or a counterpane, with which sleepers in the East protect the head and face. Κebir means something woven, from kaabar "to weave." The indefinite article implies it was one of the articles of regular use, as a counterpane or veil woven of goat's hair to cover the head and face while sleeping.

Holman Bible Dictionary

1 Samuel 19:16 1 Samuel 26:16

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

BOLSTER . This word, which appears six times in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ( 1 Samuel 19:13; 1 Samuel 19:16; 1 Samuel 26:7; 1 Samuel 26:11-12; 1 Samuel 26:16 ) as the rendering of a Heb. word signifying ‘the place at the head,’ ‘head-place,’ has rightly disappeared from RV [Note: Revised Version.] , which gives ‘head’ throughout.

A. R. S. Kennedy.

King James Dictionary

BOLSTER, n.

1. A long pillow or cushion,used to support the head of persons lying on a bed generally laid under the pillows.

2. A pad, or quilt,used to hinder pressure,support any part of the body, or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part a compress.

3. In sadlery, a part of a saddle raised upon the bows or hinder part, to hold the rider's thigh.

4. In ships, a cushion or bag, filled with tarred canvas,used to preserve the stays from being worn or chafed by the masts.

BOLSTER, To support with a bolster, pillow or any soft pad or quilt.

1. To support to hold up to maintain.

2. To afford a bed to.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

bōl´stẽr : Found in the King James Version only in 1 Samuel 19:13 , 1 Samuel 19:16 , "Behold, the teraphim was in the bed, with the pillow of goat's hair at the head thereof" (the King James Version "for his bolster"), and 1 Samuel 26:7 , 1 Samuel 26:11 , 1 Samuel 26:12 , 1 Samuel 26:16 , "Saul lay sleeping ... with his spear stuck in the ground at his head ." "Bolster" in these passages in the King James Version was used to translate a Hebrew word whose true significance is "the place of the head," or "the head-place." It will be noted that it has disappeared from the Revised Version (British and American), which rightly has throughout "head," instead of "bolster." See Cushion .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( מְרִאֲשׁוֹת, meraashoth', something at the head) occurs Genesis 28:11; Genesis 28:18, where it is rendered " pillows;" 1 Samuel 19:13; 1 Samuel 19:16; 1 Samuel 26:7; 1 Samuel 26:11; 1 Samuel 26:16, a pillow. These were stuffed with wool or some soft substance ( Ezekiel 13:18; Ezekiel 13:21); the poorer classes, instead of these, made use of skins. The

"pillow of goats' hair for his bolster," placed by Michal ( 1 Samuel 19:13), seems to convey the impression that in those remote times it was not usual for any but sick persons to use bolsters or pillows to support the head when in bed; and that, accordingly, Michal put one stuffed with goats' hair under the head of the Teraphim, to confirm the notion she wished to convey that David lay there sick. She would then cover the head and bolster with a cloth, it being usual in the East for people to cover their heads while in bed. The Septuagint and Josephus make out that it was a goat's liver, the use of which, as explained by the latter (Ant. 6:11,4), was, that the liver of a goat had the property of motion some time after being taken from the animal, and therefore gave a motion to the bed-clothes, which was necessary to convey the idea that a living person lay in the bed. The Targum says that it was a goat-skin bottle; if so, it was most likely inflated with air. It is probable, however, that the term rendered "bolster" is merely an adverbial phrase, and should be rendered literally in all cases, as it actually is in 1 Samuel 26:7-16. (See Bed).