Canopy
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [1]
Canopy . A loan-word from the Gr. kônôpeion , a mosquito-net. It is used to render this word in the description of the bed of Holofernes with its mosquito-curtain ( Jdt 10:21 etc.); also in Isaiah 4:5 RV [Note: Revised Version.] for Heb. chuppah in the sense of a protective covering. This Heb. word is becoming naturalized in English to denote the canopy under which a Jewish bridegroom and bride stand while the wedding ceremony is being performed.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): (n.) A covering fixed over a bed, dais, or the like, or carried on poles over an exalted personage or a sacred object, etc. chiefly as a mark of honor.
(2): (n.) An ornamental projection, over a door, window, niche, etc.
(3): (v. t.) To cover with, or as with, a canopy.
(4): (n.) Also, a rooflike covering, supported on pillars over an altar, a statue, a fountain, etc.
Smith's Bible Dictionary [3]
Canopy. Judith 10:21; Judith 13:9; Judith 16:19. The canopy of Holofernes is the only one mentioned.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [4]
( Κωνῳπεῖον , from Κώνωψ , a Vnat; Vulg. Conopeum):
(1) In the O.T. the term employed for the hanging of the couch of Holofernes ( Judith 10:21; Judith 13:9; Judith 16:19), where alone it occurs in the Bible, although, perhaps, from the "pillars" of the litter described in Song of Solomon 3:10, it may be argued that its equipage would include a canopy. It probably retained the mosquito nets or curtains in which the name originated, although its description ( Judith 10:21) betrays luxury and display rather than such simple usefulness. Varro ( ''R. R'' 2:10, 8) uses theterm (quae in conopeis jacent) of languid women very much as the book of Judith ( Ἀναπαυόμενος . . . Ἐν Τῷ Κωνωπείῳ ) describes the position of a luxurious general. (For farther classical illustration, see Smith, Diet. Of Ant. s.v. Conopeum.) It might possibly be asked why Judith, whose business I was to escape without delay, should have taken the trouble to pull down the canopy on the body of Holofernes? Probably it was an instance of theHebrew notion that blood should be instantly covered (comp. 2 Samuel 20:12; Leviticus 17:13), (See Blood), and for this purpose the light bedding of Syria was inadequate. (See Bed). Tent furniture also is naturally lighter, even when most luxurious, than that of a palace, and thus a woman's hand might unfix it from the pillars without much difficulty.
(2) In ecclesiastical use, (See Baldachin).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [5]
kan´ō̇ - pi ( חפה , ḥuppāh , from a root meaning "to enclose" or "cover"): Isaiah 4:5 the King James Version has "defence," the English Revised Version "canopy," the American Standard Revised Version "covering," the last being best, though "canopy" has much in its favor. In Psalm 19:5 (Hebrews 19:6) ḥuppāh is used of the bridegroom's chamber and in Joel 2:16 of the bride's. Among the Hebrews the ḥuppāh was originally the chamber in which the bride awaited the groom for the marital union. In Judith 10:21; 13:9, 15; 16:19 the word canopy occurs as the English equivalent of the Greek κωνωπεῖον , kōnōpeı́on , which was primarily a mosquito-net and then a canopy over a bed, whether for useful or for decorative purposes.
