Couch

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

Couch —The word ‘couch’ is found in  Luke 5:19;  Luke 5:24 (as translation of κλινίδιον), where  Matthew 9:2;  Matthew 9:6 and  Mark 2:4;  Mark 2:11 have ‘bed’ (κλίνη and κράβαττος respectively; κλίνη also in  Luke 5:18). It is found also in (Revised Version margin) of  Mark 7:4 as translation of κλίνη. In  Acts 5:15, where the Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 have ‘beds and couches,’ the correct text is ἐπὶ κλιναρίων καὶ κραβάττων, ‘small beds and couches,’ or, as some render, ‘small couches and beds.’ The fact is, the terms used for ‘couch’ and ‘bed’ are not always sharply distinguished—certainly not by translators. The distinction made by Bengel and Kuinoel between κλινῶν (TR [Note: R Textus Receptus.] of  Acts 5:15) and κραβάττων, that the former denotes ‘soft and costly,’ and the latter ‘poor and humble,’ beds is quite arbitrary (Meyer). In English usage the distinction between ‘bed’ and ‘couch’ is clear enough; a couch is a piece of furniture on which it is customary to repose or recline when dressed. A like distinction was made by the Romans, and in a measure by the Jews in the time of Christ, when ‘couches’ were often used for the purpose of reclining at meals. They were known among the Romans as triclinia , because they ran round three sides of a table. Such ‘couches’ were undoubtedly in common use among the Jews of Christ’s day, though they are not mentioned in the Gospels in express terms, unless, against the best authorities, we accept καὶ κλινῶν in  Mark 7:4. They were provided with cushions, such as are now in vogue, on which the left elbow could rest, so as to leave the right arm free; and were often arranged around three sides of a table in the form of a parallelogram, the fourth side of which was left open for the convenience of those waiting on the guests.

This practice of reclining at table first appears in the Bible in the prophecy of Amos ( Amos 6:4, cf.  Ezekiel 23:41), and is denounced by the prophet as of foreign origin and as savouring of sinful luxury. The ‘couches’ there coming into view were of costly cedar-wood inlaid with ivory ( Amos 6:4); the feet were plated with silver, and the backs covered with gold-leaf (cf.  Song of Solomon 3:10). They were usually furnished with pillows and bolsters, often of fine Egyptian linen or silk, and richly embroidered coverings, costly rugs, etc. (cf.  Proverbs 7:16). The Tel el-Amarna tablets show how early such luxury prevailed in Palestine, and state that even in those ancient times couches of rare and costly wood inlaid with gold were sent as presents from Palestine to Egypt.

Keeping this in mind will throw light on some otherwise obscure passages in the Gospels, e.g. where the woman is spoken of ( Luke 7:36-38) as washing and anointing the feet of Jesus while He was ‘sitting (reclining) at meat in the Pharisee’s house’; where our Lord washed the feet of His disciples while they were at supper ( John 13:5); and where it is said of the beloved disciple at the supper that he, ‘leaning back, as lie was, on Jesus’ breast,’ spoke to Him of His betrayer ( John 13:25).

There is reason to believe, however, that among the Jewish people in general, in the most ancient times and later, the ‘bed,’ so far as use went, was ‘bed’ and ‘couch’ in one—a plain wooden frame with feet and a slightly raised end for the head ( Genesis 47:31), differing very little, indeed, from the bed of the Egyptians represented on the monuments (Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. i. 416, fig. 191). In the daytime and at meals people sat on it, in the most ancient times, perhaps, with crossed legs; and then at night they placed it here or there, as the season or need suggested, and slept on it. In the East to-day the beds are often made by laying bolsters on the raised part of the floor, or on the low divans which run along the walls, and the sitting-room of the day becomes a bedroom at night. (See Bed, Closet).

Geo. B. Eager.

King James Dictionary

COUCH,

1. To lie down, as on a bed or place of repose. 2. To lie down on the knees to stop and recline on the knees, as a beast.

Fierce tigers couched around.

3. To lie down in secret or in ambush to lie close and concealed.

The earl of Angus couched in a furrow.

Judah couched as a lion.  Genesis 44 .

4. To lie to lie in a bed or stratum.

Blessed of the Lord be his land-for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath.  Deuteronomy 33 .

5. To stoop to bend the body or back to lower in reverence, or to bend under labor, pain, or a burden.

Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens.  Genesis 44 .

These couchings, and these lowly courtesies.

COUCH,

1. To lay down to repose on a bed or place of rest.

Where unbruised youth, with unstuffed brain, doth couch his limbs.

2. To lay down to spread on a bed or floor as, to couch malt. 3. To lay close, or in a stratum.

The waters couch themselves, as close as may be, to the center of the globe.

4. To hide to lay close, or in another body.

It is in use at this day, to couch vessels in walls, to gather the wind from the top, and pass it down in spouts into rooms.

5. To include secretly to hide or to express in obscure terms, that imply what is to be understood with under.

All this, and more, lies couched under this allegory.

Hence,

6. To involve to include to comprise to comprehend or express.

This great argument for a future state, which St. Paul hath couched int he words read.

7. To lie close. 8. To fix a spear in the rest, in the posture of attack.

They couched their spears.

9. To depress the condensed crystaline humor or film that overspreads the pupil of the eye. To remove a catarct, by entering a needle through the coats of the eye, and pushing the lens to the bottom of the vitreous humor, and then downwards and outwards, so as to leave it in the under and outside of the eye. The true phrase is, to couch a cataract but we say, to couch they eye, or the patient.

COUCH, n.

1. A bed a place for rest or sleep. 2. A seat of repose a place for rest and ease, on which it is common to lie down undressed. 3. A layer of stratum as a couch of malt. 4. In painting, a lay or impression of color, in oil or water, covering the canvas, wall, or other matter to be painted. 5. Any lay, or impression, used to make a thing firm or consistent, or to screen it from the weather. 6. A covering of gold or silver leaf, laid on any substance to be gilded or silvered.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): (v. i.) To bend the body, as in reverence, pain, labor, etc.; to stoop; to crouch.

(2): (v. t.) A bed or place for repose or sleep; particularly, in the United States, a lounge.

(3): (v. t.) To treat by pushing down or displacing the opaque lens with a needle; as, to couch a cataract.

(4): (v. i.) To lie down or recline, as on a bed or other place of rest; to repose; to lie.

(5): (v. t.) To arrange; to place; to inlay.

(6): (v. t.) To lay upon a bed or other resting place.

(7): (v. t.) To arrange or dispose as in a bed; - sometimes followed by the reflexive pronoun.

(8): (v. t.) A preliminary layer, as of color, size, etc.

(9): (v. t.) A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley; as, couch of malt.

(10): (v. t.) Any place for repose, as the lair of a beast, etc.

(11): (v. t.) To put into some form of language; to express; to phrase; - used with in and under.

(12): (v. t.) To lay or deposit in a bed or layer; to bed.

(13): (v. t.) To transfer (as sheets of partly dried pulp) from the wire cloth mold to a felt blanket, for further drying.

(14): (v. t.) To conceal; to include or involve darkly.

(15): (v. i.) To lie down for concealment; to hide; to be concealed; to be included or involved darkly.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Κλινίδιον (Strong'S #2826 — Noun Neuter — klinidion — klin-id'-ee-on )

"a small bed," a diminutive form of kline, "a bed" (from klino, "to incline, recline"), is used in  Luke 5:19,24 of the "bed" (kline, in ver. 18) on which the palsied man was brought. See Bed.

2: Κράββατος (Strong'S #2895 — Noun Masculine — krabbatos — krab'-bat-os )

see Bed , No. 4.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

COUCH . See House, § 8 . The verb ‘to couch’ occurs in   Deuteronomy 33:13 ‘the deep that coucheth beneath.’ The word means simply to lie down , but it is used almost exclusively of animals, as is the Heb. word also. The subterranean deep, says Driver, is perhaps pictured as a gigantic monster.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 49:4 1 Chronicles 5:1 Job 7:13 Psalm 6:6Bed

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Couch. See Bed .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

See Bed .

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kouch (substantive.). See Bed .

Couch (verb): רבץ , rābhac , "to crouch," "lurk," as a beast in readiness to spring on its prey. "If thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door" ( Genesis 4:7 , the King James Version "lieth"), waiting for it to open. Cain is warned to beware of the first temptations to evil, in his case especially a sullen and jealous disposition (compare Dante, Inferno , I, 30). See Abel; Cain . The tribe of Judah is compared for its bravery to a recumbent lion or lioness ( Genesis 49:9; compare  Numbers 24:9 f); and Issachar to "a strong ass, couching down between the sheepfolds" (  Genesis 49:14 , the King James Version "between two burdens"; compare  Judges 5:16 ). "The deep that coucheth beneath" ( Deuteronomy 33:13 ), probably the springs of water, or possibly, as Driver suggests, "the subterranean deep, pictured as a gigantic monster." See Abyss .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Couch'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/c/couch.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Couch [BEDS]