Cushion
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]
Cushion —In NT only in Mark 4:38 Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 [Authorized Version ‘pillow’] for προσκεφάλαιον, a cushion for the head, but also for sitting or reclining upon (see references in Liddell and Scott, s.v. ). By προσκεφάλαια LXX Septuagint renders כְּסָתוֹת of Ezekiel 13:18 where the Arabic equivalent is mekhaddût. Mekhaddeh (sing.) is just the word used by the Sea of Galilee fishermen for the cushion they place in the hinder part of their fishing-boats for the comfort of the passenger to-day. These boats are probably similar to those used by our Lord and His friends, and on just such a cushion the present writer has often rested in crossing the same waters.
The cushions universally used to support the head or the arm in reclining on the diwân are in size about 24″ × 15″ × 5″. They are usually made of straw—less frequently of cotton or hair—sewn into strong canvas, and covered with coloured print or silk. The larger cushions for the seat of the diwân , and employed in the boats, are of the same material. See Pillow.
W. Ewing.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): (n.) the elastic edge of a billiard table.
(2): (v. t.) To furnish with cushions; as, to cushion a chaise.
(3): (v. t.) To conceal or cover up, as under a cushion.
(4): (n.) a mass of steam in the end of the cylinder of a steam engine to receive the impact of the piston
(5): (n.) A riotous kind of dance, formerly common at weddings; - called also cushion dance.
(6): (v. t.) To seat or place on, or as on a cushion.
(7): (n.) Anything resembling a cushion in properties or use
(8): (n.) A case or bag stuffed with some soft and elastic material, and used to sit or recline upon; a soft pillow or pad.
(9): (n.) a pad on which gilders cut gold leaf
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [3]
CUSHION . See Pillow.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [4]
koosh´un ( προσκεφάλαιον , proskephálaion ): In New Testament, only in Mark 4:38 the Revised Version (British and American). The word means literally, a cushion for the head (the King James Version "pillow") but was also used of one for sitting or reclining upon, e.g. of a rower's cushion. The article used with it in this passage suggests that it was one of the customary furnishings of the boat, and it was probably similar to the cushion placed for the comfort of passengers in the stern of modern boats on the Sea of Galilee. "Silken cushions" of Amos 3:12 the Revised Version (British and American) is a rendering of the Hebrew demesheḳ from its supposed connection with damask . These cushions formed the divan, often the only article of furniture in an oriental reception room. "Cushions" occurs further in the somewhat doubtful the Revised Version, margin rendering of Proverbs 7:16; Proverbs 31:22 .
