Pillow

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

Pillow — Mark 4:38 ἐπὶ τὸ προσκεφάλαιον καθεύδων, Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ‘the cushion.’ The Gr. word occurs in LXX Septuagint,  Ezekiel 13:18-20 (probably ‘fillets’ used as amulets, A. B. Davidson, Ezekiel , 89),  1 Esdras 3:8 (pillow of Darius). Originally it meant a pillow for the head , but it came to be used for any cushion (cf. the English use of ‘kerchief,’ originally a covering for the head , as found in ‘neckerchief,’ ‘handkerchief’). Pollux ( Onomast . x. 40) says that the poet Cratinus, in his Horœ , used it of the sailor’s cushion (τὸ ναυτικὸν ὑπηρέσιον); and Hesychius, s.v. ποτίκρανον, further defines it as ‘the leathern cushion (τὸ δερμάτικον ὑπηρέσιον) on which the rowers sit.’

‘To mitigate the roughness of the beams or other seats, every rower was provided with a cushion, which he carried about with him from ship to ship’ (Cecil Torr, Ancient Ships , 47). The following passage in the Stratiotai (v.) of the poet Hermippus illustrates this; ‘’Tis time now to come along with me, taking the rowlocks and a cushion, that leaping on board thou mayest ply the dashing oar.’

Little is known about fishing-boats in the time of our Lord (Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible, Ext. Vol. 367b; Encyc. Bibl. iv. 4481; Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible iii. 1285). The fishermen’s belongings mentioned in the Gospels are the boat itself ( Luke 5:3,  John 21:3), with the accompanying small boat ( John 21:8), the two kinds of nets ( Matthew 4:18;  Matthew 13:47), the hook ( Luke 17:37), the baskets ( Matthew 13:48), the fisher’s coat ( John 21:7), and the cushion. It is clear that the condition of the fishermen of the Lake of Gennesaret was considerably removed from one of absolute poverty; we have other evidences of this in  Mark 1:20 (‘the hired servants’),  Luke 8:3,  Mark 15:40 f. (Salome, one of those who ‘ministered of their substance’),  John 19:27 (cf. Speaker’s Com . i. 203, ii. 276); Josephus Vita , 33, BJ iii. x. 1.

The τό before προσκεφάλαιον seems to imply that the cushion was one of the ordinary articles of the boat’s furniture, while its position ‘in the stern’ suggests that the disciples were in the habit of resting on it by turns during the night fishing ( Luke 5:5,  John 21:3). It is, therefore, not probable that it had been placed there specially for our Lord’s accommodation. On starting to cross the lake, He seated Himself on ‘the cushion in the stern’; and there, being wearied with prolonged teaching, He soon fell into a sleep so profound that not even the tumult of the elements was sufficient to disturb it. ‘Sleep is attributed to our Lord in this context only; but it is probably implied in  Mark 1:35, and in passages which describe His vigils as if they were exceptional’ (Swete, St. Mark , 85). Bushnell compares in a striking way the sleep of Adam in Paradise with that of Jesus in the storm ( Christ and His Salvation , 127). See also art. Cushion.

Literature.—Stephanus, Thesaurus Grœcœ Linguœ (ed. Hase and Dindorf); Cecil Torr, Ancient Ships , 1895; Hastings’ and other Bible Dictionaries .

James Donald.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Προσκεφάλαιον (Strong'S #4344 — Noun Neuter — proskephalaion — pros-kef-al'-ahee-on )

denotes "a pillow, a cushion for the head" (pros, "to," kephale, "a head"),  Mark 4:38 (RV, "cushion"). In the Sept.,   Ezekiel 13:18 .

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. t.) To rest or lay upon, or as upon, a pillow; to support; as, to pillow the head.

(2): ( n.) A kind of plain, coarse fustian.

(3): ( n.) A piece of metal or wood, forming a support to equalize pressure; a brass; a pillow block.

(4): ( n.) A block under the inner end of a bowsprit.

(5): ( n.) Anything used to support the head of a person when reposing; especially, a sack or case filled with feathers, down, hair, or other soft material.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 28:11 28:18 1 Samuel 19:16  Ezekiel 13:18 13:20

Modern translations render the underlying Hebrew as magic bands (Nas, Reb, Nrsv ) charms (NIV), or wristbands (TEV). Jesus demonstrated His absolute trust in God by sleeping through a storm with his head on a pillow ( Mark 4:38 Kjv, Tev ) or cushion (Nas, Niv, Reb, Nrsv )

King James Dictionary

PIL'LOW, n. L. pulvinar from L. pilus, hair, or from stuffing.

1. A long cushion to support the head of a person when reposing on a bed a sack or case filled with feathers, down or other soft material. 2. In a ship, the block on which the inner end of a bowsprit is supported.

The pillow of a plow, is a cross piece of wood which serves to raise or lower the beam.

PIL'LOW, To rest or lay on for support.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Ezekiel 13:18 (b) This figure describes the path of ease which some people make for the people of GOD to keep them comfortable and at rest when they should be active in the service of the King, as soldiers of Jesus Christ

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

PILLOW . The ‘pillow’ of   Mark 4:38 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ) is the cushion (so RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) used by rowers. See also Bolster and House, 8.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

is the rendering in the A.V. of three very different Hebrew and one Greek word. The proper term is in the plur. מְרִאֲשֹׁת , Meraash Ô Th ( Genesis 28:11;  Genesis 28:18, elsewhere "bolster"), which denotes simply a place for laying the head. In that passage we read that "Jacob took of the stones of that place [Haran], and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep." The Hebrew word would be more properly rendered "towards the head." Similarly our Lord employed either the bench or possibly some cushion or rug upon it, when asleep upon the boat ( Προσκεφάλαιων ,  Mark 4:38). (See Bed). The כֶּסֶת , Ke'Seth (also in the plur.), of  Ezekiel 13:18;  Ezekiel 13:20, however, designates a cushion or soft pad used in some way for magical enticement, perhaps one of the meretricious luxuries of the females alluded to. (See Armhole). In  1 Samuel 19:13;  1 Samuel 19:16, the Heb. word is כְּבַיר , Kebir, something Braided or plaited, hence usually thought to be a Quilt or mattress. (See Bolster).

What kind of pillows the Hebrews used we have no means of knowing, but the ancient Egyptians had pillows of wood formed to receive the head when resting on their couches, and these no doubt had a cushion stuffed with feathers, or other soft material. Specimens of these wooden pillows may be seen in the British Museum (Wilkinson, Anc. Egyptians, 1, 71). "Hardy travelers, like Jacob ( Genesis 28:11;  Genesis 28:18) and Elijah ( 1 Kings 19:6), sleeping on the bare ground, would make use of a stone for this purpose; and soldiers on the march had probably no softer resting-place ( 1 Samuel 26:7;  1 Samuel 26:11-12;  1 Samuel 26:16). Possibly both Saul and Elijah may have used the water-bottle which they carried as a bolster, and if this were the case, David's midnight adventure becomes more conspicuously daring. The ‘ pillow' of goats' hair which Michal's cunning put in the place of the bolster in her husband's bed (19:13, 16) was probably, as Ewald suggests, a net or curtain of goats' hair, to protect the sleeper from the mosquitoes (Gesch. 3, 101, note), like the ‘ canopy' of Holofernes." (See Sleep).