(Isaiah 18:2). It was sometimes platted into ropes (Job. 41:2; A.V.,
“hook,” R.V., “rope,” lit. “cord of rushes”).
(2.) In Exodus 2:3, Isaiah 18:2 (R.V., “papyrus”) this word is the
translation of the Hebrew gome, which designates the plant as absorbing
moisture. In Isaiah 35:7 and Job 8:11 it is rendered “rush.” This was the
Egyptian papyrus (papyrus Nilotica). It was anciently very abundant in
Egypt. The Egyptians made garments and shoes and various utensils of it.
It was used for the construction of the ark of Moses (Exodus 2:3, 5). The
root portions of the stem were used for food. The inside bark was cut into
strips, which were sewed together and dried in the sun, forming the
papyrus used for writing. It is no longer found in Egypt, but grows
luxuriantly in Palestine, in the marshes of the Huleh, and in the swamps at
the north end of the Lake of Gennesaret. (See CANE.)
- BULWARKS mural towers, bastions, were introduced by king Uzziah (2
Chronicles 26:15; Zephaniah 1:16; Psalm 48:13; Isaiah 26:1). There are
five Hebrew words so rendered in the Authorized Version, but the same
word is also variously rendered. - BUNCH (1.) A bundle of twigs (Exodus 12:22). (2.) Bunch or cake of
raisins (2 Samuel 16:1). (3.) The “bunch of a camel” (Isaiah 30:6). - BURDEN (1.) A load of any kind (Exodus 23:5). (2.) A severe task
(Exodus 2:11). (3.) A difficult duty, requiring effort (Exodus 18:22). (4.) A
prophecy of a calamitous or disastrous nature (Isaiah 13:1; 17:1;
Habakkuk 1:1, etc.). - BURIAL The first burial we have an account of is that of Sarah (Genesis
23). The first commercial transaction recorded is that of the purchase of a
burial-place, for which Abraham weighed to Ephron “four hundred shekels
of silver current money with the merchants.” Thus the patriarch became
the owner of a part of the land of Canaan, the only part he ever possessed.
When he himself died, “his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave
of Machpelah,” beside Sarah his wife (Genesis 25:9).
Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, was buried under Allon-bachuth, “the oak of
weeping” (Genesis 35:8), near to Bethel. Rachel died, and was buried near
Ephrath; “and Jacob set a pillar upon her grave” (16-20). Isaac was buried
at Hebron, where he had died (27, 29). Jacob, when charging his sons to
bury him in the cave of Machpelah, said, “There they buried Abraham and