basket Summary and Overview

There are five different Hebrew words so rendered in the Authorized Version: (1.) A basket (Heb. sal, a twig or osier) for holding bread (Gen. 40:16; Ex. 29:3, 23; Lev. 8:2, 26, 31; Num. 6:15, 17, 19). Sometimes baskets were made of twigs peeled; their manufacture was a recognized trade among the Hebrews. (2.) That used (Heb. salsilloth') in gathering grapes (Jer. 6:9). (3.) That in which the first fruits of the harvest were presented, Heb. tene, (Deut. 26:2, 4). It was also used for household purposes. In form it tapered downwards like that called "corbis" by the Romans. (4.) A basket (Heb. kelub) having a lid, resembling a bird-cage. It was made of leaves or rushes. The name is also applied to fruit-baskets (Amos 8:1, 2). (5.) A basket (Heb. dud) for carrying figs (Jer. 24:2), also clay to the brick-yard (R.V., Ps. 81:6), and bulky articles (2 Kings 10:7). This word is also rendered in the Authorized Version "kettle" (1 Sam. 2:14), "caldron" (2 Chr. 35:13), "seething-pot" (Job 41:20). In the New Testament mention is made of the basket (Gr. kophinos, small "wicker-basket") for the "fragments" in the miracle recorded Mark 6:43, and in that recorded Matt. 15:37 (Gr. spuris, large "rope-basket"); also of the basket in which Paul escaped (Acts 9:25, Gr. spuris; 2 Cor. 11: 33, Gr. sargane, "basket of plaited cords").

The Hebrew terms used in the description of this article are as follows: (1) Sal, so called from the twigs of which it was originally made, specially used for holding bread. #Ge 40:16| ff. #Ex 29:3,23; Le 8:2,26,31; Nu 6:15,17,19| (2) Salsilloth, a word of kindred origin, applied to the basket used in gathering grapes. #Jer 6:9| (3) Tene, in which the first-fruits of the harvest were presented. #De 26:2,4| (4) Celub, so called from its similarity to a bird-cage. (5) Dud, used for carrying fruit, #Jer 24:1,2| as well as on a larger scale for carrying clay to the brick-yard, #Ps 81:6| (pots, Authorized Version), or for holding bulky articles. #2Ki 10:7| In the New Testament baskets are described under three different terms.

BAS'KET . The word is the uniform term by which several picturesque Hebrew terms are translated. The context will generally enable us to decide not only on the probable size of the "basket," but also on its material. Thus, that mentioned in Jud 6:19 must have been of metal, while that in which Paul was let down from the wall at Damascus was of rope. 2 Cor 11:33. Wicker was, however, probably the usual material. They were of all shapes, sizes, and for all purposes. The fact is unfortunately concealed in our version Egyptian Baskets. (After Wilkinson.) that the word for "basket" in the account of the miracle of feeding the five thousand, Matt 14:20; Matt 16:9; Mark 6:43; Luke 9:17; John 6:13, is entirely different from that similarly translated in the miracle of feeding the four thousand. Matt 15:37; Mark 8:8 -- an indirect but striking proof that there were two miracles. It is not, however, possible to tell wherein the difference consisted.

Genesis 40:16; "I had three white (margin 'full of holes,' i.e. of open work, or rather 'baskets of white bread') baskets on my head." The Bible accurately represents Egyptian custom (Herodotus, 2:35), whereby men carried burdens on the head, women on the shoulders. In the distinct miracles of feeding the 5,000 and the 4,000 the KJV uses the stone term "baskets" for distinct Greek words. In Matthew 14:20; Mark 6:43; Luke 9:17; John 6:13, the disciples took up twelve kophinoi of fragments at the feeding of the 5,000. In feeding the 4,000 with seven loaves recorded by two evangelists, the disciples took up seven spurides (Matthew 15:37; Mark 8:8). Now kofinoi is always used by the evangelists when the miracle of the 5,000 is spoken of, spurides when that of the 4,000 is spoken of. Thus also in referring back to the miracle (Matthew 16:9-10) Jesus says: "Do ye not ... remember the five loaves of the 5,000, and how many kofinoi) ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the 4,000, and how many spurides) ye took up?" That the spurides) were of large size appears from Paul's having been let down in one from the wall (Acts 9:25). The kofinoi being twelve probably answers to the twelve disciples, a provision basket for each, and so are likely to have been smaller. The accurate distinction in the use of the terms so invariably made in the record of the miracles marks both events as real and distinct, not, as rationalists have guessed, different versions of one miracle. The coincidence is so undesigned that it escaped our translators altogether; it therefore can only be the result of genuineness and truth in the different evangelists' accounts. In traveling through Samaria or Gentile regions the Jews used kofinoi, not to be defiled by eating Gentile unclean foods. Smith's Bible Dictionary wrongly makes the kofinos larger than the spuris.