Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
Mostly of wicker, and variously used for bread (Gen. 40:16-19; Ex. 29:2-3,23; Lev. 8:2; Matt. 14:20; 15:37); first fruits (Deut. 26:2-4); fruits (Jer. 24:1-2); bulky articles (2 Kings 10:7; Psa. 81:6).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
Various Hebrew words are translated “basket,” and doubtless the size, shape and strength varied according to the purpose for which they were intended. In the New Testament there are three Greek words used: σαργάνη, “a hamper,” in which Paul was let down by the wall, (2 Cor. 11:33), though for the same occurrence another word is used in Acts 9:25, σπυρίς, which also signifies “a hamper,” and is used for the seven baskets of fragments remaining after the four thousand were fed (Matt. 15:37; Matt. 16:10; Mark 8:8, 20). When the five thousand were fed there were twelve baskets of fragments, but it was then the κόθινος, “a hand basket” (Matt. 14:20; Matt. 16:9; Mark 6:43; Mark 8:19; Luke 9:17; John 6:13). The two perfect numbers seven and twelve show the inexhaustible supply the Lord furnishes when His purpose is to bless His own.
“671. Baskets” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Matthew 14:20. They took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
See also Mark 6:43; Luke 9:17; John 6:13.
The baskets now used in the East resemble very much those which are represented on the monuments of Egypt. They are often like our own in shape, material, and workmanship.
The baskets here referred to (κόφινοι) were probably the ordinary traveling baskets which the Jews took with them when on a journey. They carried their provisions in them, so that they might not be polluted by eating the food of the Gentiles; and it is also said that they sometimes carried hay in them, on which they slept at night. Thus they kept aloof from the Gentiles in food, and lodging. This will account for the contemptuous description which Juvenal gives of the Jews, when he represents that their household goods consisted of a basket and hay! In the corresponding miracle, where four thousand were fed, a different kind of basket was employed. See Matthew 15:37; Mark 8:8; and especially Matthew 16:9-10; Mark 8:19-20; where, in the original, two different terms are used. It is impossible, however, now to tell the precise difference between the two sorts of baskets mentioned.
“871. Wall - Window - Basket” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
2 Corinthians 11:33. Through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall.
See also Acts 9:25.
1. The wall of a house is sometimes also a portion of the city wall, and thus windows may be placed in the wall through which access may be had to the region outside of the city. The floor of an upper story sometimes extends beyond the wall, giving an opportunity for a bay window projecting outside the wall. Either of these methods would afford a chance to escape from the city without passing through the gates. Thus the spies escaped from Jericho. See Joshua 2:15. David seems to have escaped in a similar manner by the help of Michal. See 1 Samuel 19:12.
2. The basket by which Paul was let down probably resembled the large round shallow baskets which are still used in Damascus and in other parts of the East for various purposes. When Professor Hackett was in Damascus he saw a couple of men come to the top of the wall with a basket full of rubbish, which they emptied over the wall. A friend said to him: “Such a basket the people use here for almost every sort of thing. If they are digging a well and wish to send a man down into it, they put him into such a basket; and that those who aided Paul’s escape should have used a basket for the purpose was entirely natural, according to the present customs of the country. Judging from what is done now, it is the only sort of vehicle of which men would be apt to think under such circumstances” (Illustrations of Scripture, p. 69).
Related Books and Articles: