Basket

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

Mostly of wicker, and variously used for bread (Gen. 40:16-1916When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head: 17And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head. 18And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days: 19Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee. (Genesis 40:16‑19); Ex. 29:2-3,232And unleavened bread, and cakes unleavened tempered with oil, and wafers unleavened anointed with oil: of wheaten flour shalt thou make them. 3And thou shalt put them into one basket, and bring them in the basket, with the bullock and the two rams. (Exodus 29:2‑3)
23And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord: (Exodus 29:23); Lev. 8:22Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and a bullock for the sin offering, and two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread; (Leviticus 8:2); Matt. 14:20; 15:3720And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. (Matthew 14:20)
37And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. (Matthew 15:37)); first fruits (Deut. 26:2-42That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there. 3And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I profess this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the country which the Lord sware unto our fathers for to give us. 4And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the Lord thy God. (Deuteronomy 26:2‑4)); fruits (Jer. 24:1-21The Lord showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. 2One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. (Jeremiah 24:1‑2)); bulky articles (2 Kings 10:77And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel. (2 Kings 10:7); Psa. 81:66I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots. (Psalm 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. 11:3333And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. (2 Corinthians 11:33)), though for the same occurrence another word is used in Acts 9:2525Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. (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. 15:3737And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. (Matthew 15:37); Matt. 16:1010Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? (Matthew 16:10); Mark 8:8, 208So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. (Mark 8:8)
20And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. (Mark 8:20)). When the five thousand were fed there were twelve baskets of fragments, but it was then the κόθινος, “a hand basket” (Matt. 14:2020And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. (Matthew 14:20); Matt. 16:99Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? (Matthew 16:9); Mark 6:4343And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. (Mark 6:43); Mark 8:1919When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. (Mark 8:19); Luke 9:1717And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets. (Luke 9:17); John 6:1313Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. (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:

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 15:3737And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. (Matthew 15:37); Mark 8:88So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. (Mark 8:8); and especially Matthew 16:9-109Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? (Matthew 16:9‑10); Mark 8:19-2019When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. 20And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. (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:

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 2:1515Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. (Joshua 2:15). David seems to have escaped in a similar manner by the help of Michal. See 1 Samuel 19:1212So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped. (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).

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671. Baskets
Narrator: Chris Genthree
871. Wall - Window - Basket
Narrator: Chris Genthree