Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(Gen. 25:9; 35:29; Judg. 16:31; Matt. 8:21-22) [BURIAL.]
“100. Large Funerals” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Genesis 50:9 There went up with him... a very great company.
This not only shows the high esteem in which Joseph was held, but it also furnishes an illustration of the Egyptian fashion of large and stately funeral processions. The custom existed in every province in Egypt, and in every age of its history.
“210. Funeral Feasts” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Deuteronomy 26:14. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away aught thereof for any unclean use, nor given aught thereof for the dead.
There is no evidence of any allusion here to idolatrous customs. The reference is probably to the feasts which were given on funeral occasions to the friends assembled. See Hosea 9:4. The custom still exists in Palestine. The phrase “given aught thereof for the dead” may have reference to the practice of sending provisions into a house of mourning; to which custom allusion is supposed to be made in 2 Samuel 3:35, where David, on occasion of Abner’s death, refused to eat the food which was set before him. The expression “Eat not the bread of men” in Ezekiel 24:17, is thought to refer to the same custom. See also Jeremiah 16:7-8. Dr. Thomson, however, furnishes a different explanation to this giving for the dead. He says: “On certain days after the funeral large quantities of corn and other food are cooked in a particular manner, and sent to all the friends, however numerous, in the name of the dead. I have had many such presents, but my dislike of the practice, or something else, renders these dishes peculiarly disgusting to me” (The Land and the Book, vol.1, p. 150).
“763. Customs at Funerals” From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Luke 7:18. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.
1. It was customary, and still is, to bury the dead outside the limits of the city. Heathen nations as well as Jewish observed this usage. Rare exceptions were sometimes made in the case of royal personages. See note on 1 Kings 2:10 (#292). Thus it was that Jesus saw the dead man carried out of the gate.
2. It was usual for all who knew the deceased to accompany the body to the grave. There were several relays of men to take turns in carrying the bier. This was considered a privilege. Thus we are told that “much people of the city was with” the bereaved mother.
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