(As a punishment), a mark of infamy inflicted on the dead bodies of criminals ( Deuteronomy 21:23 ) rather than our modern mode of punishment. Criminals were first strangled and then hanged ( Numbers 25:4 ; Deuteronomy 21:22 ). (See 2 Samuel 21:6 for the practice of the Gibeonites.) Hanging (as a curtain). Heb. masak, (a) before the entrance to the court of the tabernacle ( Exodus 35:17 ); (b) before the door of the tabernacle (26:36,37); (c) before the entrance to the most holy place, called "the veil of the covering" (35:12; 39:34), as the word properly means. Heb. kelaim, tapestry covering the walls of the tabernacle ( Exodus 27:9 ; 35:17 ; Numbers 3:26 ) to the half of the height of the wall ( Exodus 27:18 ; comp 26:16). These hangings were fastened to pillars. Heb. bottim ( 2 Kings 23:7 ), "hangings for the grove" (RSV, "for the Asherah"); marg., instead of "hangings," has "tents" or "houses." Such curtained structures for idolatrous worship are also alluded to in Ezekiel 16:16 .
Source
- part_of
source-manifest/easton— Easton's Bible Dictionary (PD)