Sepulchre

by Wayne Blank

Sepulchre is a Latin word that is used to translate an original Hebrew word of The Bible that meant a chamber cut into solid rock that was used for a burial room, or tomb. In ancient times, sepulchres were often made within existing Caves, which were relatively common in the land of Israel. The first sepulchre specifically mentioned in the Scriptures was that purchased in Hebron by Abraham for Sarah, where eventually Abraham himself, as well as Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah were all laid to rest to await their Resurrections.

Sepulchres In Bible History

Sepulchre After his wife Sarah died, Abraham purchased the now world-famous family tomb in Hebron from the Hittites:

"Sarah lived a hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, in The Land Of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her."
"And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and said to the Hittites, "I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
"The Hittites answered Abraham, "Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our sepulchres; none of us will withhold from you his sepulchre, or hinder you from burying your dead." (Genesis 23:1-6 RSV)

Just before the Israelites crossed The Jordan River into the Promised Land, Moses died and was buried in Moab. The Lord Himself placed the body of Moses in his sepulchre, the location of which was, and remains, unknown to any human:

"So Moses the servant of The Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of The Lord [see Heartbreak Mountain]. And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." (Deuteronomy 34:5-6 KJV)

A dead man was miraculously resurrected after his body was hastily placed into the sepulchre of Elisha (see The Miracle Of Elisha's Bones):

"And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet." (2 Kings 13:20-21 KJV)

By New Testament times, King David remained in his sepulchre:

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day." (Acts 2:29 KJV)

Joseph Of Arimathea provided his own newly made sepulchre for use by Jesus Christ:

"When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed." (Matthew 27:57-60 KJV)

Fact Finder: Who were the first humans to discover that Christ's sepulchre was empty?
Mark 16:1-8

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