GRAVE בְּעִי (found in the KJV of Job 30:24, an obscure verse, but not in the RSV); קְבוּרָה, H7690, (tr. as grave in the KJV and RSV); קֶ֫בֶר, H7700, (tr. as grave by KJV, but sometimes as tomb in the RSV); שְׁאﯴל, H8619, she’ōl (always grave in the KJV, but Sheol in the RSV); שַׁ֫חַת, H8846, (Job 33:22—KJV grave; RSV pit); ἃ̀δης (1 Cor 15:55—KJV grave; RSV death); μνῆμα, G3645, (Rev 11:9—KJV grave; RSV tomb); μνημεῖον, G3646, KJV grave; RSV always tomb).

In contrast with the Greeks and Romans whose custom it was to cremate the dead, with the Jews it was a matter of piety, as Tacitus says (Hist. V. 5), “to bury rather than to burn dead bodies.” Embalming was not done in Israel, although corpses were often anointed with spices; also coffins were not used. Among ancient Jews graves were simply dug in the earth, as they are in modern times. However, usually the dead were placed in a family tomb, either a natural cave or in a cave hewn out of rock on a hillside. In the cave there were shelves on which the bodies were laid. The entrance was closed with a large circular stone set up on its edge. Once a year the entrance to the tomb was whitewashed. Ordinary graves were marked by a heap of crude stones, but often pillars were set up as memorials to the dead. The graves of the prophets and holy persons were carefully maintained. In NT times, the place of burial was uniformly outside the city or village; only kings and prophets were allowed to be buried within the city. The lack of proper burial was regarded in ancient times as a great indignity or judgment of God—one of the worst calamities that could befall a person. See Burial.

Bibliography R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (1961), 56-61.