execution of his judgments is directed.—Isa. 34:7.

The Hebrew word t^eʼohʹ, appearing at Deuteronomy 14:5 with reference to an animal acceptable for food according to the Law, has been variously understood as denoting “wild bull,” “antelope” or possibly “wild sheep.”

BUNAH

(Buʹnah) [intelligence].

Son of Jerahmeel in the tribe of Judah; brother or Ram through whom the Messianic lineage is traced.—1 Chron. 2:3, 25.

BUNNI

(Bunʹni) [perhaps, built].

1. A Levite whose descendant was chosen by lot to live in Jerusalem after the wall rebuilding by Nehemiah.—Neh. 11:1, 15.

2. A leading Levite in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah who was among those on the platform ‘crying out with a loud voice’ in repentance to Jehovah.—Neh. 9:4.

3. One of the “heads of the people” whose descendant, if not himself, concurred with the covenant of faithfulness that Nehemiah sponsored.—Neh. 10:1, 14, 15.

BURDEN

Something carried; a load, literal or figurative. Various Hebrew and Greek words are used in the Scriptures to denote a “burden” or “load,” sometimes relating to material that is carried, but often to such figurative things as responsibility, guilt or a message from God. A burden is generally viewed as a heavy load.

Chiefs of forced labor were placed over the Israelites in Egypt “for the purpose of oppressing them in their burden-bearing,” and compelling them to carry and use such building materials as clay mortar and bricks. (Ex. 1:11-14; 2:11) But, Jehovah brought them “out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” (Ex. 6:6; Ps. 81:6) When the tabernacle and its articles were moved from place to place, the Kohathite, Gershonite and Merarite Levites had their specific loads to carry. (Num. chap. 4) Later, Solomon came to have seventy thousand burden bearers in his large work force. (1 Ki. 5:15; 2 Chron. 2:18) Burden bearers were also needed and used when King Josiah repaired the temple (2 Chron. 34:12, 13), and years later when Nehemiah supervised the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall.—Neh. 4:17; see COMPULSORY SERVICE.

Animals were also often used to carry loads in ancient times, and the Israelites were told that upon seeing the ass of someone hating them lying down under its load, rather than leave it, one was “without fail to get it loose.” (Ex. 23:5) The amount of material an animal can carry can also be called a load, such as “the load of a pair of mules.”—2 Ki. 5:17.

FIGURATIVE USE

The Hebrew word mas·saʼʹ, often used for a literal load or a burden, can denote a “weighty message,” such as the one King Lemuel’s mother gave him in correction. (Prov. 31:1) It can also pertain to a pronouncement. (Isa. 13:1; 14:28; Ezek. 12:10; Nah. 1:1) Usually the pronouncement is one of denunciation for wickedness and thus is like a heavy burden of judgment. However, a pronouncement can also be a prophetic utterance involving something good that gives rise to joy. (Zech. 12:1; Mal. 1:1) In this sense mas·saʼʹ has been defined as meaning “something taken up with solemnity upon the lips, whether threatening or not.”—The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Vol. I, p. 528.

The person faithful to God can throw his figurative burden, or the lot that has been given to him in such things as trials and cares, upon Jehovah. Thus, David declared: “Throw your burden upon Jehovah himself, and he himself will sustain you. Never will he allow the righteous one to totter.” (Ps. 55:22; compare 1 Peter 5:6, 7.) David was also moved to exclaim: “Blessed be Jehovah, who daily carries the load for us, the true God of our salvation.”—Ps. 68:19.

A “burden” can be a burden of responsibility imposed by Christ. (Rev. 2:24) The holy spirit and the Christian governing body favored adding no further “burden” to Christians except necessary thinks, that is, “to keep yourselves free from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication.” (Acts 15:28, 29) In another sense, Paul assured the Corinthians that he would not become a burden to them and was not seeking their possessions, but would “most gladly spend and be completely spent” for their souls. (2 Cor. 12:14-18) As an apostle of Christ, Paul justifiably could have been an “expensive burden” on Christians in Thessalonica. However, he did not even eat food from anyone free and could remind them that “by labor and toil night and day we were working so as not to impose an expensive burden upon any one of you,” not because of lacking authority to do so but to serve as an example they could imitate.—2 Thess. 3:7-10.

Jesus scored the scribes and Pharisees, saying: “They bind up heavy loads and put them upon the shoulders of men, but they themselves are not willing to budge them with their finger.” (Matt. 23:2, 4) Jesus was evidently referring to minute rules and burdensome traditions that these men laid upon the common people, being unwilling to lift even one small regulation to make things easier for them.—Matt. 23:13, 23, 24.

On the other hand, Jesus freed persons spiritually from such oppressive traditions. (John 8:31, 32) He invited those who were toiling and loaded down to come to him, to take his yoke upon them and to become his disciples, for he was mild-tempered and lowly in heart and they would thus find refreshment for their souls. He said: “My yoke is kindly and my load is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30) Christ was not harsh or oppressive, but kind, and those coming to him would receive proper treatment. Christ’s yoke, by comparison with that placed upon the people by religious traditionists, would be a comparatively light one. Jesus may also have meant that those weary of the burden of sin and error should come to him for spiritual refreshment. Carrying Jesus’ light “load” evidently involved acquaintance with and the fulfilling of divine requirements, something Jesus did with delight in his earthly life and ministry. (John 17:3; 4:34) Paul later likened the Christian career to being on a racecourse and urged fellow believers to unburden themselves, telling them to put off “every weight and the sin that easily entangles us,” and to “run with endurance the race that is set before us,” while looking intently at “the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith, Jesus.”—Heb. 12:1, 2.

CARRYING OTHERS’ BURDENS

Paul wrote to the Galatians: “Go on carrying the burdens [or “troublesome things”] of one another, and thus fulfill the law of the Christ.” (Gal. 6:2) Here for “burdens” the apostle used baʹre, the singular form of which is baʹros, a Greek word always used to denote something burdensome or heavy. Certainly the sin and hence the burden of a man taking some “false step” (referred to in the preceding verse) would not be light but heavy. However, in verse five the apostle states: “For each one will carry his own load,” or “load of responsibility.” (Compare NW, 1950 and 1961 editions.) For “load” Paul here used the Greek word phor·tiʹon, signifying something that is to be borne or carried, without any reference to the thing’s weight. So he drew a distinction between “burdens” and “load” or “load of responsibility” in these verses. Likely, this was done to show that if a Christian got into spiritual difficulty that was very hard for him to bear, fellow believers should aid him, thus helping to bear another’s burden. Such persons would be displaying love and would thus fulfill the law of Christ. (John 13:34, 35) This harmonizes with what Paul had just said, as recorded in Galatians 6:1, about endeavoring to restore a man spiritually, something that may be possible through love, kindness and prayer. (Compare James 5:13-16.) Yet, as the apostle proceeded to show, bearing the burdens of one another does not mean carrying another person’s load of spiritual responsibility to God. In the same context, Paul makes clear that a person is deceiving his own mind if he thinks that he is something when he is nothing, and the apostle urged the Christian to “prove what his own work is,” for “then he will have cause for exultation in regard to himself alone, and not in comparison with the other person.” (Gal. 6:3, 4; compare 2 Corinthians 10:12.) It was then that the apostle observed that “each one will carry his own load” of responsibility before the Supreme Judge, Jehovah God.

BURIAL, BURIAL PLACES

The interment of the body of a deceased person was an act of considerable importance to people in the Biblical period. Thus, Abraham, the first person directly mentioned in the record as performing a burial, was willing to spend a fair sum of money in order to obtain a suitable place as a burial ground. (See PURCHASE.) The Hittites (sons of Heth), from whom the purchase was made, had their own ‘choice’ burial places. (Gen. 23:3-20) The cave obtained by Abraham became a family burial site, receiving his wife’s body and, eventually, his own, and those of Isaac, Rebekah, Leah and Jacob. (Gen. 25:9; 49:29-32) Jacob was seriously concerned that his body not be buried in Egypt but, rather, with his forefathers. (Gen. 47:29-31) This necessitated the embalming of his body, which otherwise would have experienced putrefaction during the hot journey from Egypt to the cave of Machpelah. (Gen. 50:1-3, 13) Joseph expressed a similar desire and his body was likewise embalmed and placed in a coffin, awaiting the time of the exodus for transferal. (Gen. 50:24-26; Josh. 24:32) This desire doubtless related to their sharing the same faith in God’s promises and was an expression of their conviction as to the eventual fulfillment of these.—Heb. 11:13-22, 39.

Following the model of Abraham, family burial places seem to have been preferred. (2 Sam. 19:34-37) Gideon, Samson and Asahel are each spoken of as being buried ‘in the burial place of his father.’ (Judg. 8:32; 16:31; 2 Sam. 2:32) However, the frequent expression ‘to lie down or be buried with his forefathers’ does not necessarily imply a sharing of the same burial site, for this phrase is used concerning men who were clearly not buried in the same place as their forefathers. (Gen. 15:15; Deut. 31:16; 32:50; 1 Ki. 2:10; Acts 13:36) It must thus refer to their common entrance into Sheol (Hades), the common grave of all mankind. Such common grave is called the “house of meeting for everyone living.”—Job 30:23.

The act of burying another’s body was viewed as an expression of loving-kindness, and the men of Jabesh-gilead risked their lives to effect such a burial for Saul and his sons. (1 Sam. 31:11-13; 2 Sam. 2:4-6) To be deprived of burial was considered calamitous (Jer. 14:16) and is stated as being a divine means of expressing God’s repudiation of persons due to their wrong course. (Jer. 8:1, 2; 9:22; 25:32, 33; Isa. 14:19, 20; compare Revelation 11:7-9.) The body was thereby exposed to be consumed as food by animals and carrion-eating birds. (Ps. 79:1-3; Jer. 16:4) The pathetic picture of Rizpah’s refusing to abandon her dead sons’ bodies, perhaps for months, until they were finally accorded a burial vividly portrays the importance attached to the matter.—2 Sam. 21:9-14.

Jehovah’s law through Moses even provided for burial of criminals. (Deut. 21:23; compare Joshua 8:29.) Ahithophel, though a suicide, received burial. (2 Sam. 17:23) At the same time that Solomon ordered Joab’s execution he also gave instructions for his burial. (1 Ki. 2:31) Jehu intended to give wicked Jezebel a burial out of consideration for her being “the daughter of a king,” but he was overruled by the fulfillment of Jehovah’s prophecy that she should become “as manure upon the face of the field.” (2 Ki. 9:10, 34-37; compare 2 Chronicles 22:8, 9.) King Jehoiakim was given “the burial of a he-ass,” his body dragged out of the city and thrown away. (Jer. 22:18, 19) It is said that, in Jesus’ day, the bodies of criminals considered too vile to merit a resurrection were thrown over the walls of Jerusalem into the Valley of Hinnom or Gehenna, there to be consumed by fire or eaten by worms.

Aside from the cases of Jacob and Joseph, burial was evidently effected by the Israelites on the same day of the death. Early interment was necessary due to rapid decomposition in the usually warm climate of Bible lands. Lying Ananias was buried within about three hours of his death. (Acts 5:5-10) Additionally, under the Mosaic law the dead body was viewed as making those touching it unclean for a seven-day period. Whereas death’s being the result of sin and imperfection was doubtless the underlying basis for such law, it also worked for the prevention of the spread of disease and benefited its observers hygienically. Those failing to observe the purifying procedure prescribed in the Law were subject to the death penalty. (Num. 19:14-20; compare Deuteronomy 21:22, 23.) Josiah used the bones of idol worshipers to make their religious altars unfit for worship and also desecrated their burial places.—2 Ki. 23:14-16; 2 Chron. 34:4, 5.

In view of the Biblical attitude toward dead bodies, it is evident that the veneration of the bodies of prominent servants of God was not practiced nor countenanced. Moses’ body was buried by God himself in an unknown site and this also made impossible any future pilgrimages to his burial place.—Deut. 34:5, 6; compare Jude 9.

The places selected for burial purposes were varied. Burial in the soil, the common method in the Occident, though certainly practiced, was not as highly favored in the Near East. Rebekah’s nursing woman Deborah and also, initially at least, King Saul and his sons were buried under large trees. (Gen. 35:8; 1 Chron. 10:12) Natural caves or artificial ones excavated in the soft limestone rock so common in Palestine seem to have been preferred, as in Abraham’s case. The burial place was often personally prepared well in advance. (Gen. 50:5; Isa. 22:16; 2 Chron. 16:14) The site might be near the person’s house, perhaps in a garden (1 Sam. 25:1; 1 Ki. 2:34; 2 Ki. 21:25, 26), the expression “at his house” not meaning within the building, as shown by a comparison of 2 Chronicles 33:20 and 2 Kings 21:18.

Archaeological investigations give an idea of the type of burial places used in ancient times. Aside from simple earthen graves, in Palestine these were often vaults or chambers cut in the rock, often on hillsides. Elevated places seem to have been preferred. (Josh. 24:33; 2 Ki. 23:16; 2 Chron. 32:33; Isa. 22:16) The chamber might be for a single burial, the body being laid in an excavated place in the floor. Or it might be arranged for multiple burials, with long slots, large enough to accommodate one body each, cut into the sides of the chamber at right angles to the walls. The narrow opening through which the body was inserted was then covered with a stone cut to fit. In other cases a benchlike niche or shelf was cut into the rear and side walls (Mark 16:5) or there might be a double row of such shelves, thus increasing the capacity of the burial place. The tomb might even consist of more than one chamber, although the single chamber seems to have been the common type among the Jews. Where the body lay exposed on a shelf, it was, of course, necessary to seal off the entrance against the depredations of wild animals. Thus, the main entrance to the chamber was closed off with a large stone, at times hinged as a door, and occasionally with a circular one set in a track and rolled in front of the