honor of a burial in the “city of David along with the kings,” the only person not of the royal line mentioned as receiving such distinction.—2 Chron. 24:15, 16.

The location of these royal burial places has not been determined. On the basis of the reference to the “Burial Places of David” at Nehemiah 3:16 and the mention of the “ascent to the burial places of the sons of David” at 2 Chronicles 32:33, some believe the likely location to have been on the SE hill of the city near the Kidron valley. A number of what appear to be ancient rock-cut tombs have been found along a 350-foot (106.1-meter) strip of ground in this area, their entrances being in the form of sunken rectangular shafts. However, no positive identification can be made, such effort being complicated, not only due to the destruction of the city in the year 70 C.E. and again in 135 C.E., but also because the southern part of the city was used by the Romans as a stone quarry. Hence, the above-mentioned tombs are in a greatly deteriorated state.

The mausoleum of Queen Helena of Adiabene, located in the N of the modern city of Jerusalem, has acquired the misleading name of the “Tombs of the Kings.” It was actually built in the first century C.E. and should not be confused with the royal burial grounds mentioned in the Bible account.

At Ezekiel 43:7-9 Jehovah condemned the house of Israel and their kings for defiling his holy name by “their fornication and by the carcasses of their kings at their death,” and said, “Now let them remove their fornication and the carcasses of their kings far from me, and I shall certainly reside in the midst of them to time indefinite.” Some commentators have taken this to indicate that the Jews were guilty of having made the burial places of certain kings near the temple area. About twenty Hebrew manuscripts and editions and the Targums contain the phrase “at their death,” while the Masoretic text reads, instead, “their high places,” and the Septuagint Version says “in the midst of them.”

Even if the phrase “at their death” is the correct reading here, this seems to be no solid basis for believing that any of the kings of Judah were buried near the temple grounds. Since the dead body of a person was unclean according to the Law, to bury anyone near the temple would be an open affront to God, and such an obvious and gross violation of the temple’s sanctity is not even hinted at in the histories of the kings. Those kings not accorded a burial in the “burial places of the kings” or “of the sons of David” are not likely to have been given a more exalted place of burial, such as near the temple, but, rather, a less prominent and less honorable place.

A closer consideration of the text indicates that the discussion involved idolatry and that, even as the “fornication” is primarily figurative, so too the “carcasses of their kings” represent the dead idols that the house of Israel and their rulers had worshiped. Thus, at Leviticus 26:30 Jehovah warned the Israelites that their disobedience would cause him to “annihilate your sacred high places and cut off your incense stands and lay your own carcasses upon the carcasses of your dungy idols.” (Compare Jeremiah 16:18; Ezekiel 6:4-6.) The record shows that such idols were introduced into the temple area. (Ezek. 8:5-17) It may also be noted that some of these idol gods were designated as kings, the word for “king” being included within the names Molech (1 Ki. 11:7), Milcom (1 Ki. 11:5), and Malcham. (Jer. 49:1) Concerning the idol gods of the northern kingdom the prophet Amos (5:26) wrote: “And you will certainly carry Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan, your images, the star of your god, whom you made for yourselves.” So, there seems to be greater weight for viewing the text as being a condemnation of idolatry rather than of a desecration of the dedicated ground by improper burial of literal rulers.

BURNT OFFERING

See OFFERINGS.

BUSH

[Heb., siʹahh].

The Hebrew term has the root meaning “to bring out, to put forth, to produce,” and so would indicate a putting forth of shoots or buds. It occurs only four times, at Genesis 2:5; 21:15; Job 30:4, 7. The word “bush” usually refers to a low, densely branched shrub or a cluster of shrubs. Some trees in the Palestine region may properly be designated as bushes, including the dwarf juniper, the thorny lotus, the broom tree; while others are often or usually shrublike in size and appearance, such as the acacia, myrtle, storax, tamarisk, and willow trees.

In the wilderness of Beer-sheba, despairing Hagar threw Ishmael under a bush (Gen. 21:15), while Job describes persons living in a waterless region “plucking the salt herb by the bushes,” and crying out from among the bushes.—Job 30:4, 7.

The burning bush by which Jehovah’s angel attracted Moses’ attention and spoke with him is understood to have been some type of thornbush (Heb., s^enehʹ). (Ex. 3:2-5; Deut. 33:16) In referring to this event, the Christian writers of the Greek Scriptures employed the Greek word baʹtos, which means a bramble or any thorny bush. (Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 7:30, 35) In Greek the blackberry is called baʹton (derived from baʹtos), and hence some lexicographers connect the thorny bush (s^enehʹ) with the blackberry bush (Rubus sanctus), which is common throughout Syria and much of Palestine. It is not found growing wild in the Sinai Peninsula in modern times, however. For this reason others favor an association with some type of acacia tree, as these thorny, often bushlike trees are very common throughout the Sinai region. However, no certain identification can be made.

BUTTER

In Bible times this milk product was unlike that of the modern Western world, for instead of being solid it was in a semifluid state. (Job 20:17) Hence, the Hebrew word is defined as “sweet, new butter, still weak [soft].” (Koehler-Baumgartner Lexicon in Veteris Testamenti Libros, p. 308) The same Hebrew word is rendered “curdled milk” at Judges 5:25.

“The churning [literally, squeezing] of milk is what brings forth butter.” (Prov. 30:33) This was done by putting the milk in a skin bottle and rocking it upon the knees, or suspending it between poles and swinging it back and forth abruptly until the desired consistency was reached. To prevent the butterfat from turning rancid in the hot climate, natives of the East boil it over a slow fire and clarify it during the cooking with coarsely ground meal.

Butter, though considered a delicacy, has been eaten and enjoyed since patriarchal times. Abraham included it in the feast he spread for the angelic visitors (Gen. 18:8); David’s friends came to him with butter and other gifts of sustenance. (2 Sam. 17:29) The intrinsic value of butter made it a medium of exchange; Hittite laws set the price for butter. In Ur of the Chaldees butter was part of the religious offerings made to their gods.

A related word translated “butter” at Psalm 55:21 is figurative of the pleasant, smooth, oily words of a traitor.

BUZ

[contempt].

1. Son of Abraham’s brother Nahor by his wife Milcah; Rebekah’s uncle. (Gen. 22:20-23) His descendants were presumably Buzites, Elihu’s father being described as such.—Job 32:2, 6; see No. 3 below.

2. A family head and descendant of Jacob’s son Gad.—1 Chron. 5:11, 14.

3. A place in Arabia against which Jeremiah foretells doom. (Jer. 25:17, 23) It was presumably inhabited by the descendants of No. 1 above. Some authorities suggest that Buz may correspond to “Bazu,” which is described in Assyrian inscriptions as “a district which is far away” and “a waterless region” to which a certain queen of Arabia fled.