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Bible Dictionaries
Cushion
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or CUSHION.—In NT only in Mark 4:38 Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 [Authorized Version ‘pillow’] for προσκεφάλαιον, a cushion for the head, but also for sitting or reclining upon (see references in Liddell and Scott, s.v.). By προσκεφάλαια LXX Septuagint renders כְּסָתוֹת of Ezekiel 13:18 where the Arabic equivalent is mekhaddût. Mekhaddeh (sing.) is just the word used by the Sea of Galilee fishermen for the cushion they place in the hinder part of their fishing-boats for the comfort of the passenger to-day. These boats are probably similar to those used by our Lord and His friends, and on just such a cushion the present writer has often rested in crossing the same waters.
The cushions universally used to support the head or the arm in reclining on the diwân are in size about 24″ × 15″ × 5″. They are usually made of straw—less frequently of cotton or hair—sewn into strong canvas, and covered with coloured print or silk. The larger cushions for the seat of the diwân, and employed in the boats, are of the same material. See Pillow.
W. Ewing.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Cushion'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/c/cushion.html. 1906-1918.
