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Bible Dictionaries
Platter
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or PLATTER (παροψίς, Matthew 23:25, πίναξ, Luke 11:39).
1. The dish.—The words thus translated in the above parallel passages referred probably to the same kind of tray or flat dish. The latter word (pinax) is also translated ‘charger’ in Matthew 14:8; Matthew 14:11, Mark 6:25; Mark 6:28. Originally a circular mat about three feet in diameter made of closely woven wheat straw in the natural colour or of variegated pattern, it became a flat, low-rimmed tray of brass or copper, which was laid on the stool or low table around which the family gathered at meals. Similar to this, only with the rim somewhat deepened, are the smaller flat dishes, resembling saucepans, made of glazed earthenware and tin-coated copper, now used in Palestine for the serving of cooked food. The reference in the texts above quoted was probably to a dish of this sort. It is placed on the large tray, and into it each one at the table dips with a small scoop of thin bread torn from one of the loaves at his side, and thus lifts out the required mouthful of food.
2. Ceremonial reference.—Christ rebuked the artificial scrupulosity that paid more attention to contingencies of ceremonial pollution than to actual and necessary cleanliness. A dish might be soiled with dust and stains, and yet be technically free of impurity, unless it were laid on a table on which, for example, a few drops of milk had previously fallen. The table itself also (Mark 7:4) had to be washed, not out of regard for simple and wholesome cleanliness, but to avoid the danger of such law-breaking contamination. At the present day, in a house or institution conducted on strictly Rabbinical lines, the utensils for the cooking of meat, and those used in the preparation of milk dishes, must be kept in different parts of the kitchen. This is done not in deference to delicate sensibilities with regard to taste and smell, but because the juxtaposition of such vessels might create a situation in which it would be possible to commit a conjectural infringement of the prohibition against seething a kid in its mother’s milk (Deuteronomy 14:21).
Rabbinical legislation with regard to food and dishes, and the relationship of Christ’s disciples to such ceremonial pollution, formed one of the first difficulties encountered by the gospel. The concession on the Jewish side was a great testimony to the power of the new life in Christ, for such regulations were taught to Jewish children from infancy, and were commended by the venerated names of teachers who had ingeniously elaborated them. So great was the influence of such teaching, that St. Paul on one occasion remonstrated with his fellow-Apostle Peter for complying with it to the detriment of the gospel, and added, in language of personal compliment while condemning the dissimulation, that even Barnabas was carried away with it (Galatians 2:13 Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ). See also art. Dish.
G. M. Mackie.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Platter'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/p/platter.html. 1906-1918.
