PILLOW (כָּבִיר, H3889, כְּסָתֹ֜ות, מְרַאֲשׁﯴת, H5265, προσκεφαλαίον). A word used for various supports for the head. The meaning of the Heb. words rendered by “pillow” is uncertain. In 1 Samuel 19:13, 16 כָּבִיר, H3889, may refer to a “quilt” (ASVmg.) or “fly-net thrown over the head.” In Ezekiel 13:18, 20 the Heb. word is כְּסָתֹ֜ות, “bands,” from a root “to bind.” In modern Heb. it means “pillow,” “bolster,” “cushion.” RSV renders it “magic bands,” presupposing the belief that the women sewed “bands of charm” on their arms. The Heb. word מְרַאֲשׁﯴת, H5265, is rendered “under the head” in Genesis 28:11 and 18 (ASV, RSV), but has the meaning “away in regard to the head” or “at the head,” as is evident from 1 Samuel 19:13, 16; 26:7; 1 Kings 19:6. This word is tr. “bolster” in 1 Samuel 19:13, 16 in the ASV.

The pillow (RSV “cushion”) on which Jesus slept (Mark 4:38) was prob. a pad or mat on which a rower sat. (See also Bolster.)