Deuteronomy 26:14

26:14 I have not eaten anything when I was in mourning, or removed any of it while ceremonially unclean, or offered any of it to the dead; ¹  I have obeyed you ²  and have done everything you have commanded me.

Job 42:11

42:11 So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined ³  with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver ⁴  and a gold ring. ⁵ 

Ezekiel 24:17

24:17 Groan in silence for the dead, ⁶  but do not perform mourning rites. ⁷  Bind on your turban ⁸  and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip ⁹  and do not eat food brought by others.” ¹⁰ 

Hosea 9:4

9:4 They will not pour out drink offerings of wine to the Lord;

they will not please him with their sacrifices.

Their sacrifices will be like bread eaten while in mourning;

all those who eat them will make themselves ritually unclean.

For their bread will be only to satisfy their appetite;

it will not come into the temple of the Lord.

¹ sn These practices suggest overtones of pagan ritual, all of which the confessor denies having undertaken. In Canaan they were connected with fertility practices associated with harvest time. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 335-36.

² tn Heb “the Lord my God.” See note on “he” in 26:2.

³ tn Heb “ate bread.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown.

⁵ sn This gold ring was worn by women in the nose, or men and women in the ear.

⁶ tn Or “Groan silently. As to the dead….” Cf. M. Greenberg’s suggestion that דֹּם מֵתִים (dom metim) be taken together and דֹּם be derived from ָדּמַם (damam, “to moan, murmur”). See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:508.

⁷ tn Heb “(For) the dead mourning you shall not conduct.” In the Hebrew text the word translated “dead” is plural, indicating that mourning rites are in view. Such rites would involve outward demonstrations of one’s sorrow, including wailing and weeping.

⁸ sn The turban would normally be removed for mourning (Josh 7:6; 1 Sam 4:12).

⁹ sn Mourning rites included covering the lower part of the face. See Lev 13:45.

¹⁰ tn Heb “the bread of men.” The translation follows the suggestion accepted by M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 2:509) that this refers to a meal brought by comforters to the one mourning. Some repoint the consonantal text to read “the bread of despair” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:56), while others, with support from the Targum and Vulgate, emend the consonantal text to read “the bread of mourners” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:784).