Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SEAT, SEATING

Chairs date from ancient times throughout the Near Eastern world, consisting of seat, legs, and sometimes backrest and arms. For centuries they were used only by the affluent or powerful. Biblical terminology (Heb. môšāḇ, šeḇeṯ, kissēʾ; Gk. kathédra, prōtokathedría, prōtoklisía) often makes it difficult to distinguish seat, chair, stool, and sometimes throne.

Most biblical references to seating pertain to honor and authority, with the seat synonymous with the office of the person (but cf. Ps. 1:1; Prov. 9:14). To be seated on a throne, such as Solomon’s ornate gold and ivory throne (1 Kgs. 10:18-20; Heb. kissēʾ), was synonymous with possessing royal authority (16:11; 2 Kgs. 11:19; Acts 12:21-22). Gk. thrónos, “throne,” is used metonymically for royal power (Luke 1:52). The imagery of a king seated in regnal authority looking down on his subjects depicts God’s majesty and sovereignty over nature and all of creation (Ps. 113:5-6; cf. Ezek. 1:26). Sennacherib’s list of tribute received from Hezekiah of Judah (ca. 701 b.c.) mentions both couches and chairs (ANET, 288). The seat of Solomon’s carriage, like the carriage itself, was one of ornate splendor (Cant. 3:9-10).

Those seated in the royal courts were carefully placed with attention to relative power and honor as well as dishonor (1 Sam. 2:8; 1 Kgs. 10:5; Ps. 113:8; cf. 1 Kgs. 2:19; Esth. 3:1; also Jer. 13:18).

Rulers and judges heard cases and pronounced sentences seated in a public place (2 Chr. 19:8; Ps. 122:5; Matt. 27:19; John 19:13; Acts 25:6), often near a gate (2 Sam. 19:8; cf. Jer. 26:10). Imagery of a seated judge often depicts eschatological judgment (Dan. 7:9; Rom. 14:10; Rev. 20:4, 11).

Seating was important in the synagogues as well. The “best seats” (Mark 12:39 par.) were reserved for the elders, who sat at the front with backs to the ark, facing the congregation. Jesus mentions “Moses’ Seat” (Matt. 23:2), both a figurative office of interpreting the law and a literal stone chair in the front of many synagogues, allotted to an elder, presumably a scholar of distinction. The 3rd-century a.d. synagogue excavated at Capernaum has two stone benches along each of two sides.

The cathedra (Gk. kathédra), originally a portable chair used by Roman and Greek women, gave its name to a type of chair from which philosophers lectured. In the early Church the term was applied to a chair in which the bishop sat, hence the name “cathedral.”

Ordinary seats play significant roles in Scripture, including Eli’s seat at the door of the Shiloh sanctuary (1 Sam. 1:9) and by the roadside or the gate (4:13, 18), Elisha’s seat in his roof chamber (2 Kgs. 4:10), Job’s seat in the town market or square, and the places the sellers took in the temple (Mark 11:15 par.).

T. J. Jenney

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SEAT, SEATING

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)