Charger

A large, shallow dish, Num 7:13 ; Mat 14:8 .\par

Charger. A shallow vessel for receiving water or blood, also for presenting offerings of fine flour with oil. Num 7:79 The daughter of Herodias brought the head of St. John the Baptist in a charger, Mat 14:8 probably a trencher or platter. See Basin.

("what bore any weight".) A hollow plate for presenting offerings of fine flour and oil (Num 7:79). Among the vessels of the temple taken by Nebuchadnezzar and restored by Cyrus, and brought back by Sheshbazzar (Ezr 1:9). In such a "charger" John’s head was presented to the cruel Herodias (Mat 14:8).

The silver vessels offered by the heads of the tribes for the service of the Tabernacle (Numbers 8) are thus termed in our translation, being in the original קְעָרָה(keärah´, literally a deep dish), a bowl, elsewhere rendered "dish" (Exo 25:29; Exo 36:16; Num 4:7). These are said to have been of silver, and to have weighed each 130 shekels, or 65 oz. (Hussey, Anc. Weights, chap. 9, p. 190). The "charger" upon which the Baptist’s head was presented to Herodias (comp. Homer, Il. 1:141) must have been a large platter (πίναξ, strictly a broad tablet [comp. πινακίδιον a writing-tablet, Luk 1:63], hence a wooden trencher, Mat 14:8; Mat 14:11; Mar 6:25; Mar 6:28; rendered "platter" in Luk 11:39). The "chargers" of gold and silver, in Ezr 1:9 (אֲגִרְטָל, agartal’), were probably, as interpreted by the Sept., Vulg., and Syriac, basins for containing the blood of sacrifices; although others make them to have been baskets for first-fruit offerings. SEE BASIN; SEE DISH.

Charger. A shallow vessel for receiving water or blood, also for presenting offerings of fine flour with oil. Num 7:79. The daughter of Herodias brought the head of John the Baptist in a charger, Mat 14:11; probably a trencher or platter.

Dish. Num 7:13-85; Mat 14:8; Mat 14:11; Mar 6:25; Mar 6:28. In Ezr 1:9 it is bason or bowl. In the N.T. it is πίναξ, probably a wooden trencher.

CHARGER.—The utensil referred to (Mat 14:8; Mat 14:11, Mar 6:25; Mar 6:28) was a flat tray or salver (Gr. πίναξ) with a narrow rim, and was usually made of brass, the surface being plain or ornamented with engraved or embossed designs, and varying in size from one to three feet in diameter. At an Oriental meal the tray is laid upon a low stool, the dishes being placed upon it, while those who partake sit or recline around it. The tray is also carried around by an attendant when presenting wine or drinks composed of water flavoured with lemon, rose, or violet essences.

In the two passages that describe Salome’s request at Herod’s birthday feast, the charger is mentioned as an essential part of the stipulation. In both narratives the demand is for the head of John the Baptist in a charger. In explanation of this it has to be noted that the daughter of Herodias had demeaned herself to play the part of a hired Oriental dancer, with the usual accompaniments of paint and jewellery, loose and showy costume, and gestures of indelicate suggestion. The appearance and dancing of the young princess had captivated the guests already exhilarated by the royal banquet, and prepared them to applaud anything clever and audacious from the same person. The king entered into the spirit of the occasion, and treating her as a paid performer, offered her for her services anything she might desire. And so when she requested that the head of John the Baptist might be served up to her on one of the trays from which the guests were being regaled, the unfeeling jest implied that this would be to her both her professional fee and her portion of the feast.

It was John the Baptist’s last testimony against the artificial and insincere spirit of the age. When such a crime could be so lightly committed, the day of the Lord upon the nation could not be far off. Afterwards, when Herod addressed his questions to Christ, it was to find Him absolutely silent (Luk 23:9). The atrophy of moral feeling may be gradual, and be relieved by intervals of wrestling and regret, but at last unwillingness to feel becomes inability to feel.

A touch of witty caricature or grotesque exaggeration has often since then given pass and plausibility to something essentially wrong and in itself repulsive. When society is made selfish and artificial by luxury and the love of pleasure, it will keep its oaths of personal vanity although the gratification should stifle the voice of sincerity and truth.

G. M. Mackie.

By: Emil G. Hirsch, Gerson B. Levi

A rendering of two Hebrew words and a Greek one: (1) (ḳa'arah), occurring in the list of the donations of the chiefs of the tribes on the day of the dedication of the Tabernacle (Num. vii. 13 et seq.). Elsewhere the word is rendered "dish." (2) (agarṭel), the etymology of which is uncertain. It is, perhaps, the Greek κάρταλος taken into the Aramaic. The word is found in the list of vessels restored by King Cyrus to the returning Jewish exiles (Ezra i. 9). (3) IIίναξ, the dish upon which the head of John the Baptist was presented to Herodias (Matt. xiv. 8, 11; Mark vi. 25, 28).

CHARGER.—An obsolete word for a large flat dish on which meat was served. The Amer. RV [Note: Revised Version.] everywhere substitutes ‘platter,’ e.g. Num 7:13 ff., Mat 14:8 and parallels.

char´jer (the American Standard Revised Version “platter”): A word which meant in the older English speech a flat dish or platter. It is used in the Bible as the translation (1) of קערה, ḳ^e‛ārāh, which in Num 7:19 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) “platter”) and repeatedly in that chapter denotes one of the gifts made by the several princes at the dedication of the tabernacle; (2) of אגרטל, ’ăgharṭāl, a word of uncertain derivation used in Ezr 1:9 (the King James Version) twice to designate certain temple vessels which might better be called “libation bowls”; (3) of πίναξ, pı́nax, used Mat 14:8, Mat 14:11; Mar 6:25, Mar 6:28 (EV) for the dish in which the head of John the Baptist was presented.