Bag

A comprehensive term in the A. V. for various Hebrew words. The most adequate Hebrew expression for a large bag is "ḥariṭ" (compare Arabic), which can contain a talent of silver, as in II Kings v. 23. The same word occurs in the list of woman's apparel and ornaments, given in Isa. iii. 22, and is usually understood as a satchel (thus R. V.; "crisping pins," A. V.). In Gen. xlii. 25 the general term for a vessel ("keli") to carry grain is freely translated "bag," being used interchangeably with "sack." In I Sam. ix. 7, xxi. 6, the same word—A. V. "vessels"—denotes the receptacles for carrying food, which need not necessarily have been bags. In I Sam. xvii. 40, 49, it stands for the same word ("vessel," A. V., margin) in "the shepherd's bag." The Hebrew text seems to mean rather "a shepherd's outfit" in a much more general sense (compare Zech. xi. 15, "the instruments of a foolish shepherd").

There is, furthermore, the small bag ("kis"), containing the weights of the merchant (Deut. xxv. 13; Prov. xvi. 11; Micah vi. 11) carried in the girdle; and perhaps another containing his money (Isa. xlvi. 6; rendered "purse," Prov. i. 14). Another word for the small money-bag is "ẓeror" (Prov. vii. 20; Hag. i. 6; "bundle," Gen. xlii 35; I Sam. 25, 29; compare the denominative verb "to put up or to bind in bags," II Kings xii. 10 [Hebr. 11], see margin). The word is used in a more general sense, perhaps, in Job xiv. 17. In Cant. i. 13 the "bundle of myrrh" seems to mean a little perfume-bag hung around the neck of a woman.

J. Jr. W. M. M.