Bier

The bier is the funeral conveyance on which a body is carried to burial. Two scenes use the word — one in David's mourning for Abner, the other at the gate of Nain — and the bier in each case becomes the focal point of the action: the king walks behind it, and Jesus stops it with a touch.

David Behind Abner's Bier

After Joab and Abishai kill Abner in retaliation for Asahel's death (2 Sa 3:30), David puts the whole court into public mourning. The order is direct: "And David said to Joab, and to all the people who were with him, Rend your⁺ clothes, and gird you⁺ with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And King David followed the bier" (2 Sa 3:31). The king's place behind the bier is the picture — sackcloth on, walking after the body, leading the procession to the grave at Hebron, where "the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner; and all the people wept" (2 Sa 3:32). The bier here is the visible center of a public disavowal of Joab's killing.

The Bier at Nain

The second scene reverses the direction of the procession. As Jesus approaches the gate of Nain, "there was carried out one who was dead, the only begotten son of his mother, and she was a widow: and many people of the city were with her" (Lu 7:12). What follows turns on the bier itself: "And he came near and touched the bier: and the bearers stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, Arise" (Lu 7:14). The touch arrests the procession; the word reverses it. "And he who was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother" (Lu 7:15). The bier that was carrying the body out of the city becomes the place where the body is restored.