Dish

A vessel, usually made of baked clay or metal, used in everyday life and in religious ceremony. Dishes were used to serve or preserve food (Judges 5:25; Matthew 26:23; Mark 14:20). They had to be wiped and left to dry (2 Kings 21:13). Later the Pharisees (a Jewish religious group active in the New Testament period) added a ritual cleansing as well (Matthew 23:25–26; Luke 11:39). Dishes were used in connection with the meal offering (Numbers 7:13). Dishes were also used with the table of showbread for worship in the Old Testament tabernacle and temple (Exodus 25:29; 37:16; Numbers 4:7).