Description and usage
The bier was a board on which a body was carried to its place of burial, and the coffin was a box in which a body was placed for burial.
Translation
In GEN 50:26 the Hebrew word ’aron is literally “box,” but it means “coffin” in this context.
In 2SA 3:31 the Hebrew word mitah is literally “bed.” The context, however, makes it clear that the object is serving as a bier or, less likely, a coffin.
LUK 7:14: In this verse some translations render the Greek word soros as “coffin” (GNT, NCV). This word can also refer to a “bier,” and that is its more probable meaning here. In some languages it may be necessary to use a descriptive expression, for example, “board on which the body was being carried” or “box in which the body lay.”