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All KJV Words

Archaic KJV Word

Tomb

Modern equivalent: burial place

What Was Lost

The domain of death. The tomb was not just where dead bodies were placed -- it was death's territory, sealed with a stone, guarded by Rome, and holding death's claimed victim. The empty tomb was not 'the body is missing' but 'death's domain has been invaded and emptied.' The stone rolled away was not a door opened but a fortress breached.

Closest Survivor in Modern English

tomb (still used in Easter narratives but the 'domain of death's power' dimension needs recovery)

Peak Usage (1611)

KJV Matthew 27:60 -- 'Laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock'; John 20:1 -- 'The stone taken away from the sepulchre'

Died still used but tourist-ized (~1900)

Hebrew qever and Greek mnemeion ('burial place/the sealed domain of death/the place where death's power was absolute') tourist-ized into an archaeological site or Halloween decoration.

What Replaced It

grave

Generic burial; the tomb was death's stronghold -- sealed, final, and absolute

burial site

Archaeological; the tomb was the domain where death reigned unchallenged -- until Easter morning

cemetery

Municipal facility; the tomb was the stage for the most important event in history -- death's defeat

Related KJV Words