Mary, However, "remained in the House"
Excerpt
The custom was for the bereaved to remain seated in the house and for the guests to come and sit in silence and periodically support the grieving parties with sympathetic tears and moans. For me the experience of having observed modern wakes in the Middle East has left an unforgettable memory of what “sitting in the house,” crowded on benches in the heat of day and mourning for the dead, can mean. Moreover, one must not forget that it was the brother (the obvious wage earner of that home) who had died. The loss was an intense one. Reading again Ruth 1:6–14 will provide some sense of the feelings that probably were present in that room.
Borchert, Gerald L. John 1–11. Vol. 25A. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996. Print. The New American Commentary.
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