Bible Dictionary
PLATTER
A platter was a deep dish, basin, or large serving vessel used for food or sacrificial purposes.
Definition
A platter was a deep dish, basin, or large serving vessel. It could be used for food, relishes, meats, fish, or sacrificial purposes, and the same biblical term is sometimes translated “charger” or “dish.”
Biblical Usage
Platters appear in descriptions of offerings and temple vessels, at meals, and in accounts involving food placed before guests. One type was probably a deep dish or basin used in sacrificial slaughter.
Historical Background
The underlying terms include words for a deep dish, a side dish, and a large wooden dish or plate. Translation traditions differ between “platter,” “charger,” and “dish.”
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>plat'-er:</p><p>(1) qe`arah, "a deep dish" (Nu 7:13 f,84,85). In the King James Version and the English Revised Version "charger," the American Standard Revised Version "platter" (compare Ex 25:29; 37:16); the Septuagint trublion, and in the New Testament rendered "dish" (Mt 26:23; Mr 14:20). In Ezr 1:9, the American Standard Revised Version agharTal, rendered "platter," the King James Version and the English Revised Version "chargers"; probably a deep dish or basin used in sacrificial slaughter.</p><p>(2) paropsis, originally a side dish, for relishes, entrees, but of dishes for food, in general, especially meats, fish, etc., used with poterion, "cup" or "drinking vessel" (Mt 23:25 f); also pinax, originally a large wooden dish or plate (Lu 11:39); rendered "charger" in Mt 14:8,11 the King James Version, and Mr 6:25,28 the King James Version and the English Revised Version.</p><p>Edward Bagby Pollard</p>