Dwelling
Dwelling
(אֹהֶל, זבוּל, מָגוּר, מוֹשָׁב, מָכוֹן, מָעוֹז, מַשׁכָּן, etc.; κατοίκησις, etc.). The dwelling houses of Palestine (see generally Harmer, 1:152 sq.; Faber, Archaeol. 1:365; on Egyptian architecture, Rosellini, Monum. 104:2:378 sq.) were usually (Harmer, 1:165) built of burnt or merely dried bricks, לבֵנַים. (Niebuhr, Trav. 2:287; Pococke, East, 2:173; Tavernier, Trav. 1:167, 287; Robinson, Res. 2:631-637; 3:514, 580), and therefore very perishable (Mt 7:25; comp. Eze 12:5,7; Eze 13:13 sq.; Tavernier, 1:287; Wellsted, 1:280); but frequently of stone (Le 14:40,42; comp. Robinson's Res. 3:316, 420, 496, 720), and palaces of squared stone (1Ki 7:9; Isa 9:9; Josephus, Ant. 8:5, 2; compare Robinson, 1:354), or even of marble (שִׁיַשׁ, שֵׁשׁ, comp. 1Ch 29:2; Josephus, Ant. 15:11, 3; War, 5:4, 4; of different building stone, see the Mishna, Baba-bathra, 1:1; the laying the foundation was an occasion of ceremony and festival, Zechaniah 4:7; compare Ezr 3:10; Job 38:7); These were held together by a cement (mortar, מֶלֶט, Jer 43:9; see Rosenmuller in loc.) of lime (גַּר, Isa 27:9) or plaster of Paris (gypsum, שַׁיד, Isa 33:12; comp. De 27:4; Theoph. Lapid. 68 sq.), perhaps also bitumen (asphaltum, חֵמָר, compare Ge 11:3; Faber, 1:393 sq.). The exterior (and probably also the interior over the plaster) was usually whitewashed (תָּפֵל, κονία, Le 14:41 sq.; Eze 13:10 sq. ; Da 5:5; Mt 23:27; Sirach, 22:17), bright wall-colors being used for royal residences (Jer 22:14). The beams (2Ch 34:11; on כָּפַיס, Hab 2:11, see Gesen. Thesaur. page 705, and Delitzsch in loc.) were of sycamore (Isa 9:9), sometimes of olive-wood, sandal, or cedar (1Ki 7:2 sq.; Isa 9:9; Jer 22:14). Elegant mansions were adorned externally with columns (of marble, Song 5:15; 1Ki 7:15 sq.; 2Ki 25:13; Faber, Archeol. 1:414 sq.), and often whole porticoes (אוּלָם, στοά, l Kings 7:6; comp. Josephus, War, 4:4). SEE TEMPLE. The houses of the gentry (Niebuhr, Trav. 2:293; Shaw, Trav. page 182 sq.) were of several stories (1Ki 7:2 sq.; comp. Ac 20:9; but see Korte, Suppl. page 177), generally built in a quadrangle (comp. Kampfer, Amoen. p. 194; Burckhardt, Trav. 1:120), and enclosing (Lu 5:19) a spacious court-yamd (חָצֵר. 2Sa 17:18; Ne 8:16; comp. Es 1:5; Es 5:1; the impluvium or αὐλή, Mt 26:69; see Harmer, 1:177), which, surrounded by colonnades and galleries (Shaw, p. 353), paved (Harmer, 1:175), and containing fountains (2Sa 7:18; comp. Joseph. Ant. 12:4, 11; Harmer, 1:175), baths (2Sa 11:2), and trees (Harmer, 1:175), formed the guest-chamber or drawing-room for the reception of visitors (Shaw, Trav. page 183; Fabet, 1:401; Harmer, 1:174; comp Es 1:5 sq.), being often screened from the sun's rays by an awning (Rosenmiller, Morg. 3:297). The flat roof, covered on the top with tiles, earth, or stone, and surrounded by a low parapet, was used sometimes for household or religious purposes, at others as a place of meeting or recreation. SEE ROOF. In connection with it (2Ki 23:12) was an upper room (עֲלַיָּה, ὑπερùον), which was used (comp. Niebuhr, Trav. 1:380, 400; Shaw, page 188 sq.) as a private chamber (2Sa 18:33; Da 6:11; Judith 8:5); also as a spare bedroom (2Ki 23:12; Tobit 3:12; Ac 1:13; Ac 20:8), a sleeping apartment especially for guests (2Ki 4:10), and as a sick-chamber (1Ki 17:19; Joseph. Ant. 18:8, 2), or room for laying out a corpse (Ac 9:37,39), but in summer resorted to for fresh air (Jg 3:20); and was often furnished with two modes of exit, one leading within the house, the other by a staircase directly to the street. Larger residences had an additional front court (חָצֵר, προαύλιον, πρόθυρον, πυλών, αὐλή; Jer 32:2; Mr 14:72; Lu 16:20; Joh 18:16; Ac 10:17, etc.), which served as an anteroom (so the Rabbins understand מַסדּרוֹן, Jg 3:23; see Faber, page 440), and from which, by means of stairs (מסַלָּה, 2Ch 9:11; a winding staircase, לוּל, 1Ki 6:8), often finished with costly wood (2Ch 9:11), persons passed to the roof or upper story. A door led from the fore-court to the inner court, and from the latter was the entrance to the rooms on the ground floor of the house proper. These last were variously decorated with wainscoting (1Ki 7:7; Jer 22:14; Hag 1:4), ivory (1Ki 22:39; Am 3:15; compare Ps 45:9; Homer, Odyss. 4:72 sq.; Horace, Od. 2:18, 1 sq.; Pliny, 36:5; Harmer, 1:168 sq.; 2:171 sq.; Faber, page 399 sq.; also with precious metals inlaid or plated, Tibull. 3:3, 16; Horace, Od. 2:18, 1 sq.; Cicero, Parad. 6:3; comp. 1Co 3:12), and carving (Josephus, Ant. 8:5, 2; comp. Tavern. 1:168) since the splendor of Oriental houses was lavished rather upon the interior than the exterior (Pococke, East, 1:49); the floor was laid sometimes with a coating of gypsum, at others with tesselated blocks of variegated marble (Tibull. 3:3, 16; Cicero, Parad. 6:3) or other kinds of stone (Harmer, 1:172 sq.; compare Es 1:6). The doors (De 6:9), seldom high in private houses (Pr 17:19), sometimes of stone (Burckhardt, 1:122), swung (comp. Shaw, Trav. page 185) on morticed pivots (צַיר, Pr 26:14; in sockets, פֹתוֹת, 1Ki 7:50; comp. cardo foenuria, Vitruv. 9:6), and were commonly fastened with wooden bolts (מַנעָל, מִנעוּל), which were opened (Jg 3:25; Isa 22:22; comp. Harmer, 1:188) by means of a key (מִפתֵּחִ), but only from the inside (Song 5:5; Lu 12:7; comp. Faber, page 427). In the better class of houses there was a door- keeper (Joseph. Ant. 17:5, 2) or female porter (Joh 18:16 sq.; Ac 12:13; comp. Plant. Curcul. 1:1, 76; Sept. 2Sa 4:6), who, in case any one knocked outside (Lu 12:36; Lu 13:25; Ac 12:13; compare Mt 7:7; Re 3:20; Thilo, Apocryph. page 218; see Becker, Charicles, 1:230), and gave their name (Ac 12:14; Re 3:20; comp. Plutarch, Genesis Soc. page 31; Lucian, bis. Accuso page 29; Apul. Asin. 1, page 19 Bip.), opened the door to them (Acts, 12:13; comp. Athen. 14:614). (See Stuck, Antiq. conviv. page 249; Sagittar. De januis vett. Jen. 1694, chapter 16; also Elsner, Observ. 1:411 sq., in Graevii Thesaur. 6) Princes, however, had guards at the palace gates (1Ki 14:27). The windows (חִלּוֹן), on account of the street dust, generally face the court-yard (Schubert, 3:291), although anciently this rule does not appear to have so extensively prevailed (Jg 5:28; Pr 7:6); they were closed by a lattice (Jg 5:28). The most interior, or back rooms of all, were devoted to the special occupancy of the female members of the household, as is still universally the case in the East, under the name "harem," and no male dares intrude within their precincts (Chardin, 6:6 sq.; Hartmann, Heb 2:18 sq.; Hoffmann in the Hall. Encyclop. 2:1, page 396 sq.). The more distinguished Hebrews early had separate summer and winter residences (בֵּית הִקִּיַוֹ and החֹרֶŠ בּית, Am 3:15; Jer 36:22; comp. Jg 3:20; see Harmer, 1:200; Prosp. Alp. Med. Egypt. 1:6; Niebuhr, Trav. 2:394). The latter were warmed (of which they had the more need, as glass windows are unknown in the East) by means of a fire-pot (אָח, Jer 36:32), which is merely a vessel of burnt clay (Niebuhr, Beschr. page 56) placed in a round hole in the middle of the room, over which, when the fire is burnt down, the inmates place a four-cornered frame, and next a carpet over this, and then gather around to enjoy the warmth (Tavernier, 1:276; Niebuhr, Trav. 1:154; 2:394). The furniture of the rooms (2Ki 4:10) consisted of a sofa or couch (מַטָּה, compare Eze 23:41; עֶרֶשׁ, Am 6:4; compare Josephus, Ant. 15:9, 3), which luxury was often adorned gorgeously (Am 6:4; Song 7:13), and furnished with pillows (Eze 13:10); and besides this, only chairs (כַּסֵּא) a table (שֻׁלחָן), and lanterns or lamp-stands (2Ki 4:10). See all the above parts and articles in their alphabetical order. Compare House.
The house leprosy described in Le 14:33-57 was a corrosion of the saltpetre found in the lime used as mortar and the limestone used for building (see Michaelis, Mos. Reckt, 4:264 sq.; Mishna, Negaim, 12), and is still common in walls in Egypt (Volney, Trav. 1:55). SEE LEPROSY.
