Bible Dictionaries
Dwellings

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The materials used in buildings were commonly bricks, sometimes also stones (Leviticus 14:40,42 ), which were held together by cement (Jeremiah 43:9 ) or bitumen (Genesis 11:3 ). The exterior was usually whitewashed (Leviticus 14:41; Ezekiel 13:10; Matthew 23:27 ). The beams were of sycamore (Isaiah 9:10 ), or olive-wood, or cedar (1 Kings 7:2; Isaiah 9:10 ).

The form of Eastern dwellings differed in many respects from that of dwellings in Western lands. The larger houses were built in a quadrangle enclosing a court-yard (Luke 5:19; 2 Samuel 17:18; Nehemiah 8:16 ) surrounded by galleries, which formed the guest-chamber or reception-room for visitors. The flat roof, surrounded by a low parapet, was used for many domestic and social purposes. It was reached by steps from the court. In connection with it (2 Kings 23:12 ) was an upper room, used as a private chamber (2 Samuel 18:33; Daniel 6:11 ), also as a bedroom (2 Kings 23:12 ), a sleeping apartment for guests (2 Kings 4:10 ), and as a sick-chamber (1 Kings 17:19 ). The doors, sometimes of stone, swung on morticed pivots, and were generally fastened by wooden bolts. The houses of the more wealthy had a doorkeeper or a female porter (John 18:16; Acts 12:13 ). The windows generally opened into the courtyard, and were closed by a lattice (Judges 5:28 ). The interior rooms were set apart for the female portion of the household.

The furniture of the room (2 Kings 4:10 ) consisted of a couch furnished with pillows (Amos 6:4; Ezekiel 13:20 ); and besides this, chairs, a table and lanterns or lamp-stands (2 Kings 4:10 ).