Topical Bible: Homes

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In the biblical context, homes are more than mere physical structures; they are places of family, worship, and community. The concept of a home is deeply rooted in the Scriptures, reflecting both the physical and spiritual dimensions of life.

Old Testament

In the Old Testament, homes were often simple structures made from materials readily available in the region, such as mud bricks, stone, and wood. The patriarchs, such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, lived in tents as they were nomadic herders (Genesis 12:8, 26:25). These tents served as their homes and were central to their family life and worship.

The Israelites' journey from Egypt to the Promised Land involved living in temporary shelters, which underscored their dependence on God for provision and protection (Exodus 12:37). Once settled in Canaan, homes became more permanent. The Book of Deuteronomy emphasizes the importance of teaching God's commandments within the home: "These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).

The home was also a place of hospitality and refuge. The account of the widow of Zarephath who provided for Elijah during a famine (1 Kings 17:8-16) illustrates the role of homes as places of divine provision and blessing.

New Testament

In the New Testament, homes continue to play a significant role in the life of believers. Jesus often visited homes, using them as venues for teaching and performing miracles. For instance, He healed Peter's mother-in-law in her home (Mark 1:29-31) and raised Jairus's daughter from the dead in her home (Mark 5:35-43).

The early Christian church frequently met in homes, which served as the primary gathering places for worship and fellowship. Acts 2:46 describes the early believers: "With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart" . This practice highlights the home as a center for spiritual growth and community life.

The apostle Paul, in his letters, often sends greetings to churches that meet in homes, such as the church in the house of Priscilla and Aquila (Romans 16:3-5). This underscores the importance of the home as a foundational unit for the early church's expansion and ministry.

Symbolism and Spiritual Significance

Homes in the Bible also carry symbolic and spiritual significance. They represent stability, security, and a place of rest. Psalm 127:1 states, "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain" , emphasizing the need for divine involvement in establishing a home.

Moreover, the concept of a heavenly home is a recurring theme, offering hope and assurance of eternal life. Jesus comforts His disciples with the promise of preparing a place for them: "In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?" (John 14:2). This promise reflects the ultimate fulfillment of God's plan for His people to dwell with Him eternally.

In summary, homes in the Bible are multifaceted, serving as places of family life, worship, hospitality, and spiritual growth. They are integral to the narrative of God's relationship with His people, both in the temporal and eternal sense.

Greek

4634. skenopegia -- the setting up of tents
... tabernacles. From skenos and pegnumi; the Festival of Tabernacles (so called from
the custom of erecting booths for temporary homes) -- tabernacles. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4634.htm - 6k

3624. oikos -- a house, a dwelling
... word Definition a house, a dwelling NASB Word Usage descendants (1), families (1),
family (1), home (18), homes (2), house (79), household (14), households (1 ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3624.htm - 6k

848. hautou -- her own, his own, their own, themselves, they.
... Word Origin see heautou NASB Word Usage each other (1), himself (2), home (1), homes
(1), themselves (1). her own, his own, their own, themselves, they. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/848.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

2723. chorbah -- waste, desolation, ruin
... Word Origin from chareb Definition waste, desolation, ruin NASB Word Usage deserts
(1), desolation (4), desolations (1), ruin (6), ruined homes (1), ruins (11 ...
/hebrew/2723.htm - 6k

1004. bayith -- a house
... 2), faced inward (1), family (2), family* (1), guard* (1), hall (1), hangings (1),
harem* (5), holders (7), home (33), homeborn* (2), homes (2), house (1534 ...
/hebrew/1004.htm - 7k

Library

Jewish Homes
... Chapter 6 Jewish Homes. It may be safely asserted, that the grand distinction,
which divided all mankind into Jews and Gentiles, was ...
/.../edersheim/sketches of jewish social life/chapter 6 jewish homes.htm

Her Eyes are Homes of Silent Prayer,
... The Treasury of Sacred Song. Book First CCCCXXI Her eyes are homes of silent prayer,.
Nor other thought her mind admits But, he was dead, and there he sits,. ...
/.../palgrave/the treasury of sacred song/ccccxxi her eyes are homes.htm

In the Homes of the People
... IX IN THE HOMES OF THE PEOPLE. ... To get amongst the people in their homes, to share
in their joys and sorrows, to understand something of their sins! ...
/.../carpenter/the angel adjutant of twice born men/ix in the homes of.htm

The Friend of Men 223 in Nothing Does the Contrast Between Jesus ...
... John had his training and did his work apart from the homes of men. ... They then returned
to their homes and their work. I The Friend of Men 223. ...
/.../rhees/the life of jesus of nazareth/i the friend of men.htm

Revival in the Home
... Revival is desperately needed in the church"in the country"in the world, but
a revived church with unrevived homes would be sheer hypocrisy. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/hession/the calvary road/chapter 6 revival in the.htm

The Springs of Social Life.
... are kept. Thousands of homes like this there are, all around us. It describes
the largest class of homes, we may believe. And who ...
/.../chapin/humanity in the city/discourse v the springs of.htm

Family Religion.
... well your own houses; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs."
The same family religion was a prominent feature of the homes of the ...
/.../philips/the christian home/chapter iii family religion.htm

Questions and Answers--Sorrowful Cases--Testimonies from those who ...
... Since the above was written other young emigrants, now married and settled in homes
of their own, have offered to adopt orphans and children, homeless as they ...
/.../lowe/gods answers/chapter ix questions and answerssorrowful.htm

Easter Day.
... They went away from the very sight, if I may so speak, of Christ risen, to their
own homes. And what thoughts do we suppose that they carried with them? ...
//christianbookshelf.org/arnold/the christian life/lecture xxv easter day.htm

Appointment to Bareilly
... with several of the wealthy and influential natives of the city, and Mrs. Thomas
welcomed the opportunity to introduce her doctor friend to these homes. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/hoskins/clara a swain md/appointment to bareilly.htm

Thesaurus

Homes (43 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Homes (43 Occurrences). ... Luke 18:28 Then Peter said, "See,
we have given up our homes and have followed you." (WEY NAS RSV). ...
/h/homes.htm - 18k

Ephesus (20 Occurrences)
... founded, not by Paul's personal labours, but by missionaries whom he may have sent
out from Ephesus, and by the influence of converts returning to their homes. ...
/e/ephesus.htm - 24k

Contempt (55 Occurrences)
... For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. (See NAS). 1 Corinthians
11:22 Why, have you no homes in which to eat and drink? ...
/c/contempt.htm - 23k

Feel (58 Occurrences)
... 1 Corinthians 11:22 Why, have you no homes in which to eat and drink? Or
do you wish to show your contempt for the Church of God ...
/f/feel.htm - 25k

Stork (6 Occurrences)
... The Hebrew word chaidhah, from which the stork took its name, means "kindness."
There is a smaller stork having a black neck and back, that homes in Palestine ...
/s/stork.htm - 14k

Ashamed (131 Occurrences)
... (See RSV). 1 Corinthians 11:22 Why, have you no homes in which to eat and
drink? Or do you wish to show your contempt for the Church ...
/a/ashamed.htm - 42k

Oil (281 Occurrences)
... In the homes the oil is kept in small earthen jars of various shapes, usually having
spouts by which the oil can be easily poured (1 Kings 17:12 2 Kings 4:2 ...
/o/oil.htm - 60k

Home (270 Occurrences)
... John 7:53 [So they went away to their several homes; (Root in WEY DBY NAS NIV). ...
John 20:10 So the disciples went away again to their own homes. ...
/h/ - 36k

Matter (263 Occurrences)
... (ASV). 1 Corinthians 11:22 Why, have you no homes in which to eat and drink?
Or do you wish to show your contempt for the Church ...
/m/matter.htm - 39k

Resources

Is it wrong for a Christian family to put a loved one into a nursing home? | GotQuestions.org

What does it mean that a biblical passage is descriptive rather than prescriptive? | GotQuestions.org

Is it wrong to live in nice houses (Haggai 1:4)? | GotQuestions.org

Homes: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Homes (43 Occurrences)

Mark 8:3
and if I shall let them away fasting to their home, they will faint in the way, for certain of them are come from far.'
(See NAS RSV)

Mark 10:30
but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.
(See NIV)

Luke 16:4
I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.'
(See NAS)

Luke 18:28
Then Peter said, "See, we have given up our homes and have followed you."
(WEY NAS RSV)

John 7:53
[So they went away to their several homes;
(WEY)

John 14:2
In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
(WEB)

John 20:10
So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
(WEB NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 2:46
Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,
(See RSV NIV)

Acts 17:26
He caused to spring from one forefather people of every race, for them to live on the whole surface of the earth, and marked out for them an appointed span of life and the boundaries of their homes;
(WEY)

Acts 20:20
and that I never shrank from declaring to you anything that was profitable, or from teaching you in public and in your homes,
(WEY)

1 Corinthians 4:12
Homes we have none. Wearily we toil, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we bear it patiently;
(WEY)

1 Corinthians 11:22
Why, have you no homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you wish to show your contempt for the Church of God and make those who have no homes feel ashamed? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this matter I certainly do not praise you.
(WEY NIV)

1 Timothy 5:4
But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let these learn first to show piety towards their own homes and to prove their gratitude to their parents; for this is well pleasing in the sight of God.
(WEY)

1 Timothy 5:14
I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for reviling.
(See NIV)

2 Timothy 3:6
For of these are those who creep into houses, and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
(See NIV)

Titus 2:5
industrious in their homes, kind, submissive to their husbands, so that the Christian teaching may not be exposed to reproach.
(WEY)

Exodus 12:27
that you shall say,'It is the sacrifice of Yahweh's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.'" The people bowed their heads and worshiped.
(See NAS NIV)

Numbers 32:18
We will not return to our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.
(See NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 32:25
Outside the sword shall bereave, and in the chambers, terror; on both young man and virgin, The suckling with the gray-haired man.
(See NIV)

Joshua 22:4
Now Yahweh your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them. Therefore now return and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan.
(See NIV)

Joshua 22:6
Only fear Yahweh, and serve him in truth with all your heart; for consider how great things he has done for you.
(See RSV NIV)

Joshua 22:7
Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half gave Joshua among their brothers beyond the Jordan westward. Moreover when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,
(See RSV)

Joshua 22:8
and they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot.
(See RSV NIV)

1 Samuel 13:2
And Saul took for himself three thousand men of Israel, of whom he kept two thousand with him in Michmash and in the mountain of Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin: the rest of the people he sent back to their tents.
(See NIV)

2 Samuel 6:19
He dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, both to men and women, to everyone a cake of bread, and a portion of flesh, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed everyone to his house.
(See NIV)

2 Samuel 18:17
They took Absalom, and cast him into the great pit in the forest, and raised over him a very great heap of stones. Then all Israel fled everyone to his tent.
(See NIV)

2 Samuel 19:8
Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. They told to all the people, saying, "Behold, the king is sitting in the gate." All the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his tent.
(See NIV)

1 Kings 8:66
On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
(See RSV)

2 Kings 13:5
(Yahweh gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel lived in their tents as before.
(See RSV NIV)

2 Chronicles 7:10
On the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David, and to Solomon, and to Israel his people.
(See RSV NIV)

Nehemiah 4:14
I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Don't be afraid of them: remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
(See RSV NIV)

Nehemiah 5:3
Some also there were that said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses: let us get grain, because of the dearth.
(See NIV)

Job 1:4
His sons went and held a feast in the house of each one on his birthday; and they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
(See NIV)

Job 2:11
Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.
(See NIV)

Job 36:20
Don't desire the night, when people are cut off in their place.
(See NIV)

Psalms 49:11
Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.
(See RSV)

Psalms 78:55
He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
(See NIV)

Psalms 109:10
Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins.
(See NAS NIV)

Proverbs 30:26
The conies are only a feeble people, but they make their houses in the rocks;
(See RSV)

Isaiah 32:18
And my people will be living in peace, in houses where there is no fear, and in quiet resting-places.
(See NIV)

Lamentations 5:2
Our inheritance is turned to strangers, Our houses to aliens.
(See RSV NIV)

Hosea 11:11
They will come trembling like a bird out of Egypt, and like a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will settle them in their houses," says Yahweh.
(See RSV NIV)

Micah 2:9
You drive the women of my people out from their pleasant houses; from their young children you take away my blessing forever.
(See NIV)

Subtopics

Homes

Related Terms

Ephesus (20 Occurrences)

Contempt (55 Occurrences)

Feel (58 Occurrences)

Stork (6 Occurrences)

Ashamed (131 Occurrences)

Oil (281 Occurrences)

Home (270 Occurrences)

Matter (263 Occurrences)