| <p> a collection of houses less regular and important than a town (q.v.) or city (q.v.). (See [[Topographical Terms]]). </p> <p> '''I.''' ''Original Terms. '''''—''''' '' The word "village" stands in the A.V. as the rendering of many Heb. and Gr. words, several of which represent quite other ideas. </p> <p> '''1.''' The proper Heb. term for village is '''''כָּפָר''''' '', [[Kaph]] [['''''Â''''' R'']] (from '''''כָּפִר''''' , ''To Cover'' ; Sept. '''''Κώμη;''''' Vulg. ''Villa'' ) '','' which appears also in the forms '''''כְּפַיר''''' , ''Kephir'' ( Nehemiah 6:2, '''''Κώμη''''' , viculus) '','' and '''''כֹּפֶר''''' , ''K '''''Ô''''' Pher'' ( 1 Samuel 6:18, '''''Κώμη''''' , villa) '','' and is represented by the Arabic ''Kefr'' , still so much in use. In the Heb. the prefix [[Caphar]] implied a regular village, as Capernaum, which place, however, had in later times outgrown the limits implied by its original designation (Lightfoot, ''Infra'' ; Stanley, [[Sin]] ; ''And Pal.'' p. 521-527; 1 [[Maccabees]] 7:31). (See Caphar). </p> <p> Another term, '''''חָצֵר''''' , ''Chatser'' (from '''''חָצִר''''' , ''To [[Hedge]] In'' ; Sept. '''''Ἔπαυλις''''' or '''''Κώμη''''' ; Vulg. ''Villa, Castellum,'' or ''Oppidum'' ) '','' properly an ''Enclosure,'' is used of farm buildings enclosing a court of the encampment of nomads ( Genesis 28:16; Deuteronomy 2:25, etc.); and of hamlets near towns ( Joshua 13:23; Joshua 13:28; Joshua 15:32 sq.; 1 Chronicles 4:33; Nehemiah 11:2; Nehemiah 11:5), especially the un-walled suburbs near walled towns ( Leviticus 25:31; comp. Leviticus 25:34). They were in reality "pastoral settlements," or little enclosures formed partly for shelter, and partly as a kind of defense from the wandering Arabs. The enclosures, sometimes, were nothing better than tents, but pitched in the form of an encampment, as in the case still of the Jehalin Arabs, who arrange their tents in a sort of circle for the sake of better security and mutual protection (Wilson, Lands of the Bible, 2, 710; Robinson, Res. 2, 468). In some parts of Syria the term haush is applied to a few houses, which are constructed so as to join together, and thereby present a defense against the Arab robbers, the entrance into the haush being usually through a strong wooden gate, which is firmly secured every evening (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 212). Such, probably, of whatever material formed, were the villages spoken of in connection with some of the ancient towns of the Israelites; those, especially, which bordered on pasture or desert lands. The places to which, in the Old Test., the term chatser is applied were mostly in the outskirts of the country (Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 526). </p> <p> Different from these were the '''''בְּנוֹת''''' '''''הָעַיר''''' '', Daughters Of The City,'' which were small towns or villages lying near to a great city, dependent on it, and included under its jurisdiction. (See [[Daughter]]). </p> <p> The term '''''חִוָּה''''' , ''Chavoth,'' from '''''חָוָה''''' , ''To Breathe, To Live,'' qu. ''Place Of Living,'' though others prefer to derive it from the Arabic ''Chawa, Convolvit, In Gyrum Se Flexit,'' whence ''Chewaon, A Tent,'' or ''A Cluster'' of ''Tents, An [[Abode]] Of Nomads,'' also denotes a village. The term occurs only in the plural, and only in reference to certain villages or small towns bearing the name of Havoth- jair. These are mentioned in Numbers 32:42 Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 13:30; Judges 10:4; 1 Kings 4:13. (See [[Havoth-Jair]]). </p> <p> In the New Test. the term '''''Κώμη''''' is applied to Bethphage. ( Matthew 21:2), [[Bethany]] ( Luke 10:38; John 11:1), [[Emmaus]] ( Luke 24:13), [[Bethlehem]] ( John 7:42). A distinction between city or town ( '''''Πόλις''''' ) and village ( '''''Κώμη''''' ) is pointed out in Luke 8:1. On the other hand, [[Bethsaida]] is called '''''Πόλις''''' ( Luke 9:10; John 1:45), and, also '''''Κώμη''''' ( Mark 8:23; Mark 8:26), unless by the latter word we are to understand the suburbs of the town, which meaning seems to belong to "country" ( Mark 6:56). The relation of dependence on a chief town of a district appears to be denoted by the phrase "villages of [[Caesarea]] Philippi" ( Mark 8:27). Bethsaida of Gaulonitis, to which Herod [[Philip]] II allowed the dignity of a city (Josephus, ''Ant. V.'' 2,1), is called '''''Πόλις;''''' unless these two are one and the same place (Thomson, Land and Book). </p> <p> '''2.''' Other terms are improperly thus rendered. Thus Habakkuk 3:14, the plur. of '''''פָּרָז''''' , ''Paraz'' (from '''''פָּרִז''''' , ''To Separate,'' hence ''To Judge,'' like '''''Κρίνω''''' ) '','' is rendered "villages." It should be "captains," or "eminent men," men separated by their rank or prowess from the mass (Sept. '''''Δυ''''' '''''Νάσται''''' ;Vulg. ''Princeps, Prafectus'' ) ''.'' In Judges 5:7; Judges 5:11, the cognate '''''פַּרָזוֹן''''' , ''Perazon,'' properly ''Rulers'' (Sept. '''''Δυνα''''' '''''Τοί''''' ) '','' is rendered "villages;" and Ezekiel 38:11 '''''פְּרָזוֹת''''' , ''Peramoth,'' means "open country." The cognate noun '''''פְּרָזַי''''' , however, signifying a countryman, a rustic, with '''''כֹפֶר''''' prefixed, signifies a "country village" ( '''''Φερεζαῖος''''' , ''Oppidum'' ) ''.'' </p> <p> The word '''''מַגְרָשׁ''''' , ''Migr '''''Â''''' Sh'' (from '''''גָּרִשׁ''''' , ''To [[Draw]] Out'' ; '''''Περισπόριον''''' ; ''Suburbanum'' ) '','' transl. "village" in Leviticus 25:31, is more correctly rendered in Leviticus 25:34 "suburb." </p> <p> '''II.''' ''Comparative Statements. '''''—''''' '' There is little in the Old Test. to enable us more precisely to define a village of Palestine, beyond the fact that it was destitute of walls or external defenses. [[Persian]] villages are spoken of in similar terms ( Ezekiel 38:11; Esther 9:19). The rabbins make the distinction between a city ( '''''עיר''''' ) and a village ( '''''כפר''''' ) to lie in the former having, and the latter wanting, the number of learned men (ten) deemed requisite to entitle a place to a synagogue (Lightfoot, ''Chorograph.'' Matthew Praemiss. c. 98; and Hor. Heb. in Matthew 4:23). This is a distinction, however, so purely arbitrary and artificial that it is worthless for any practical purpose. Galilee, in our Lord's time, contained many villages and village-towns; and Josephus says that in his time there were in Galilee two hundred and four towns and villages ( '''''Πόλεις''''' '''''Καὶ''''' '''''Κώμαι''''' ) '','' some of which last had walls (Josephus, Life, '''''§''''' 45). At present the country is almost depopulated (Raumer, Palest. p. 105; Stanley. Sin. and Pal. p. 384). Most modern Turkish and Persian villages have a menil or medh '''''Â''''' fa, a house for travelers (Burckhardt, Syria, p. 295;. Robinson, 2, 19; Martyn, Life, p. 437). Arab villages, as found in Arabia, are often mere collections of stone huts "long, low, rude hovels, roofed only with the stalks of palm- leaves," or covered for a time with tent-cloths, which are removed when the tribe change their quarters. Others are more solidly built, as are most of the modern villages of Palestine, though in some the dwellings are mere mud-huts (Robinson, Res. 1, 167; 2, 13,14, 44, 387 Hasselquist, Trav. p. 155; Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 233; App. '''''§''''' 83, p. 525). Arab villages of the Hejaz and [[Yemen]] often consist of huts with circular roofs of leaves or grass, resembling the description given by [[Sallust]] of the Numidian mapalia, viz. ships with the keel uppermost (Sallust, Jug. 18; Shaw, Trav. p. 220; Niebuhr, Descr. de l'Arab. p. 54). </p>
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| <p> ''''' vil´ā́j ''''' ( כּפר , <i> ''''' ḳāphār ''''' </i> , חוּות , <i> ''''' ḥawwōth ''''' </i> , חצרים , <i> ''''' ḥăcērı̄m ''''' </i> , בּנות , <i> ''''' bānōth ''''' </i> , פּרזות , <i> ''''' perāzōth ''''' </i> ; κώμη , <i> ''''' kṓmē ''''' </i> ): (1) The general term for a village, in common with [[Aramaic]] and Arabic is <i> ''''' ḳāphār ''''' </i> ( Song of [[Solomon]] 7:11; 1 Chronicles 27:25; <i> ''''' kōpher ''''' </i> ; 1 Samuel 6:18; <i> ''''' kephı̄r ''''' </i> , Nehemiah 6:2 ). This designation is derived from the idea of its offering "cover" or shelter. It is used in combination, and place-names of this formation became prominent in post-Biblical times, probably because the villages so named had then grown into towns. A well-known Biblical instance of such names is Capernaum. (2) <i> ''''' Ḥawwōth ''''' </i> (always "town" in English [[Versions]] of the Bible; see [[Havvoth-Jair]] ) means originally a group of tents (Arabic <i> ''''' ḥiwa' ''''' </i> ). These in settled life soon became more permanent dwellings, or what we understand by a village. The term, however, is applied only to the villages of [[Jair]] in the tribe of [[Manasseh]] ( Numbers 32:41; 1 Kings 4:13 ). (3) <i> ''''' Ḥăcērı̄m ''''' </i> likewise came from nomadic life. They were originally enclosures specially for cattle, alongside of which dwellings for the herdsmen and peasantry naturally grew up (see [[Hazar-Addar]]; [[Hazor]] ). They were unwalled ( Leviticus 25:31 ) and lay around the cities ( Joshua 19:8 ). (4) <i> ''''' Bānōth ''''' </i> is literally "daughters." The word is applied to the dependent villages lying around the larger cities, and to which they looked as to a kind of metropolis ( Numbers 21:25 , etc.); the Revised Version (British and American) "towns" except in Numbers 32:42 . (5) <i> ''''' Perāzōth ''''' </i> means "the open country," but it soon came to mean the villages scattered in the open ( Ezekiel 38:11; Zechariah 2:4; Esther 9:19 ). Some have sought to connect the [[Perizzites]] with this word and to regard them, not as a distinct people, but as the peasant class. Attempts have also been made to connect <i> ''''' perāzōn ''''' </i> in Judges 5:7 , Judges 5:11 with the same root, and the King James Version rendered it "inhabitants of the villages." the Revised Version (British and American), on the contrary, gives it the meaning of "rulers." The versions indicate a word meaning authority, and probably the text should be emended to read <i> ''''' rōzenı̄m ''''' </i> , "rulers." A similar emendation is required in Habakkuk 3:14 . "Village" in the Revised Version (British and American) of the New [[Testament]] invariably represents the Greek <i> ''''' kōmē ''''' </i> , but in 2 Macc 8:6 the Revised Version (British and American) [[Apocrypha]] has "village" for <i> ''''' chṓra ''''' </i> , lit. "country." See [[City]]; [[Town]] . </p>
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