| <p> ( בּית אב , <i> '''''bēth 'ābh''''' </i> , בּית אבות , <i> '''''bēth 'ābhōth''''' </i> ): Father's house in the Old [[Testament]] is (1) a dwelling, the family home ( [[Genesis]] 12:1; Genesis 31:14 , Genesis 31:30; Genesis 38:11; 1 Samuel 18:2 ); (2) a family or household ( Genesis 41:51; Genesis 46:31; Exodus 12:3 , the Revised Version (British and American) "fathers' houses"); (3) The group of households, of several of which the "family" or "clan" was constituted, aggregations of which formed the "tribe," generally "fathers' houses" ( Numbers 1:18 , Numbers 1:20; Numbers 17:2; Ezra 2:59; Nehemiah 10:34 , etc.); (4)the "family" (clan), <i> '''''mishpāḥāh''''' </i> , "fathers' houses" ( Exodus 6:14 f; Numbers 3:20 ); (5) The tribe, "fathers' house," "houses" ( Numbers 7:2; Numbers 17:1-3 , etc.). </p> <p> In the New Testament "father's house" ( οἶκος τοῦ πατρός , <i> '''''oı́kos toú patrós''''' </i> ) occurs in the sense of dwelling, house ( Luke 16:27; compare Luke 16:4 ). our Lord also uses the phrase (1) of the earthly temple-dwelling of God at [[Jerusalem]] ( John 2:16 , "Make not my Father's house a house of merchandise"; compare [[Psalm]] 11:4; Isaiah 63:15 ); (2) of heaven as the abode of God and His children ( John 14:2 , "In my Father's house are many mansions," the Revised Version, margin "abiding places," <i> '''''oikı́a''''' </i> "house," "dwelling," also household, family; compare Psalm 33:13; Isaiah 63:15; Matthew 6:9 ). The phrase occurs also ( Acts 7:20 ) of Moses, "nourished ... in his father's house" ( <i> '''''oikos''''' </i> ). </p> <p> Revised Version has "father's hquse" for "principal household" ( 1 Chronicles 24:6 ), "heads of the fathers' houses" for "chief fathers" ( Numbers 31:26; Numbers 32:28; Numbers 36:1; 1 Chronicles 9:34 , etc.); "one prince of a father's house," for "each of" ( Joshua 22:14 ); "the heads of the fathers' (houses)" for "the chief of the fathers," and "the fathers' houses of the chief," for "the principal fathers" ( 1 Chronicles 24:31 ). </p>
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