Fold

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. t.) To double or lay together, as the arms or the hands; as, he folds his arms in despair.

(2): ( v. t.) To cover or wrap up; to conceal.

(3): ( v. i.) To confine sheep in a fold.

(4): ( v. t.) To confine in a fold, as sheep.

(5): ( v. t.) To lap or lay in plaits or folds; to lay one part over another part of; to double; as, to fold cloth; to fold a letter.

(6): ( n.) A boundary; a limit.

(7): ( v. t.) To inclose within folds or plaitings; to envelop; to infold; to clasp; to embrace.

(8): ( n.) A flock of sheep; figuratively, the Church or a church; as, Christ's fold.

(9): ( v. i.) To become folded, plaited, or doubled; to close over another of the same kind; to double together; as, the leaves of the door fold.

(10): ( v.) A doubling,esp. of any flexible substance; a part laid over on another part; a plait; a plication.

(11): ( v.) Times or repetitions; - used with numerals, chiefly in composition, to denote multiplication or increase in a geometrical ratio, the doubling, tripling, etc., of anything; as, fourfold, four times, increased in a quadruple ratio, multiplied by four.

(12): ( v.) That which is folded together, or which infolds or envelops; embrace.

(13): ( n.) An inclosure for sheep; a sheep pen.

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Αὐλή (Strong'S #833 — Noun Feminine — aule — ow-lay' )

first signifies "an open courtyard" before a house; then, "an enclosure" in the open, "a sheepfold,"  John 10:1,16 . In the papyri "the word is extremely common, denoting the court attached to a house" (Moulton and Milligan, Vocab.). The "sheepfold" was usually surrounded by a stone wall,  Numbers 32:16 , preferably near a well,  Exodus 2:16;  Psalm 23:2 , and often protected by a tower,  2—Chronicles 26:10;  Micah 4:8 . See Court , Hall , Palace.

 John 10:16Flock.

King James Dictionary

FOLD, n. See the verb, to fold.

1. A pen or inclosure for sheep a place where a flock of sheep is kept, whether in the field or under shelter. 2. A flock of sheep. Hence in a scriptural sense, the church, the flock of the Shepherd of Israel.

Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold.  John 10 .

3. A limit. Not in use.

FOLD, n.

1. The doubling of any flexible substance, as cloth complication a plait one part turned or bent and laid on another as a fold of linen. 2. In composition, the same quantity added as two fold, four fold, ten fold, that is, twice as much, four times as much, ten times as much.

FOLD, Heb. The primary sense is to fall, or to lay, to set, throw or press together.

1. To double to lap or lay in plaits as, to fold a piece of cloth. 2. To double and insert one part in another as, to fold a letter. 3. To double or lay together, as the arms. He folds his arms in despair. 4. To confine sheep in a fold.

FOLD, To close over another of the same kind as, the leaves of the door fold.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The divinely appointed system of Jewish ordinances which formed the enclosure into which the Lord entered by the door, in order to find His own sheep and lead them out. Gentile believers were added to them, and they became one flock (not 'one fold') with one Shepherd, the Lord Himself.   John 10:1,3,16 . There is no longer a fold on earth for those that are Christ's. They are formed into the church, namely, the one flock.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Isaiah 13:20 Numbers 32:16,24,36 2 Samuel 7:8 Zephaniah 2:6 John 10:1 Ezekiel 25:5 Isaiah 17:2 Psalm 68:13

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

FOLD. —See Flock.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(properly גְּדֵרָה , gederah', a place Walled In,  Numbers 32:16;  Numbers 32:24;  Numbers 32:36; Αὐλή , a court-yard,  John 10:1;  John 10:16; also מֵכְלָה , miklah', a place shut Up,  Habakkuk 3:17;  Psalms 50:9;  Psalms 78:70; whereas דֹּבֵר , Dober',  Isaiah 5:17;  Micah 2:12; and נָוֶה , Naveh'  2 Samuel 7:8;  1 Chronicles 17:7;  Isaiah 65:10;  Jeremiah 23:3;  Ezekiel 25:5;  Ezekiel 34:14, signify pasture, and Ποίμνη ,  John 10:16, the Flock itself) a small enclosure for flocks to rest together ( Isaiah 13:20). It appears that, before the shearing the sheep were collected together into an uncovered enclosure ( Αὐλή ) , surrounded by a wall ( John 10:11;  John 10:16). The object of this is that the wool may be rendered finer by the sweating and evaporation which necessarily result from the flock being thus crowded together. These are the sheepfolds mentioned in  Numbers 30:16;  2 Samuel 7:8;  Zephaniah 2:6, etc. No other kind than this are used in the East (Jabs, Archaeol. § 46). (See Pasturage).

Such an enclosure, open above, was often made of hurdles, in which, during the summer months, the flocks are kept by night or at noon. They were usually divided into two parts for the different kinds of flocks, i.e., sheep and goats ( Judges 5:16). (See Flock).

The gentlemen forming the Scotch Mission of Inquiry to the Jews in 1839, when at Eshtaol, observed, "Many large flocks of sheep and goats were coming into the village, and we followed the footsteps of the flocks in order to see where they were lodged all night. We found the dwellings to be merely cottages of mud with a door, and sometimes also a window, into a court-yard. In this yard the flocks were lying down, while the villagers, were spreading their mats to rest within. Small mud walls farmed rail partitions to keep separate the larger and smaller cattle, for, oxen, horses, and camels were in some of these enclosures." In the East it is common for shepherds to make use of ruined edifices to shelter their flocks from the heat of the middle of the day and from the dangers of the night. Thus it was prophesied of the cities of Ammon, Aroer, and Judea that they should be couching-places for flocks ( Ezekiel 25:5;  Isaiah 17:2;  Isaiah 32:14). But Babylon was to be visited with a far greater desolation, and to become unfit even for such a purpose ( Isaiah 13:19). The peculiar expression in  Psalms 68:13, "Though ye have been among the pots," or, according to J.D. Michaelis, "drinking- troughs" or "water-troughs," would be better rendered, "Though ye have lien among the folds." See POT. To Lie Among The Folds, says Gesenius, seems to be spoken proverbially of shepherds and husbandmen living in leisure and quiet. In  John 10:16, the Jews and Gentiles are represented under the image of two different flocks enclosed in different folds. (See Sheep).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Fold [PASTURAGE]