Home
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]
1. The English word ‘home’ represents more than one Greek word; most commonly οἷκος gives the idea. Thus κατʼ οἷκον = ‘at home’ ( Acts 2:46 Revised Versionand AVm[Note: Vm Authorized Version margin.], and Acts 5:42 Revised Version; Authorized Version‘from house to house’ and ‘in every house’); while κατʼ οἴκους in Acts 20:20 = ‘from house to house,’ Authorized Versionand Revised Version, private as opposed to public teaching being referred to; and κατὰ τοὺς οἴκουη in Acts 8:3 = ‘[entering] into every house.’ ‘At home’ renders ἐν οἴκῳ in 1 Corinthians 11:34; 1 Corinthians 14:35. In 1 Timothy 5:4 widows’ children are bidden εὐσεβεῖν τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον, ‘show piety at home’ (Authorized Version), or ‘towards their own family’ (Revised Version). In Titus 2:5 Revised Versionthe young married women are to be οἰκουργοί, ‘workers at home’ (Authorized Versionοἰκουροί, ‘keepers at home’; the former word is not found elsewhere, but is attested by all the best Manuscripts).
The same idea is given by τὰ ἴδια, lit.[Note: literally, literature.]‘their own belongings,’ in Acts 21:6 (‘returned home’);*[Note: οἱ ἴδιοι, ‘one’s own people,’ in 1 Timothy 5:8, and especially in John 1:11, where both expressions are joined together. The Incarnate came to His own home τὰ ἴδια), but His own chosen people, the Jews (οἱ ἴδιοι), received Him not.] and figuratively in 2 Corinthians 5:6; 2 Corinthians 5:8 by ἐνδημεῖν, ‘to be at home’ (lit.[Note: literally, literature.]‘among the people’), and ἐνδημεῖν, ‘to be absent from home’; perhaps also by the phrase, ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Πατρός μου, ‘in my Father’s house’ (figuratively, or else lit.[Note: literally, literature.]of the Temple), of Luke 2:49. Again, πόλις (Lat. civitas ) conveys the idea of a ‘home’ (cf. Hebrews 11:10; Hebrews 11:16; Hebrews 12:22; Hebrews 13:14, and especially Matthew 12:25 : πόλις ἢ οἰκία). To us the word ‘city’ conveys the idea of streets and buildings; to a Greek or Roman, and so to an early Christian, it means an organized society which is the home of those who inhabit it (see B. F. Westcott, Hebrews , 1889, p. 388ff.). So also we may paraphrase Philippians 3:20 thus: ‘Our home (πόλις) is in heaven, while on earth we are only travellers and passers-by.’
2. The idea of home is much dwelt upon in the Pastoral Epistles. There is a striking difference in the NT between the qualifications of an ‘apostle’ in the widest sense, of a travelling missionary having oversight of the churches (such is also the meaning of ‘apostle’ in the Didache ), and of the local ‘bishop’ or ‘presbyter’ and deacon. The ‘apostle’ may be married ( 1 Corinthians 9:5), but his home life is not emphasized; while in the case of the local officials the home is much spoken of. Thus in the Pastoral Epistles the bishop must be husband of one wife, given to hospitality, ruling well his own house, having his children in subjection; for ruling his family well leads to his ruling his flock well; a test of his having trained his children well is that they believe, and are not accused of riot and are not unruly ( 1 Timothy 3:1-5, Titus 1:6). Deacons must be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well ( 1 Timothy 3:12). These Epistles also deal generally with Christian home life; the faithful are to provide for their own households ( 1 Timothy 5:8); married women must be good house workers (above, 1 ; cf. the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31:10 ff.), and must love their husbands and children ( Titus 2:4 f). Among widows’ qualifications is that of having brought up children, who in turn are bidden to requite their parents by supporting the widowed mother and grandmother ( 1 Timothy 5:10; cf. 1 Timothy 5:4; cf. 1 Timothy 5:16). We have several distant glimpses of devout Christian homes in the NT-of Timothy with his mother and grandmother at Lystra, of Philip with his daughters at Caesarea, and of some others, for which see Family.
3. Hospitality is closely connected with the idea of ‘home.’ For the large guest-rooms which made this possible on a comparatively extended scale, see House. Instances of hospitality are common in the apostolic writings. Simon the tanner entertains St. Peter ( Acts 10:6), Lydia at Philippi shows hospitality to St. Paul ( Acts 16:15; Acts 16:40), the jailer there brings the apostles into his house and sets meat before them ( Acts 16:34); Titus Justus at Corinth ( Acts 18:7), Philip at Caesarea ( Acts 21:8), Mnason of Cyprus at Jerusalem, or at a village between Caesarea and Jerusalem ( Acts 21:16; see W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller , 1895, p. 302f.), Publius in Malta ( Acts 28:7)-all entertained the Apostle hospitably. In Romans 16:23 Gains is famous for this quality; he is the host of the whole Church, apparently at Corinth (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:14). It is just possible that he may be the same as the hospitable Gains of 3 John 1:1; 3 John 1:5, but the name is a common one. With the last passage contrast the want of hospitality shown by Diotrephes in 3 John 1:9 f.
The duty of showing hospitality is insisted on in the case of a ‘bishop’ in 1 Timothy 3:2, Titus 1:8 (he is to be φιλόξενος), and in the case of a widow in 1 Timothy 5:10 (ἐξενοδόχησεν); and Christians in general are bidden to ‘pursue’ ( Romans 12:13) and ‘not to forget’ ( Hebrews 13:2) love unto strangers (φιλοξενία), to be ‘lovers of strangers’ (φιλόξενοι, 1 Peter 4:9), i.e. not to be givers of feasts but to receive strangers (C. Bigg, St. Peter and St. Jude [ International Critical Commentary , 1901], 173; cf. Job 31:32). In these injunctions there is a reminiscence of our Lord’s words, ‘I was a stranger, and ye took me in’ ( Matthew 25:35). See, further, articleHospitality.
A. J. Maclean.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( n.) The abiding place of the affections, especially of the domestic affections.
(2): ( n.) One's native land; the place or country in which one dwells; the place where one's ancestors dwell or dwelt.
(3): ( n.) One's own dwelling place; the house in which one lives; esp., the house in which one lives with his family; the habitual abode of one's family; also, one's birthplace.
(4): ( n.) See Homelyn.
(5): ( n.) The locality where a thing is usually found, or was first found, or where it is naturally abundant; habitat; seat; as, the home of the pine.
(6): ( a.) Of or pertaining to one's dwelling or country; domestic; not foreign; as home manufactures; home comforts.
(7): ( a.) Close; personal; pointed; as, a home thrust.
(8): ( adv.) To one's home or country; as in the phrases, go home, come home, carry home.
(9): ( n.) A place of refuge and rest; an asylum; as, a home for outcasts; a home for the blind; hence, esp., the grave; the final rest; also, the native and eternal dwelling place of the soul.
(10): ( adv.) To the place where it belongs; to the end of a course; to the full length; as, to drive a nail home; to ram a cartridge home.
(11): ( n.) The home base; he started for home.
(12): ( adv.) Close; closely.
(13): ( n.) The place of a player in front of an opponent's goal; also, the player.
(14): ( n.) In various games, the ultimate point aimed at in a progress; goal
(15): ( n.) The plate at which the batter stands.
King James Dictionary [3]
HOME, n. Gr. a house, a close place, or place or rest.
1. A dwelling house the house or place in which one resides. He was not at home.
Then the disciples went away again to their own home. John 20 .
Home is the sacred refuge of our life.
2. One's own country. Let affairs at home be well managed by the administration. 3. The place of constant residence the seat.
Flandria, by plenty, made the home of war.
4. The grave death or a future state.
Man goeth to his long home. Ecclesiastes 12
5. The present state of existence.
Whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5
HOME, a. Close severe poignant as a home thrust.
HOME, adv. This is merely elliptical to being omitted.
1. To one's own habitation as in the phrases, go home, come home, bring home, carry home. 2. To one's own country. Home is opposed to abroad, or in a foreign country. My brother will return home in the first ship from India. 3. Close closely to the point as, this consideration comes home to our interest, that is, it nearly affects it. Drive the nail home, that is, drive it close.
To haul home the top-sail sheets, in seamen's language, is to draw the bottom of the top-sail close to the yard-arm by means of the sheets.
An anchor is said to come home, when it loosens from the ground by the violence of the wind or current, &c.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [4]
hōm ( בּית , bayith , "house," מקום , māḳōm , "place," אהל , 'ōhel , "tent" ( Judges 19:9 ), שׁוּב , shūbh , "to cause to turn back," תּוך , tāwekh , תּוך , tokh , "middle," "midst" ( Deuteronomy 21:12 ); οῖκος , oı́kos , "house," "household," ἐνδημέω , endēméō , "to be among one's people," oı́kos ı́dios , "one's own proper (house)"): This term in Scripture does not stand for a single specific word of the original, but for a variety of phrases. Most commonly it is a translation of the Hebrew bayith , Greek οἶκος , "house," which means either the building or the persons occupying it. In Genesis 43:26 "home" and "into the house" represent the same phase, "to the house" ( ha - bayethāh ). In Rth 1:21, "hath brought me home again" means "has caused me to return." In 2 Chronicles 25:10 "home again" means "to their place." In Ecclesiastes 12:5 "long home," the Revised Version (British and American) "everlasting home," means "eternal house." In John 19:27 "unto his own home " means "unto his own things" (so John 1:11 ). In 2 Corinthians 5:6 (and the Revised Version (British and American) 2 Corinthians 5:8 , 2 Corinthians 5:9 ) "be at home" is a translation of endēmeō , "to be among one's own people," as opposed to ekdēméō , "to be or live abroad."
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [5]
Defined by Ruskin as "the place of Peace; the shelter not only from all injury, but from all terror, doubt, and division. In so far as it is not this, it is not home; so far as the anxieties of the outer world penetrate into it, and the inconsistently-minded, unknown, unloved, or hostile society, the outer world, is allowed by either husband or wife to cross the threshold, it ceases to be home; it is then only a part of the outer world which you have roofed over and lighted a fire in."
