Household

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

A — 1: Οἶκος (Strong'S #3624 — Noun Masculine — oikos — oy'-kos )

is translated "household" in  Acts 16:15;  1—Corinthians 1:16; in the AV of  2—Timothy 4:19 (RV, "house"). See House , No. 1.

A — 2: Οἰκία (Strong'S #3614 — Noun Feminine — oikia — oy-kee'-ah )

is translated "household" in  Philippians 4:22 . See House , No. 2.

A — 3: Οἰκέτης (Strong'S #3610 — Noun Masculine — oiketeia — oy-ket'-ace )

denotes "a household of servants,"  Matthew 24:45 (some mss. have No. 4 here).

A — 4: Θεραπεία (Strong'S #2322 — Noun Feminine — therapeia — ther-ap-i'-ah )

"service, care, attention," is also used in the collective sense of "a household," in  Luke 12:42 (see No. 3). See Healing.

 Romans 16:10,11 1—Corinthians 1:11

B — 1: Οἰκεῖος (Strong'S #3609 — Adjective — oikeios — oy-ki'-os )

akin to A, No. 1, primarily signifies "of, or belonging to, a house," hence, "of persons, one's household, or kindred," as in  1—Timothy 5:8 , RV, "household," AV "house," marg., "kindred;" in  Ephesians 2:19 , "the household of God" denotes the company of the redeemed; in  Galatians 6:10 , it is called "the household of the faith," RV. In these two cases oikeios is used in the same sense as those mentioned under oikos (A, No. 1).

B — 2: Οἰκιακός (Strong'S #3615 — Noun Masculine — oikiakos — oy-kee-ak-os' )

from A, No. 2, denotes "belonging to one's household, one's own;" it is used in  Matthew 10:25,36 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

byt  Genesis 7:1  Genesis 18:19 Deuteronomy 25:9 1 Kings 11:38 Exodus 19:3 Exodus 40:38 Isaiah 8:17 Amos 3:13 Amos 7:16 Exodus 6:14 Exodus 12:3 Numbers 1:2 Joshua 22:14 Genesis 39:4 1 Kings 4:6 2 Kings 15:5 Isaiah 22:15 Isaiah 36:3

In the New Testament, many derivatives of oikos (literally, “house”) are used to refer to the members and affairs of a household. Consequently, the terms “house” and “household” are often used interchangeably in translation. The term may delineate an immediate family, as well as those employed in the service of that family (  Matthew 13:57;  Matthew 24:45;  John 4:53;  Acts 16:31 ). Descendants of a particular nation may also be described as a house or household as in  Matthew 10:6 and   Luke 1:27 ,Luke 1:27, 1:69 . “Household” or “house,” moreover, may point to the property or the management of the affairs and belongings of a family or clan ( Acts 7:10 ).

Next to the state, the household was the most important unit in the Greco-Roman world, largely because of its role as a guarantor of stability in society. If order prevailed in the household, so it would in the state. Just as the household was basic to society, so it was to Christianity. The life of the early church centered in houses or households (e.g.  Acts 2:2 ,Acts 2:2, 2:46;  Acts 12:12;  Romans 16:5 ,Romans 16:5, 16:23;  1 Corinthians 16:19 ). Household groups were the basic units that made up the church in any given locale.

Not only was the church composed of household groups, the household itself was often the focus of the church's evangelistic activity. Several texts mention the conversion of entire households:  Acts 11:14;  Acts 16:15 ,Acts 16:15, 16:31-34;  Acts 18:8 . In the world in which the early church emerged, the household was organized around the head, and solidarity was expressed in a common religion. So it was that the faith of the head of the household was the faith of the entire household. Whenever the head of a household was converted and baptized, the remainder of his house usually followed suit as an expression of loyalty and religious unity. The motivation for conversion was at times social and not wholly individual, though in baptism each confessed Christ as Lord and showed forth His death and resurrection.

Household ideals also impacted the early church in significant ways. Household terms were used by the New Testament writers to express theological ideas. The church was referred to as the “household” of faith or of God ( Galatians 6:10;  Ephesians 2:19 ). Household roles were appropriated by the Christian community: Christians were “servants” of God, and their leaders were “stewards” ( 1 Corinthians 4:1;  Titus 1:7;  1 Peter 4:10 ). Because the household was so central to ancient society, much attention was given to delineating and clarifying the roles of the members of a household, be they family or servant. Standardized rules for behavior or domestic codes were developed in society, and these were adapted for use in the early church. Examples of lists of house rules or codes may be found in  Colossians 3:18-4:1;  Ephesians 5:21-6:9;  1 Peter 2:13-3:7 . The church reinterpreted these rules in the light of their faith so as to assert their distinctiveness in the larger world. See Marriage; Servant; Slave; Steward; Temple.

William J. Ireland, Jr.

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

HOUSEHOLD. —In  Matthew 24:45 (οἰκετεία),  Luke 12:42 (θεραπεία) = servants, i.e. the dependants on an estate to whom the steward was bound in our Lord’s parable to serve out rations at intervals of a day, a week, or a month. It was their dependent and helpless condition which was the test of the steward’s faithfulness to his trust. The same English word translates οἰκιακοί in  Matthew 10:25;  Matthew 10:36, i.e. the inmates of a house, subordinate indeed to the master, but attached to him by ties of relationship or marriage. In  Matthew 10:25 there is a contrast and comparison between the οἰκιακοί (Christ’s disciples) and the οἰκοδεσπότης (the Lord Himself), and Christ warns the Twelve that if He has been called Beelzebul (or Beelzebub) by His enemies (cf.  Matthew 9:34;  Matthew 12:24,  John 8:48), those who belong to His household cannot expect to be free from this ‘reproach of Christ.’ In  Matthew 10:36 the contrast is between some members of a household and the rest. Here He warns them of the inevitable opposition that will arise when some in a house love Christ supremely, while others are hostile or indifferent to Him. The words of ancient prophecy ( Micah 7:6) then receive a fulfilment. The very closeness of association emphasizes the antagonism, and ‘a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.’

C. H. Prichard.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Those who dwell in a house under one head, including the wife and children, and embracing servants who were usually slaves.  Genesis 15:2,3;  Luke 12:42;  Acts 10:7;  Philippians 4:22 . We read of the baptism of whole households.  Acts 16:15;  1 Corinthians 1:16 . The Lord speaks of His disciples as His household,  Matthew 10:25; and saints are called the 'household of faith,' and the 'household of God.'  Galatians 6:10;  Ephesians 2:19 .

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) Those who dwell under the same roof and compose a family.

(2): ( n.) A line of ancestory; a race or house.

(3): ( a.) Belonging to the house and family; domestic; as, household furniture; household affairs.

King James Dictionary

HOUSEHOLD, n. hous'hold. Those who dwell under the same roof and compose a family those who belong to a family.

I baptized also the household of Stephanus.  1 Corinthians 1

1. Family life domestic management.

HOUSEHOLD, a. hous'hold. Belonging to the house and family domestic as household furniture household affairs.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hous´hōld  : three words are usually found in the Bible where the family is indicated. These three are the Hebrew word bayith and the Greek words oikı́a and oı́kos ̌ . The unit of the national life of Israel, from the very beginning, was found in the family. In the old patriarchal days each family was complete within itself, the oldest living sire being the unquestioned head of the whole, possessed of almost arbitrary powers. The house and the household are practically synonymous. God had called Abraham "that he might command his children and household after him" (  Genesis 18:19 ). The Passover-lamb was to be eaten by the "household" ( Exodus 12:3 ). The "households" of the rebels in the camp of Israel shared their doom ( Numbers 16:31-33;  Deuteronomy 11:6 ). David's household shares his humiliation ( 2 Samuel 15:16 ); the children everywhere in the Old Testament are the bearers of the sins of the fathers. Human life is not a conglomerate of individuals; the family is its center and unit.

Nor is it different in the New Testament. The curse and the blessing of the apostles are to abide on a house, according to its attitude ( Matthew 10:13 ). A divided house falls ( Mark 3:25 ). The household believes with the head thereof ( John 4:53;  Acts 16:15 ,  Acts 16:34 ). Thus the households became the nuclei for the early life of the church, e.g. the house of Prisca and Aquila at Rome ( Romans 16:5 ), of Stephanas ( 1 Corinthians 16:15 ), of Onesiphorus ( 2 Timothy 1:16 ), etc. No wonder that the early church made so much of the family life. And in the midst of all our modern, rampant individualism, the family is still the throbbing heart of the church as well as of the nation.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(usually same in the orig. as "house"), the members of a family residing in the same abode, including servants and dependants, although in Job 1, 3 a distinction (not observed in the A.V.) is intimated by the term בֲֻדָּה , Abuddah,' lit. Service ("Servants,"  Genesis 26:24), between the Domestics and the בִּיַת , Bay'Ith, or proper family of the master of the house; and some have thought a like difference to be denoted between the Greek term Οἰκία (lit. Residence) and Οϊ v Κος of the N.T., which are both indiscriminately rendered " ‘ house" and "household" in the English. Version. This latter view is confirmed by the improbability that any of the immediate imperial family (Nero's) should have been included in the converts to Christianity expressed in the phrase they of Caesar's household ( Οἱ Ἐκ Τῆς Καισαρος Οἰκίας ,  Philippians 4:22). (See Caesar).