Basic HTML Version
(
0
, 3289), “those who give counsel.”
'
is frequently used in its
participial form, “those who give counsel,” especially in connection with political and
military leaders (2 Sam. 15:12; 1 Chron. 13:1).
COURT
(
, 2691), “court; enclosure.” This word is related to a common Semitic
verb that has two meanings: “to be present,” in the sense of living at a certain place
(encampment, residence, court), and “to enclose, surround, press together.” In the
Hebrew Old Testament,
appears about 190 times; its usage is welldistributed
throughout, except for the minor prophets.
In some Hebrew dictionaries, the usage of
as “settled abode,” “settlement,” or
“village” is separated from the meaning “court.” But most modern dictionaries identify
only one root with two related meanings.
The first biblical occurrence of
is in Gen. 25:16: “These are the sons of
Ishmael, and these are their names, by their
(
and by their castles; twelve princes
according to their nations.” Here
is related to the first meaning of the root; this
occurs less frequently than the usage meaning “court.” The
(“settlement”) was a
place where people lived without an enclosure to protect them. The word is explained in
Lev. 25:31: “But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be
counted as the fields of the
$
: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the
jubilee.”
)
signifies the “settlements” of seminomadic peoples: the Ishmaelites (Gen.
25:16), the Avim (Deut. 2:23), and Kedar (Isa. 42:11).
)
also denotes a
“settlement” of people outside the city wall. The cities of Canaan were relatively small
and could not contain the whole population. In times of peace, residents of the city might
build homes and workshops for themselves outside the wall and establish a separate
quarter. If the population grew, the king or governor often decided to enclose the new
quarter by surrounding it with a wall and incorporating the section into the existing city,
in order to protect the population from bandits and warriors. Jerusalem gradually
extended its size westward; at the time of Hezekiah, it had grown into a large city.
Huldah the prophetess lived in such a development, known in Hebrew as the
:
“… she dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter” (2 Kings 22:14,
RSV
).
The Book of Joshua includes Israel’s victories in Canaan’s major cities as well as the
suburbs: “Ain, Remmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages …” (19:7;
cf. 15:45, 47; 21:12.
The predominant usage of
is “court,” whether of a house, a palace, or the
temple. Each house generally had a courtyard surrounded by a wall or else one adjoined
several homes: “Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of
them away quickly, and came to a man’s house in Bahurim, which had a well in his
court; whither they went down” (2 Sam. 17:18). Solomon’s palace had several “courts”—
an outer “court,” an “enclosed space” around the palace, and a “court” around which the
palace was built. Similarly, the temple had various courts. The psalmist expressed his joy