Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

COURTYARD

An unroofed enclosure surrounded by walls of a house or public building (Heb. ḥāṣēr; Gk. aulḗ). Early Israelite “courtyard-sites” (elliptically shaped sites featuring large open courtyards encircled by rooms or dwellings that opened onto it) likely developed from earlier nomadic encampment models. Courtyards might contain a well (cf. 2 Sam. 17:18). Livestock often cohabited much the same space as their owners.

Courtyards also linked intricate royal complexes. Solomon’s building complex in Jerusalem, S of the temple, included multiple courtyards (1 Kgs. 7:8-12; 2 Chr. 4:9). Ahasuerus’ palace in Susa included an inner and outer court, the latter serving as a reception area (Esth. 1:5). Nebuchadnezzar’s southern palace boasted five courtyards flanked by offices, royal apartments, and reception rooms.

The tabernacle (Exod. 27:9-19; Num. 3:25-26), Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs. 6:1-36; cf. 2 Chr. 3–4), and Ezekiel’s temple (Ezek. 40–42) all had courts or courtyards. The Second Temple contained an outer courtyard for Gentiles and an inner court for Jews that was further subdivided into separate areas for women, lay males, and priests, respectively. The scene of the apostle Peter’s denial of Christ began in “the courtyard” (of the temple; Mark 14:66 par.) and then moved to the “forecourt” (or gateway; 16:68).

Bibliography. I. Finkelstein, The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement (Jerusalem, 1988).

Mark A. Christian

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

COURTYARD

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)