Greek word · G1886
ἔπαυλις
epaulis
residence
In Greek generally: a fold or shelter for livestock, a country dwelling, a farmstead or homestead with its enclosure (LSJ). In the Greek Old Testament it translates Hebrew words for encampments, walled enclosures and unwalled settlements. This is its only use in the New Testament.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
ἔπ-αυλις, -εως, ἡ
(αὐλή), [in LXX for חָצֵר, טִירָה, (l.with), etc. ;]
a dwelling, habitation: Acts 1:20 (LXX).†
(AS)
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
In Greek generally: a fold or shelter for livestock, a country dwelling, a farmstead or homestead with its enclosure (LSJ). In the Greek Old Testament it translates Hebrew words for encampments, walled enclosures and unwalled settlements. This is its only use in the New Testament.
- Against the English
KJV/WEB 'habitation'; YLT 'lodging-place'; NASB 'homestead'; ESV 'camp'; NLT 'home'; BSB/NIV 'place'. 'Homestead' and 'camp' keep the rural, enclosure sense. 'Place' and 'home' lose it.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ps 68:26 in the Greek Old Testament (= Hebrew Ps 69:26 [Eng. 69:25]): genēthētō hē epaulis autōn ērēmōmenē, 'let their homestead be made desolate'. It translates Hebrew ṭirah, an encampment or walled enclosure (HALOT), used for nomadic camps (Gen 25:16, the encampments of Ishmael's sons). Plutarch and the papyri use epaulis for farm buildings and country estates.
Where it appears
Acts · 1
-
Acts 1:20 ἔπαυλις homestead
“For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his position.’
Here: A dwelling with its land or enclosure: a farmstead, steading or camp, not a city house. Coming right after the 'field' of vv. 18–19, it calls up Judas's plot of land, now the Field of Blood.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.