From House to House - Exegetical and Lexical Word Studies


	From House to House Exegetical and Lexical Word Studies James Reetzke Introduction According to the Bible, how do Christians meet? A very important principle is stated in the New Testament and that is from house to house, or by households. The practice of meeting by first-century Christians, as well as their view of the church, is presented in what follows. This is a contrast, in many ways, to what we see believed and practiced today. Davies (46) sketches those first-century beliefs and practices: The first Christians did not think of the Church primarily as an organized society; to them it was the faithful Remnant consisting of the heirs to the divine promises; it was the New Israel and its members were therefore the elect or chosen of God; it was the Temple of the divine presence indwelt by the Spirit; it was the Body of Christ, a new creation transcending distinctions of race, class or sex. It was a divine-human organism, established by the direct action of God in history, and those who belonged to it were unconcerned about questions of constitutional order. Davies (87) further notes that the fact that Christians did not have a temple, as did the pagan religions, made them suspect. He says, "The anti-Christian polemic arose in large measure from ignorance and misrepresentation. Believers were charged with atheism: ‘why have they no altars, no temples, no images?’" was the question often asked of them. Gwatkin (1:260-1) describes those early Christian gatherings: The meetings were first held in private houses. Very humble Christians might be able to lend a room; and if a person of some rank was converted with the whole familia, as sometimes happened, that household would be a center for all the Christians within reach. Thus we hear of upper rooms at Jerusalem and Troas, of the church which is in the house of Priscilla and Aquila, and of the household of Onesiphorus. A city even of moderate size might contain several (places) in several houses. Meaning of Bayit, Oikia, and Oikos The word "house" in the OT is bayit, which also means "household, "home," "place," "temple," and "family." The word bayit is frequently used to denote a dwelling or habitation. It is also applied to a household or family: Abraham was to "command his children and household (LXX, oikos) (Gen. 18:19). Also, there is David’s household (LXX, oikos) (2 Sam. 15:16) and Joshua’s house (LXX, oikia) that was pledged to serve the Lord (Josh. 24:15). "In the OT there is a solidarity between a man and his house (Josh. 2:12; 6:22; 7:1-5; 1 Kings 7:15)" (Harris, TWOT, 1:105). Where there were rebels in Israel’s camp, the "households" shared their fate (Num. 16:31-33; Deut.11:6). "Human life is not a conglomerate of individuals; the family is its center and unit" (Dosker, ISBE, 3:1438). In the NT both the words oikia and oikos are used for house. Oikia in early and later Greek denoted the "dwelling" or "property" but also was used of the "household" as in 1 Cor. 16:15. It is derived from oikos. Both "oikos and oikia" are virtually used as synonyms" (J. Goetzmann, DNTT, 2:248). The more commonly used word in the NT is oikos, which means a "house," a "dwelling," or a "household," a "family." All of the NT references at the beginning of this study are for oikos. "The households become the nuclei for the early life of the church, e.g., the house of Prisca and Aquila at Rome (Rom. 16:5), of Stephanus (1 Cor. 16:15), of Onesiphorus (2 Tim. 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" (Dosker, ISBE, 3:1438). W. Hobhouse (The Church and the Church, 17ff.) is quoted by Plummer (Dict. of the Apostolic Church, 1:205), "‘An isolated Christian’ is a contradiction, for every Christian is a member of Christ’s Body". In reference to one another they are ‘brethren’; in reference to Christ they are ‘members.’" A Christian is also described by Paul (Eph. 2:19) as "members of the household (oikeios) of God." Is it possible that every Christian was a member of one household or another within a local church? Scripture References Luke 10:38c, Martha received Him into her home (or household). Witness Lee (RcV, Matt. 21:17, fn. 1) comments on the house of Mary in Bethany: In His last visit to Jerusalem the Lord remained there only during the day for His ministry. Every evening He departed to lodge in Bethany, on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives (Mark 11:19; Luke 21:37) where the house of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and the house of Simon were (John11:1; Matt. 26:6). In Jerusalem He was rejected by the leaders of Judaism, but in Bethany He was welcomed by His lovers. Acts 2:46b-47a, (They were) breaking bread from house to house... (and) praising God. Lee (RcV, Acts 2:46, fn. 3) contrasts the meetings ‘house to house’ with the meeting in the temple: Meeting in homes as the Christian way of meeting together is fitting to God’s New Testament economy. This way differs from the Judaic way of meeting in the synagogues (6:9). It became a continual and general practice in the churches. Morgan views the setting here in Acts as that of a household or family. He says (Acts, 75), There was the breaking of the bread; that is, the gathering together as members of one family, around the one table, in obedience to the Lord’s command, to take the emblems of bread and the fruit of the vine, in memory of Him, and in proclamation of His death upon the Cross. Knowling (Acts, 2:97) supports the reading ‘from house to house’ instead of "at home." He says, It does not follow that only one house is here meant (for) there "may well have been private houses open to the disciples, e.g., the house of John Mark" (In Greek the) kata may be used distributively with the singular. Lumby (Acts, 30) agrees with this understanding of "from house to house" since the meeting for "the breaking of bread was not a part of the service in the Temple, but was observed at their own homes, the congregations meeting now at one house, now at another." Acts 5:42b, And from house to house, they did not cease... teaching Christ. Knowling (Acts, 2:163) points out that the words "from house to house" may mark a contrast between the public preaching which was not discontinued (5:21) and the teaching continued at home in a household assembly... Kata may be taken distributively, and refer to the Christian assemblies met together in various houses in the city (2:46). Acts 10:2b, (Cornelius) feared God with all his household. Lee describes the meeting mentioned here as a meeting in an unbeliever’s home with his household. He says (RcV, Acts 10:1, fn., 1), Here the Lord took a further step in His evangelistic work. By this He reached another utter Gentile, a man of Italy of the Roman Empire in Europe. Thus the door of the gospel was opened to all the Gentiles. Acts 11:14b, You shall be saved, you and all your house (or, household). Witness Lee (RcV, Acts 16: 31, fn. 1) emphasizes the importance of the family in God’s economy: The family of the believer is a complete unit for God’s salvation, like the family of Noah (Gen. 7:1), the families partaking of the Passover (Exo. 12:3-4), the family of the harlot Rahab (Josh. 2:18-19), the family of Zaccheus (Luke 19:9), the family of Cornelius (11:14), the family of Lydia (v. 15), the family of the jailer here, and the family of Crispus in 18:8. Acts 12:12, (Peter) went to the house of Mary, the mother of... Mark, where there was a considerable number assembled together and praying. Mary had opened her house for the saints to meet. The phrase, "and praying," has the conjunction, which would seem to indicate that this was not, according to Lumby (Acts, 150), a special or solitary occasion when the disciples were gathered at the house of Mary, but rather that this house was a place in which such gatherings were usual, and at the time when Peter was delivered such an assembly was there and making supplication (v. 5) for his deliverance. Acts 16:31, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved... and your household. Knowling (Acts, 352) says that that the word oikos, a word most frequently used in Attic Greek, and in the N. T. for household, is used in the N. T. for familia. (It was) not as if his faith could save his household, as A.V. might imply, but that the same way was open to him and to them. Acts 20:20, I (Paul) did not withhold...teaching you publicly and from house to house. Knowling (Acts, 431) points out how here we have another and a further glimpse of the Apostle’s work at Ephesus: publicly in the synagogue and in the school of Tyrannus, privately as in the Church "from house to house." Romans 16:5a, 10b, And greet the church, which is in their house...Greet those of the household of Aristobulus According to Denney (Romans, 2:718-9), these words in 16:5, "in their house," do not imply that the whole Christian community (in Rome or in Ephesus) met in the house of Prisca and Aquila. They signify the body of believers meeting for worship there, a body which would only be part of the local Christian community. Denney quotes (Ibid., 719) Lightfoot, who describes the beginnings of the use of separate buildings for Christian gatherings: "There is no clear example of a separate building set apart for Christian worship within the limits of the Roman Empire before the third century." Robertson (Word Pictures, 4:428) comments on the Christians’ places of meeting in the NT. He says, "The early Christians had no church buildings....The Roman Christians had probably several such homes where they would meet," including the households of Aristobulus and Narcissus. 1 Cor. 1:11a, c, 16a, It has been made clear to me...by those of the household of Chloe...I did baptize the household of Stephanas. Both the households of Chloe and Stephanas were places where the church in Corinth met. 1 Cor. 16:19b, Aquila and Prisca greet you...with the church...in their house. Alford (NTER, 3:1088) makes the observation that Aquila and Priscilla were helpful in providing a place for "an assembly of the faithful (to meet) in their dwelling" when living in Ephesus and in Rome. Lee (RcV, 1 Cor. 16:19, fn.1) comments on this verse: When Aquila and Prisca lived in Ephesus, the church there met in their home (Acts 18:18-19, 26). When they lived in Rome, the church met in their home (Rom. 16:5)." Col. 4:15b, c, Greet...Nymphas and the church, which is in his house. Moule (Col., 143) describes the place where the church met in Laodicea: The Nymphas family at Laodicea were perhaps the wealthy converts there, owning a large house...and they offered their great room as a meeting place for worship and for "the breaking of bread" to other converts. Very possibly this was the one meeting-place in Laodicea. Lee (RcV, Col. 4:15, fn. 1) says of "the church, which is in his house," The church in the house of Nymphas was the local church in Laodicea, which met in Nymphas’s house. Such meetings in the saints’ homes afford every attending believer the opportunity to function, and they also strengthen the mutual fellowship among the saints. 2 Tim. 1:16a, May the Lord grant mercy to the house (or, household) of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me (Paul) and was not ashamed of my chain. In his remarks about the house of Onesiphorus, Lee (RcV, 2 Tim. 1:16, fn. 1) says, (Onesiphorus) was an overcomer who surmounted the general trend and stood against the downward current to refresh the Lord’s ambassador in spirit, soul, and body, not being ashamed of the apostle’s imprisonment on behalf of the Lord’s commission. 2 Tim. 4:19, Greet Prisca and Aquila and the house (or, household) of Onesiphorus. Humphreys (Timothy, 202) traces the joint history of Prisca and Aquila, and Paul: Prisca, or Priscilla, and her husband Aquila of Pontus had been driven from Rome with the Jews by the edict of the Emperor Claudius (Acts 18:2); they were staying at Corinth with St. Paul "because they were of the same trade" (verse 3); they accompanied him 18 months later to Ephesus (verse 18) where they "further instructed Apollos" (verse 24); were still there when St. Paul wrote his first letter to Corinth (1 Cor. 16:19); afterwards were again at Rome...perhaps on business; their house became a place of assembly for the Christians and they endangered their lives for Paul (Rom. 16:3). Now they seem settled at Ephesus. Philemon 1, 2a, Paul...and Timothy...and to the church, which is in your (Philemon’s) house. Alford (Philemon, 3:1433) comments on "the church which is in your house,": This appears to have consisted not merely of the family itself, but of a certain assembly of Christians who met in the house of Philemon. Robertson (Word Pictures, 4:465) notes with regard to houses for meetings: In large cities there would be several meeting-places. Before the third century there is no certain evidence of special church buildings for worship. See Acts 12:12 for Mary’s house in Jerusalem, 1 Cor. 16:19 for the house of Aquila and Prisca in Rome, Col. 4:15 for the house of Nymphas in Laodicea. Oesterley (Philemon, 4:212) describes the development of Christian places of meeting: Up to the third century we have no certain evidence of the existence of church buildings for the purposes of worship; all references point to private houses for this. In Rome several of the oldest churches appear to have been built on the sites of houses used for Christian worship. Hebrews 3:6a,b, But Christ was faithful as a Son over His house (or, household), whose house (or, household) we are. This verse considers Christ as a faithful Son caring for us, His household, as a faithful steward of God. The answer to the Lord’s own question, "Who then is the faithful and prudent steward?" is firstly, the Lord Himself. Lee (RcV, Heb. 3:6, fn. 1) covers the history of God’s house: In Old Testament times the house of God was the house of Israel (Lev. 22:18; Num. 12:7), symbolized by the tabernacle or the temple, which was in Israel’s midst (Exo. 25:8; Ezek. 37:26-27). Today, the house of God is actually the church (1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 4:17). The children of Israel, as people of God, are a type of us, the New Testament believers (1 Cor. 9:24-10:11). Their entire history is a prefigure of the church. Bibliography Alford, Henry. The New Testament for English Readers. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1872. Reprint 1983. Davies, J. G. The Early Christian Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1965. Denney, James. St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Expositor’s Greek Testament. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1979. Dosker, Henry E. "Household." In The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia. Edited by James Orr, Vol. 3. Chicago: The Howard-Severance Co., 1915. Goetzmann, J. "House (oikos)." In The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Edited by Colin Brown, Vol.2. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1978. Gwatkin, Henry Melvill. Early Christian History to A.D. 313. Vol. 1. London: Macmillan, 1912. Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. Vol. 1. Chicago: Moody Press, 1980. Humphreys, A E. The Epistles to Timothy and Titus (CBSC). Cambridge: University Press, 1895. Knowling, R. J. The Acts of the Apostles. Expositor’s Greek Testament. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1979. Lee, Witness. Footnotes. Recovery Version of the New Testament. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1991. Lumby, J. Rawson. The Acts of the Apostles (CBSC). Cambridge: University Press, 1893. Morgan, G. Campbell. The Acts of the Apostles. London: Pickering & Inglis, 1924. Moule, H. C. G. The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon (CBSC). Cambridge: University Press, 1902. Oesterley, W. E. The Epistle to the Philemon. Expositor’s Greek Testament. Edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, Vol. 4. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1979. Plummer, Alfred. "Church." In Dictionary of the Apostolic Church. Edited by James Hastings, Vol. 2 . Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1915. Robertson, Archibald Thomas. Word Pictures in the New Testament. Vol. 4. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1931.