an open enclosure, applied in, the A.V. most commonly to the enclosures of the Tabernacle and the Temple. 1. The Hebrew word invariably used for the former is חָצֵר, chatser', from. חָצִר, to surround (Gesenius, Thes.
Heb. p. 512). (See, e.g., Ex 27:9 to xl, 33; Le 6:16; Nu 3:26, etc.) The same word is also most frequently used for the "courts" of the Temple, as 1 Kings 6:36; 7:8; 23:12; 1 Chronicles 33:5; Ps 92:13, etc. SEE TABERNACLE; SEE TEMPLE. The same word is very often employed for the enclosures of the "villages" of Palestine, and under the form of Hazer or Hazor (q.v.) frequently occurs in the names of places in the A. V. SEE VILLAGE. It also designates the court of a prison (Ne 3:25; Jer 32:2, etc.), of a private house (2Sa 17:18), and of a palace (2Ki 20:4; Es 1:5, etc.). In Isa 34:17, "court for owls," the cognate חָצַיר, chatsir', is found. 2. In 2Ch 4:9; 2Ch 6:13, however, a different word is employed, apparently, for the above sacred places oratoria עֲזָרָה, azarah, from a root of similar meaning. This word also occurs in Eze 43:14,17,20; Eze 45:19 (A. V. "settle"), but apparently with reference to the ledge or offset of the altar (q.v.) 3. In Am 7:13, where the Hebrew word is בֵּית, beyth, a "house," our translators, anxious to use a term applicable specially to a king's residence, have put "court." 4. In the Apocrypha αὐλή is rendered "court" with respect to the Temple (1 Esdras 9:1; 1 Maccabees 4:38; 9:54), or the palace (1 Maccabees 11:46), which latter is expressed also (1 Maccabees 13:40) by a periphrasis (τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν). 5. In the N.T. the word αὐλή designates such an open court (as it is once rendered, Re 11:2, referring to the temple; elsewhere "hall" or "palace"); and βασίλεια, a palace, is once (Lu 7:25) rendered "kings' courts." SEE PALACE.
The term תָּוך, ta'vek (fully תּוֹך הִבִּיַת, middle of the house, 1Sa 4:6), also designates in Hebrew the quadrangular area in Eastern houses, denominated in the New Testament τὸ μέσον, the center or "midst" (Lu 5:19). This court is sometimes paved with marble of various kinds, and in the center there is usually a fountain, if the situation of the place admits of it. The court is generally surrounded on all sides, but sometimes only on one side, with a cloister or covered walk, called מוּסָך, musak', over which, if the house have more than one story, is a gallery of the same dimensions, supported by columns. Large companies were received into the court on particular occasions (Es 1:5; Lu 5:19). At such times, a large veil of thick cloth was extended by ropes over the whole of the court, in order to exclude the heat of the sun. This veil or curtain of the area may be that termed in the New Testament στέγη, covering, or "roof" (Mr 2:4; Lu 7:6). SEE HOUSE.