Bible Dictionary
HOME
Home in Scripture may mean a house, household, dwelling place, native place, or one’s own people. “Everlasting home” can refer to the final dwelling, while being “at home” may contrast earthly life with being present with the Lord.
Definition
Home in Scripture can mean a house, household, dwelling place, native place, one’s own people, or one’s proper possessions. It may refer to the building itself or to those who occupy it, and its meaning depends on the underlying Hebrew or Greek expression.
Biblical Usage
“Home” may describe returning to a house or place, an everlasting dwelling, or one’s own household and possessions. In 2 Corinthians 5, being at home means being among one’s own people, in contrast with living abroad; the passage also contrasts earthly absence with being present with the Lord.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>hom (bayith, "house," maqom, "place," 'ohel, "tent" (Jud 19:9), shubh, "to cause to turn back," tawekh, tokh, "middle," "midst" (De 21:12); oikos, "house," "household," endemeo, "to be among one's people," oikos idios, "one's own proper (house)"): This term in Scripture does not stand for a single specific word of the original, but for a variety of phrases. Most commonly it is a translation of the Hebrew bayith, Greek oikos "house," which means either the building or the persons occupying it. In Ge 43:26 "home" and "into the house" represent the same phase, "to the house" (ha-bayethah). In Ru 1:21, "hath brought me home again" means "has caused me to return." In 2Ch 25:10 "home again" means "to their place." In Ec 12:5 "long home," the Revised Version (British and American) "everlasting home," means "eternal house." In Joh 19:27 "unto his own home" means "unto his own things" (so Joh 1:11). In 2Co 5:6 (and the Revised Version (British and American) 5:8,9) "be at home" is a translation of endemeo, "to be among one's own people," as opposed to ekdemeo, "to be or live abroad."</p><p>Benjamin Reno Downer</p>