John admonishes: “Everyone that pushes ahead and does not remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God. . . . If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, never receive him into your homes or say a greeting to him. For he that says a greeting to him is a sharer in his wicked works.” (2 John 9-11) To keep such a one in the home or to fraternize with him would be dangerous to one’s own spirituality, and would be, in effect, condoning his course. It would be misleading to others and a reproach to the congregation. This principle is expressed also at Romans 16:17, 18; 2 Thessalonians 3:6; Matthew 7:15; 1 Corinthians 5:11-13.

INNS AND LODGING PLACES

The ancient inn was apparently little more than a place of shelter for the traveler, providing also a place for his animals, similar to what has been termed a “caravanserai.” Such may have been the lodging place where Joseph’s half brothers stayed on their journey back from Egypt to Canaan (Gen. 42:27; 43:21), and where the angel appeared before Moses’ wife Zipporah.—Ex. 4:24.

It seems that prostitutes sometimes operated lodging places. Rahab the prostitute of Jericho lodged the two spies sent out by Joshua, and showed kindness and hospitality to them by hiding them from their pursuers. (Josh. 2:1-13) Samson lodged at the house of a prostitute woman in Gaza until midnight, waiting to humiliate the Philistines by carrying off the city gates.—Judg. 16:1-3.

Some of the inns in Palestine during the first century C.E. were evidently more elaborate, perhaps providing, not only shelter, but also food and other services, at a designated charge. The hospitable Samaritan of Jesus’ parable paid out of his own funds for the injured man’s care at an inn.—Luke 10:30-35.

THE GUEST

In ancient times the guest, while treated with the utmost courtesy and honor, was expected to observe certain amenities and requirements. For example, it was considered among the vilest of acts to partake of another man’s food and then betray or bring harm to him. (Ps. 41:9; John 13:18) The guest was not to presume upon his host or on the group gathered together by taking the seat of honor or the place of prominence, but was to leave this for the host to determine. (Luke 14:7-11) Neither should he ‘wear out his welcome,’ by being too long and too often at the home of his host. (Prov. 25:17) It may be noted that Jesus always imparted spiritual blessings when enjoying the hospitality of his host. (Luke 5:27-39; 19:1-8) For a similar reason he told his disciples whom he sent out that, when they reached a town, they should stay in the home where hospitality was extended them, and not be “transferring from house to house.” They should not be thus seeking a place where the householder could provide them with more comfort, entertainment or material things.—Luke 10:1-7; Mark 6:7-11.

The apostle Paul, who did much traveling and who received hospitality from many of his Christian brothers, nevertheless, did not make himself a financial burden on any of them. Much of the time he worked at a secular occupation, and he set forth the law: “If anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat.” (2 Thess. 3:7-12; 1 Thess. 2:6) By reason of this, Paul had an answer to the charges of the so-called “superfine apostles” in Corinth, who accused Paul of taking advantage of the Christians in the congregation there. (2 Cor. 11:5, 7-10) He could boast in the fact that he provided the good news to them absolutely without cost, not even taking the things he had the right to as an apostle and minister of God.—1 Cor. 9:11-18.

AVOID HYPOCRITICAL HOSPITALITY

A warning about accepting a hypocritical display of hospitality is given at Proverbs 23:6-8: “Do not feed yourself with the food of anyone of ungenerous eye [literally, “evil as to eye”], nor show yourself craving his tasty dishes. For as one that has calculated within his soul, so he is. ‘Eat and drink,’ he says to you, but his heart itself is not with you. Your morsel that you have eaten, you will vomit it out, and you will have wasted your pleasant words.” (NW, 1957 ed., ftn.) Not being the kind that gives something free-heartedly, but expecting something back for what he gives, such a person calculates against you, inviting you in a hearty manner, but with some ulterior object in view. By partaking of his food, and particularly if you crave his tasty dishes so as to desire to enjoy them again, you place yourself to some extent under his power. You may find it hard to refuse some request he may make, and may possibly get involved in difficulty. Then you will feel sick at ever having eaten with him, and the pleasant words that you expressed, hoping that they would promote spirituality and upbuilding friendship, will certainly have been wasted.—Compare Psalm 141:4.

HOTHAM

(Hoʹtham) [seal, signet ring].

1. Son of Heber from the tribe of Asher (1 Chron. 7:30-32); likely the same person as the Helem mentioned in 1 Chronicles 7:35.

2. An Aroerite whose sons Shama and Jeiel are listed among the mighty men of David’s military forces.—1 Chron. 11:26, 44.

HOTHIR

(Hoʹthir) [abundance, superabundance].

One of the fourteen sons of Heman who served under the direction of their father as musicians at the sanctuary. In David’s time Hothir and his sons and brothers were constituted the twenty-first of the twenty-four service groups of musicians.—1 Chron. 25:1, 4-6, 28.

HOUR

[Gr., hoʹra].

Used in the Christian Greek Scriptures to denote either a short period of time, a fixed, definite time, or a division of the day.

The ancient Israelites may have divided the daytime into four parts. (Neh. 9:3) The night was divided into three periods called “watches.” Mention is made of the “night watches” (Ps. 63:6), the “middle night watch” (Judg. 7:19) and the “morning watch.”—Ex. 14:24; 1 Sam. 11:11.

There is no indication in the Bible that the ancient Hebrews made a division of the day into twenty-four equal parts, or the day and the night each into twelve parts. No term for “hour” is found in the Hebrew Scriptures. The Aramaic word sha·ʽahʹ, found at Daniel 3:6, 15; 4:19, 33; 5:5, and rendered “hour” in the Authorized Version, is from a root meaning, literally, “a look”, “a glance,” and may be properly translated “a moment.” For example, when Daniel stood before Nebuchadnezzar, who asked him to interpret his dream, Daniel was astonished “for a moment,” not for an hour.—Dan. 4:19.

The accounts at 2 Kings 20:9-11 and Isaiah 38:7, 8 tell of Jehovah’s act in miraculously making the shadow go backward ten steps “on the steps of the stairs of Ahaz.” Whether this was a form of sundial made for the purpose of telling time, as some believe, or whether it was simply the shadow of an object on the steps that came to be used to determine the time of day, is not stated.

EXPRESSIONS USED BY HEBREWS

The Hebrew Scriptures, instead of designating certain ‘hours,’ use the expressions “morning,” “noon,” “midday” and “evening” as time markers for events. (Gen. 24:11; 43:16; Deut. 28:29; 1 Ki. 18:26) Also, perhaps more precise designations were “as soon as the sun shines forth” (Judg. 9:33), “the breezy part of the day” (Gen. 3:8), “the heat of the day” (Gen. 18:1; 1 Sam. 11:11), and “the time of the setting of the sun.” (Josh. 10:27; Lev. 22:7) The Passover sacrifice was to be slaughtered “between the two evenings,” which seems to mean a time after sunset and before deep twilight. (Ex. 12:6) This view is supported by some authorities, as well as by the Karaite Jews and Samaritans, although the Pharisees and Rabbinists considered it to be the time between the beginning of the sun’s descent and the real sunset.

God commanded that burnt offerings be made on the altar “in the morning” and “between the two evenings.” Along with each of these a grain offering was made. (Ex. 29:38-42) So it came about that expressions such as “the going up of the grain offering,” where the context indicates whether morning or evening (as at 1 Kings 18:29, 36), and “the time of the evening gift offering” (Dan. 9:21) referred to a fairly well-defined time.

PRAYER

The Israelites apparently established regular times for prayer, aside from prayers that might, of course, be made at any time. Daniel prayed “three times in a day” regularly. (Dan. 6:10) David spoke of praying at “evening and morning and noontime.” (Ps. 55:17) Peter was praying about the sixth hour (11 a.m.-noon) when God gave him a vision preparing him to go and preach to the Gentile Cornelius. (Acts 10:9-16) The ninth hour is called “the hour of prayer” at Acts 3:1; see also Acts 10:30.

THE TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR DAY

Egypt has been credited with the division of the day into twenty-four hours, twelve for daylight, twelve for night. These hours would not always be of the same length from day to day, because of the change of seasons, making the daylight hours longer and the night hours shorter in summertime (except at the equator). Our modern-day division of the day into twenty-four hours of sixty minutes each results from a combination of Egyptian reckoning and Babylonian mathematics, a sexagesimal system (founded on the number sixty). The practice of counting the day from midnight to midnight, thereby eliminating the seasonal variation in the length of the hours, was a later development, perhaps Roman.

IN THE FIRST CENTURY

In the first century C.E., the Jews used the count of twelve hours to the day, starting with sunrise. “There are twelve hours of daylight, are there not?” said Jesus. (John 11:9) As noted earlier, this made the hours vary in length from one day to the next, according to the seasons, the only times that they were of the same length as our hours being at the time of the equinoxes. Evidently this slight variation, which would not be so great in Palestine, did not create any major inconvenience. The start of the day would correspond to about 6 a.m., our time. In the illustration of the workers in the vineyard, Jesus made mention of the third hour, the sixth, ninth, eleventh, and, one hour later, “evening” (which would be the twelfth). These times would correspond to our 8-9 a.m., 11-12 and 2-3, 4-5 and 5-6 p.m., respectively. (Matt. 20:3, 5, 6, 8, 12) Midnight and “cock-crowing” are time designations also used in the Christian Greek Scripture. (Mark 13:35; Luke 11:5; Acts 20:7; 27:27; see COCKCROW.) Under Roman domination the Jews seem to have adopted the Roman division of the night into four watches instead of the former three.—Luke 12:38; Matt. 14:25; Mark 6:48.

A SEEMING DISCREPANCY

Some have pointed to what at first appears to be a discrepancy in the statements at Mark 15:25, which fixes the time of Jesus’ impalement at the third hour, and John 19:14, which gives the time as “about the sixth hour.” Now, John had access to Mark’s account, and he certainly could have repeated the time stated by Mark. Therefore John must have had a purpose in stating the hour differently from Mark.

In this regard, we may note that not all accounts in the Bible are given in exact chronological order, but relate highlights of what happened, with some accounts adding details different from those given by others. Each of the four Gospel writers recounts different features of the events of the day of Jesus’ death and the night preceding it. When stating the hour, Mark may therefore have spoken of the beginning of the impalement process, which included the scourging. This punishment was so cruel that some died under it; this may account for someone having to help bear the torture stake to Golgotha. All the momentous events of that morning, including the scourging, the mocking of Jesus by the soldiers and the slow and laborious trek to the place of staking, could have occupied quite some time, so that it was “about the sixth hour” when Jesus was actually nailed to the stake.

OTHER USES

The word hoʹra is often used in the Christian Greek Scriptures to denote “immediately” or within a very short period. A woman who touched the fringe of Jesus’ outer garment became well “from that hour.” (Matt. 9:22) “Hour” could refer to a special or momentous point of time not exactly specified, or to the starting point of that time, as Jesus said: “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows” (Matt. 24:36), and, “The hour is coming when everyone that kills you will imagine he has rendered a sacred service to God” (John 16:2), also, “The hour is coming when I will speak to you no more in comparisons.”—John 16:25.

Again, “hour” might designate a general “time of day,” as when the disciples said to Jesus about the multitude of people that had followed him to a lonely place: “The place is isolated and the hour is already far advanced; send the crowds away.”—Matt. 14:15; Mark 6:35.

FIGURATIVE OR SYMBOLIC USE

Symbolically or figuratively used, “hour” means a relatively short period of time. Jesus said to the crowd who came out against him: “This is your hour and the authority of darkness.” (Luke 22:53) The ten horns on the scarlet-colored wild beast are said to represent ten kings who are to receive authority as kings “one hour” with the wild beast. (Rev. 17:12) Of Babylon the Great, it is said: “In one hour your judgment has arrived!” (Rev. 18:10) In harmony with Jesus’ words concerning the wheat and the weeds, at Matthew 13:25, 38, Paul’s warnings of the coming apostasy at Acts 20:29 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 7, and Peter’s statement at 2 Peter 2:1-3, John, the last surviving apostle, could well say: “Young children, it is the last hour, and, just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now there have come to be many antichrists; from which fact we gain the knowledge that it is the last hour.” It was a very short time, indeed, the “last hour,” the final part of the apostolic period, after which the apostasy would spring forth in full bloom.—1 John 2:18.

As recorded at Revelation 8:1-4, the apostle John saw, during a silence in heaven for “about a half hour,” an angel with incense that he offered with the prayers of all the holy ones. This reminds one of the practice in the temple in Jerusalem “at the hour of offering incense.” (Luke 1:10) Dr. Edersheim, in The Temple, presents the traditional Jewish account of this “hour”: “Slowly the incensing priest and his assistants ascended the steps to the Holy Place . . . Next, one of the assistants reverently spread the coals on the golden altar; the other arranged the incense; and then the chief officiating priest was left alone within the Holy Place, to await the signal of the president before burning the incense. . . . As the president gave the word of command, which marked that ‘the time of incense had come,’ ‘the whole multitude of the people without’ withdrew from the inner court, and fell down before the Lord, spreading their hands in silent prayer. It is this most solemn period, when throughout the vast Temple buildings deep silence rested on the worshipping multitude, while within the sanctuary itself the priest laid the incense on the golden altar, and the cloud of ‘ordours’ rose up before the Lord.”—P. 138.

HOUSE

The word “house” as used in the Bible may denote, among other things, (1) a household or all the offspring of one man (Gen. 12:1; 17:13, 23; Obad. 1:17, 18; Mic. 1:5); (2) a dwelling house (Gen. 19:2-4); (3) a jail or, figuratively, a country of enslavement (Gen. 40:4, 14; Ex. 13:3); (4) a dweling place of animals and birds (Job. 39:6; Ps. 104:17); (5) a spider’s web (Job 8:14); (6) a royal residence or palace (2 Sam. 5:11; 7:2); (7) a priestly line (1 Sam. 2:35); (8) a royal dynasty (1 Sam. 25:28; 2 Sam. 7:11); (9) Jehovah’s tabernacle or temple, both literal and spiritual (Ex. 23:19; 34:26; 1 Ki. 6:1; 1 Pet. 2:5); (10) the dwelling place of Jehovah, heaven itself (John 14:2); (11) the sanctuary of a false god (Judg. 9:27; 1 Sam. 5:2; 1 Ki. 16:32; 2 Ki. 5:18); (12) the corruptible physical body of humans (Eccl. 12:3; 2 Cor. 5:1-4); (13) the incorruptible spiritual body (2 Cor. 5:1); (14) the common grave (Job 17:13; Eccl. 12:5); (15) an association of workers engaged in the same profession (1 Chron. 4:21), and (16) a building for housing official records of state.—Ezra 6:1.

A form of the Hebrew word for house, ba·yithʹ, often constitutes part of a proper name, as in Bethel (house of God) and Bethlehem (house of bread).

BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION METHODS

Anciently, as today, different types of dwellings existed. Construction techniques varied according to the time period, the economic circumstances of the builder and the available materials. The builders of Babel, for instance, used brick instead of stone, and “bitumen served as mortar for them.”—Gen. 11:3.

Many of the Israelites began dwelling in the houses of the dispossessed Canaanites and likely followed similar construction methods for years afterward. (Deut. 6:10, 11) Apparently stone houses were preferred (Isa. 9:10; Amos 5:11), as these were more substantial and safer from intruders than those built of mud brick. Robbers could readily gain access to mud houses by simply digging through a wall. (Compare Job 24:16.) However, in the lowlands, where little good-quality limestone and sandstone were available, sun-dried or, sometimes, kiln-baked mud bricks were used for the walls of dwellings. Sycamore, juniper and, particularly in the better houses, cedar beams and rafters were used.—Song of Sol. 1:17; Isa. 9:10.

Archaeologists have excavated the ruins of several kinds of ancient Palestinian dwellings, including houses consisting of (1) a single room, (2) two rooms, (3) a single room on one side of a courtyard, (4) several rooms on one side of a courtyard, (5) a courtyard with rooms on two adjoining sides, (6) a courtyard with rooms on two opposite sides, (7) a courtyard with rooms on three sides and (8) a central courtyard with rooms on four sides. Usually there was an oven in the courtyard and sometimes also a well or cistern. (2 Sam. 17:18) The ruins of houses that have been found indicate considerable variation in size. One was only sixteen feet (4.9 meters) square, whereas another measured 104 by 97 feet (31.7 by 29.6 meters). Rooms often were from twelve to fifteen feet (3.7 to 4.6 meters) square.

Some houses were built atop wide city walls. (Josh. 2:15) But preferably they were constructed on a rockmass (Matt. 7:24), and generally mud-brick work was not started until two or three rows of stone had first been laid. When a house could not be erected on a rock-mass, often a solid foundation was laid, its depth below ground being equivalent to the height of the stone wall above ground. Some foundations were built with large uncut stones, and the cracks were filled with small rocks; others were constructed of hewn stones. The ruins of one mud-brick house excavated by archaeologists had stone work to a height of about two feet (.6 meter); in another the stone construction rose to a height of about three feet (.9 meter). The walls of some houses were over three feet (.9 meter) thick. Often a kind of whitewash was applied to the exterior walls (Ezek. 13:11, 15), and mud-brick walls on the street side were sometimes faced with pebbles to protect their surface.

Building stones were aligned and bonded by carefully smoothed and fitted cornerstones. (Compare Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 28:16.) A mixture of clay and straw commonly served as mortar. At times this mixture included lime, ashes, pulverized pottery fragments, or pounded shells or limestone. It was applied to the bricks or stones to hold them together, and was also used as a plaster for interior walls. (Lev. 14:41, 42) In some cases, however, stones were so accurately cut that mortar was not needed.

Floors

Floors, including those of the courtyard, consisted of beaten earth or were paved with stone, brick, or lime plaster. A depression in the floor commonly served as a fireplace, but braziers were used to heat the finer homes. (Jer. 36:22, 23) Smoke escaped through a hole in the roof. (Hos. 13:3) The rooms of palatial houses perhaps had wooden floors, like the temple.—1 Ki. 6:15.

Windows

Rectangular openings in the walls served as windows. At least some of these were large enough for a man to pass through. (Josh. 2:15; 1 Sam. 19:12; Acts 20:9) Particularly the windows facing the street were equipped with lattices.—Judg. 5:28; Prov. 7:6.

Doors

Doors were commonly made of wood and turned on pivots (Prov. 26:14) fitted into sockets in the wooden or stone lintel and threshold. Two upright wooden posts served as jambs. (Ex. 12:22, 23) Although some houses had two entranceways, usually only one door led from the street into the courtyard, from where access could be gained to all the rooms of the house.

Interior decorations and furniture

In luxurious homes the walls of the rooms were paneled with cedar or other valuable woods and smeared with vermilion. (Jer. 22:14; Hag. 1:4) The “ivory houses” of some wealthy ones evidently had rooms paneled with wood inlaid with ivory. (1 Ki. 22:39; Amos 3:15) Aside from the various cooking utensils, vessels, baskets and other household items, the furnishings of the home might include beds or divans, chairs, stools, tables and lampstands. (Compare 2 Samuel 4:11; 2 Kings 4:10; Psalm 41:3; Matthew 5:15.) The furniture in the homes of some wealthy persons was beautified with inlaid work of ivory, gold and silver.—Compare Esther 1:6; Amos 3:12; 6:4.

Roof and upper chamber

Most roofs were flat, and the Law covenant required that Israelite roofs be surrounded by a parapet to prevent accidents. (Deut. 22:8) A slight slope given to the roof permitted the rain to run off. It rested on strong wooden beams laid from wall to wall. Smaller wooden rafters were placed across these beams and, in turn, covered with branches, reeds, and the like. Next came a layer of earth several inches thick that was coated with a thick plaster of clay or of clay and lime. An opening could easily be dug through such an earthen roof, as was done by men who were endeavoring to get a paralytic into Jesus’ presence so that he might be healed. (Mark 2:4) The beams of the roof often were supported by a row of upright wooden posts resting on stone bases. Grass could sprout from these roofs (Ps. 129:6), and it was difficult to keep them from leaking. (Prov. 19:13; 27:15; Eccl. 10:18) Probably before the rainy season began