Hebrew word · Strong's H1004

בַּיִת

bayith · bah'-yith · noun · “house, household, temple”

In a sentence

Bayit means house — a family dwelling, the household within it, and the “house of God” — the temple. God himself promises to build David an everlasting house.

Bayit covers a dwelling, the household it contains, and, for God, the temple. The Hebrew Bible loves the layered idea: David wanted to build a bayit for God; God answered that he would build a bayit for David — a dynasty that would last forever.

Christians read this promise as fulfilled in Jesus, the Son of David whose house — the church — God himself builds. Psalm 23 closes the same way: “I shall dwell in the house (bayit) of the LORD forever.”

Strong's reference

Definition: a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.)

KJV usage: court, daughter, door, [phrase] dungeon, family, [phrase] forth of, [idiom] great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter) house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, [phrase] prison, [phrase] steward, [phrase] tablet, temple, web, [phrase] within(-out).

Reference gloss from Strong's Concordance (1890, public domain).

Key verses BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

2 Samuel 7:16 “Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”” Psalms 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalms 27:4 “One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.”

Original BibleDawn word study. Original-language data and the public-domain Strong's (1890) gloss are referenced; see sources.