Hall

Hall occurs in the A.V. of the N.T. three times; twice (Mt 27:27; Mr 15:16) in reference to the πραίτωριον, praetorium, or residence of the Roman governor at Jerusalem, which was either the palace built by the elder Herod, or the tower of Antonia; his usual abode was at Csesarea (Ac 23:23). Mark adds to the word αὐλή, as he is wont in other cases, an explanatory phrase, ὅ ἐστι πραιτώριον (Vulg. atrium praetorii). In Lu 22:55, αύλή) means the open court or quadrangle belonging to the high priest's house, such as was common to Oriental dwellings. It has the same meaning in Mt 26:69, and Mr 14:66, and in both passages is incorrectly rendered "palace" in the A.V., as the adverbs ἔξω and κάτω plainly distinguish the αύλή from the οῖκος to which it was attached (Lu 22:54). So in Lu 11:21. In Joh 10:1,16, it means a "sheep-fold," and in Re 11:2, the outer "court" of the Temple. The αὐλή was entered from the street by a προαύλιον or vestibule (Mr 14:68), through a πυλών or portal (Mt 26:71), in which was a θύρα or wicket (Joh 18:16; Ac 12:13). — Kitto. s.v. Αὐλή is the equivalent for חָצֵר, an enclosed or fortified space (Gesenius, Tesaur. p. 512), in many places in the O.T. where the Vulg. and A. Vers. have respectively villa or viculus, "village," or atritum," court," chiefly of the tabernacle or Temple. See Coar. The hall or court of a house or palace would probably be an enclosed but uncovered space, implucium , on a lower level than the apartments of the lowest floor which looked into it. SEE HOUSE.