Lexical Summary dóma: Roof, housetop Original Word: δῶμα Strong's Exhaustive Concordance housetop. From demo (to build); properly, an edifice, i.e. (specially) a roof -- housetop. HELPS Word-studies 1430 dṓma (from demō, "to build a house") – the roof-area of a flat-roof house. Flat housetops were ideal on hot summer nights for sleeping and passing on information "from one housetop to another." NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom demó (to build) Definition a house, a housetop NASB Translation housetop (4), housetops (2), roof (1). Thayer's Greek Lexicon STRONGS NT 1430: δῶμαδῶμα, δώματος, τό (δέμω, to build); 1. a building, house, (Homer and following). 2. a part of a building, dining-room, hall, (Homer and following). 3. in the Script. equivalent to γααγ house-top, roof (Winer's Grammar, 23): Matthew 24:17; Mark 13:15; Luke 5:19; Luke 17:31. The house-tops of the Orientals were (and still are) level, and were frequented not only for walking but also for meditation and prayer: Acts 10:3; hence, ἐπί δωμάτων, on the house-tops, i. e. in public: Matthew 10:27; Luke 12:3; ἐπί τό δῶμα ... κατ' ὀφθαλμούς παντός Ἰσραήλ, 2 Samuel 16:22. A first-century Jewish home typically featured a flat, mud-plastered roof supported by beams and reached by an external staircase or ladder. Roofs were guarded by a low parapet in obedience to Deuteronomy 22:8, making them safe places for prayer, rest, storage, and public address. The seven New Testament occurrences of Strong’s 1430 spotlight this architectural feature as a theological stage for healing, revelation, proclamation, and urgent escape. Structural Features and Daily Life Because the roof was both accessible and weight-bearing, families used it as an extension of their living space. From evening coolness to grain drying, the housetop served utilitarian purposes, yet its height also gave it symbolic value: it was the highest domestic point a private citizen could occupy, halfway between earth and heaven, fitting for both divine encounter and public witness. Housetops in Ministry Settings Luke 5:19 records friends of a paralytic removing roof tiles to lower him before Jesus: “they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus”. The episode illustrates the sacrificial lengths true faith will take and foreshadows how Christ himself would break conventional barriers to bring healing. The willingness to damage private property underscores the primacy of meeting spiritual need over preserving material assets. Vehicle for Divine Revelation Acts 10:9 describes Peter going “up on the roof to pray about the sixth hour”. Elevated above household distractions, Peter receives the pivotal vision opening the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:11-16). The housetop thus becomes a sacred threshold where the covenant blessings promised to Abraham (Genesis 12:3) expand across ethnic boundaries, confirming the unified storyline of Scripture. Symbol of Proclamation and Urgency Jesus employs the rooftop as a metaphor for fearless witness: “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in your ear, proclaim from the housetops” (Matthew 10:27; cf. Luke 12:3). In an honor-shame culture, public rooftops enabled messages to reach streets and courtyards below, making them natural pulpits. Christ’s command transforms private discipleship into public testimony, anticipating Pentecost and every era’s street evangelism. Eschatological Warning and Call to Detachment In the Olivet Discourse, the housetop appears in an urgent evacuation scenario: “Let no one on the housetop go down to retrieve anything from his house” (Matthew 24:17; cf. Mark 13:15; Luke 17:31). The warning presumes the flat roof with an external stairway, allowing immediate flight across linked rooftops or out to the city wall. Spiritually, the instruction calls believers to hold material goods loosely, ready for sudden divine intervention and final judgment. The Housetop Motif in Luke–Acts Luke stitches three housetop scenes into his two-volume work (Luke 5:19; Luke 17:31; Acts 10:9). Together they trace a salvation-historical arc: present healing, imminent judgment, and worldwide mission. The pattern reinforces Luke’s theme that the gospel, while rooted in Israel’s household, breaks through roofs, crosses cultural thresholds, and races toward eschatological fulfillment. Practical and Pastoral Implications 1. Prayer Elevation: Like Peter, believers benefit from deliberate withdrawal—even if only symbolically—to an elevated place of focused communion. Thus Strong’s 1430 points beyond architecture to themes of faith’s ingenuity, revelatory openness, missionary zeal, and eschatological vigilance, illustrating how ordinary settings become stages for extraordinary redemptive acts. Englishman's Concordance Matthew 10:27 N-GNPGRK: ἐπὶ τῶν δωμάτων NAS: proclaim upon the housetops. KJV: [that] preach ye upon the housetops. INT: upon the housetops Matthew 24:17 N-GNS Mark 13:15 N-GNS Luke 5:19 N-ANS Luke 12:3 N-GNP Luke 17:31 N-GNS Acts 10:9 N-ANS Strong's Greek 1430 |
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