Oikia
A. The noun oikia (oi)kiva) has the following cognates:
1. Oikeo (oi)kevw) (verb), “to dwell, inhabit.”
2. Oikos (oi)~ko$) (noun), “house, dwelling, home, household.”
3. Oikeios (oi)kei~o$) (adjective), “household; what is in or of or belongs to a house.”
4. Oiketeia (oi)keteiva) (noun), “household (of slaves).”
5. Oiketes (oi)kevth$) (noun), “house(hold) servant; servant.”
6. Oikema (oi&khma) (noun), “dwelling place.”
7. Oiketerion (oi)khthvrion) (noun), “habitation, abode, dwelling-place.”
8. Oikiakos (oi)kiakov$) (noun), “belonging to a household, family member, relative.”
9. Oikodespoteo (oi)kodespotevw) (verb), “to rule, manage a household.”
10. Oikodespotes (oi)kodespovth$) (noun), “master of a house, head of a household.”
11. Oikodomeo (oi)kodomevw) (verb), “to build, to erect, edify.”
12. Oikodome (oi)kodomhv) (noun), “building, edifice, edification.”
13. Oikodomos (oi)kodovmo$) (noun), “builder, architect.”
14. Oikonomeo (oi)kodomevw) (verb), “to manage a household, be a steward, manage.”
15. Oikonomia (oi)konomiva) (noun), “stewardship, administration, management.”
16. Oikonomos (oi)konovmo$) (noun), “manager (of a household), steward.”
17. Oikoumene (oi)koumevnh) (noun), “inhabited world, the world, Roman Empire.”
18. Oikourgos (oi)kourgov$) (adjective), “working at home, housekeeping, domestic.”
19. Oikouros (oi)kourov$) (adjective), “keeping a home, taking care of household.”
20. Paroikos (pavroiko$) (adjective), “dwelling beside; strange, stranger.”
21. Periokeo (perioikevw) (verb), “to dwell around.”
22. Perioikos (perivoiko$) (adjective), “living around, neighbor.”
23. Sunoikeo (sunoikevw) (verb), “to live with, dwell with.”
24. Enkatoikeo (e)gkatoikevw) (verb), “to live, dwell among.”
25. Enoikeo (e)noikevw) (verb), “to live, dwell in, inhabit.”
26. Katoikeo (katoikevw) (verb), “to settle down, dwell in.”
27. Metoikesia (metoikesiva) (noun), “deportation, migration, transportation.”
28. Metoikizo (metoikivzw) (verb), “to transfer, move to another place.”
B. Classical
1. The noun oikia appears from Herodotus on and denotes the dwelling, the house.
2. There was a distinction between this word and oikos, which was attested as early as Mycenaean Greek and
was handed down from Homer.
3. Oikia denoted the dwelling place and oikos the whole house, the premises, the family property and even the
inhabitants of the house.
4. This original distinction was maintained in Attic law, where oikos meant the inheritance and oikia the
house itself.
5. Later, particularly after the LXX, the distinctions were not maintained and the words were used
synonymously.
6. Liddel and Scott (Greek-English Lexicon, New Edition, page 1203):
a. building, house, dwelling, home
b. dwelling-house
c. one’s own apartments from those let out to lodgers
d. household, domestic establishment
e. the household, i.e. inmates of the house
f. house or family from which one is descended
g. medical school
C. LXX
1. In the LXX oikia is used approximately 240 times.
2. It was used almost always to translate bayith (ty!B^ ), “house, dwelling, home.”
3. The oikia could denote various kinds of buildings that are constructed of various kinds of materials.
4. However, most frequently oikia describes a family dwelling or home (Dt. 6:7).
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5.
Apart from its use as a physical dwelling, oikia occasionally refers to the family itself, i.e., the “household”
(1 Ch. 4:21).
D. NT
1. The noun oikia has 2 senses:
a. Literal
b. Figurative
2. The word is used in the literal sense of a house or dwelling place, which people inhabit, thus it can refer to
the home.
3. This use appears mainly in the Gospels.
4. It can refers to someone’s estate as in Mark 12:40.
5. The word is used in the figurative sense of dwelling places in heaven for the believer in a resurrection body
(Jn. 14:2).
6. Paul employs the word in 2 Corinthians 5:1 in the figurative sense for the believer’s earthly body, which
still contains the old sin Adamic nature.
7. In the same passage he uses the word to describe the resurrection body.
8. It is also used figuratively for the court of the Emperor in Rome that is composed of both slaves and
freemen.
9. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (volume 5, pages 131-133):
a. Literally, house
b. Figuratively, family, household
c. Possession
d. Corruptible body
e. Transitory nature of the physical body
f. Imperial palace staff, both slaves and freemen
10. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (volume 2):
a. a building or place where one dwells – ‘house, home, dwelling, residence’ (page 81).
b. the family consisting of those related by blood and marriage, as well as slaves and servants, living in
the same house or homestead – ‘family, household’ (page 113).
c. possessions associated with a house and household – ‘property, possessions’ (page 560).
11. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (page 557);
a. house
b. figuratively of the body as the habitation of the soul
c. household, family
d. those in the house or those in the household of the Emperor (servants at his court)
12. The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised (page 285):
a. a house, dwelling, an abode
b. the bodily abode of the soul
c. metonymically, a household, family
d. metonymically, goods, property, means
13. The New Thayer’s Greek-Lexicon (page 439):
a. an inhabited edifice, a dwelling
b. the inmates of a house, the family
c. property, wealth, goods
14. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (volume 2, page 495):
a. house/dwelling place
b. household, family
c. figuratively, heavenly dwellings, the body; those who serve in the court of the Emperor, both slave and
free
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