Window (θυρίς, thurís, Acts 20:9; 2 Cor
11:33).—It would appear that windows were often simple openings in the wall
which were furnished with some method of closing, such as is suggested in Fig.
5, which, it may be conjectured, was somewhat the same as the primitive door
previously mentioned. The window of the ark (ḥallōn, Gen 8:6), the references in Gen 26:8; Josh 2:15, and the
window from which Jezebel looked (2 K 9:30), were presumably of the casement
class. Ahaziah fell through a lattice (ṣebhākhāh)
in the same palace, and the same word is used for the “networks” (1 K 7:41)
“covering the bowls of the capitals,” and in Cant 2:9, “through the lattice” (ḥǎrakkīm). It would appear, therefore,
that some variety of treatment existed, and that the simple window opening with
casement and the opening filled in with a lattice or grill were distinct. Windows
were small, and, according to the Mish, were kept not less than 6 ft. from
floor to sill. The lattice was open, without glass filling, and in this
connection there is the interesting figurative reference in Isa 54:12 AV,
“windows of agates,” tr in RV “pinnacles of rubies.” Heaven is spoken of as
having “windows” (’ărubbāh) for rain
(Gen 7:11; 8:2; 2 K 7:2, etc). (Arch. C. Dickie, “House,” in The International Standard Bible
Encyclopaedia, ed. James Orr et al., 5 vols. [Chicago: The Howard-Severance
Company, 1915], 3:1436-37)
