Encyclopedia entry
Parlour
(from the Fr. parler, “to speak”) denotes an “audience chamber,” but that is not the import of the Hebrew word so rendered. It corresponds to what the Turks call a kiosk, as in Judg. 3:20 (the “summer parlour”), or as in the margin of the Revised Version (“the upper chamber of cooling”), a small room built on the roof of the house, with open windows to catch the breeze, and having a door communicating with the outside by which persons seeking an audience may be admitted. While Eglon was resting in such a parlour, Ehud, under pretence of having a message from God to him, was admitted into his presence, and murderously plunged his dagger into his body (21, 22).
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The “inner parlours” in 1 Chr. 28:11 were the small rooms or chambers which Solomon built all round two sides and one end of the temple (1 Kings 6:5), “side chambers;” or they may have been, as some think, the porch and the holy place.
In 1 Sam. 9:22 the Revised Version reads “guest chamber,” a chamber at the high place specially used for sacrificial feasts.
In the Bible
5
Verses where Parlour is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- 1 Samuel 9:22
Then Samuel took Saul and his servant, brought them into the hall, and seated them in the place of honor among those who were invited—about thirty in all.
- Judges 3:20
Then Ehud approached him while he was sitting alone in the coolness of his upper room. “I have a word from God for you,” Ehud said, and the king rose from his seat.
- Judges 3:23
Then Ehud went out through the porch, closing and locking the doors of the upper room behind him.
- Judges 3:24
After Ehud was gone, Eglon’s servants came in and found the doors of the upper room locked. “He must be relieving himself in the cool room,” they said.
- Judges 3:25
So they waited until they became worried and saw that he had still not opened the doors of the upper room. Then they took the key and opened the doors—and there was their lord lying dead on the floor.
Scripture on Parlour
4
Sources · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.