– In the common sense of the word, it means housing, shelter. In the AT and NT there are passages in which the house is spoken of with one or two planes:
Mk 2,4 : They discovered the roof above the place where Jesus was.
1 Kings 17:19 : He took him from his mother’s arms and took him to the upper room where he slept and laid him on his bed.
Lc 22,12 : He will show you a large furnished room upstairs, and there make preparations.
Acts 20 :8 There were many lamps in the room where we were gathered.
– In a broader sense, designates its residents, family and descendants:
Gen 7:1 : The Lord said to Noah: “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have recognized you as righteous”.
Deut 25:9: This is what is done to the man who refuses to build up his brother’s house!
Ps 126 :1 : If the Lord does not build the house, those who build it labor in vain.
– With this same meaning must be understood the allusions to the house of David:
1Sm 20,15 : Never withdraw your kindness from my house!
2Sam 7:26 : And let the house of your servant David remain stable before you.
2Ch 21,7 : However, the Lord did not want to destroy the house of David, in view of the covenant made with David.
Is 7:13 : Hear, house of David: Is it not enough for you to weary the patience of men?
Is 22:22 : I will place the key of the house of David on his shoulders.
Zec 12,8.12 : And the house of David will arise like God, like an angel of the Lord.
Zec 13,1 : On that day, a fountain will flow for the house of God and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Lc 2,4 : Joseph also went up […] to the City of David, called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David.
– “House of Israel” has the same meaning:
Ruth 4:11 : May the Lord make this woman who enters your house like Rachel and Leah, who founded the house of Israel!
Is 5,7 : The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel.
Ez 39,29 : I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will sprinkle my Spirit on all the house of Israel.
Mt 10:6 : Go instead to the sheep that strayed from the house of Israel.
– In the gospels, Jesus uses “house” as a spiritual symbol:
Mt 7,26-27 : He is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
Lc 6,48-49 : He is like a man who, building a house, dug deep and laid the foundations on the rock.
– In documents about early Christian communities, “house” obeys a similar scheme: private dwellings (domestic communities) as opposed to temple:
Acts 2:46 : They broke bread in the houses and ate with joy and singleness of heart.
Fm 2 : Appia, our sister, to Archippus, our comrade in arms, and to the church that gathers in your house.
Acts 11:14 : He will tell you the words by which you and all your household will be saved.
Acts 16:15 : If you think that I have faith in the Lord, come to my house and stay with me
Col 4:15 : Greet the brethren of Laodicea, and the Nymphs and the church that is in their house.
– Christians are called temples, houses of God:
1Cor 3,9 : We are workers with God. Ye, God’s field, God’s building.
1Tm 3,15 : However, if I delay, I want you to know how you should behave in the house of God.
Heb 3 :6 : Christ, however, was like a Son at the head of his own household.
1Pt 4:17 : Because the time is coming when judgment will begin for the house of God.
Eph 2:19 : You are no longer sojourners or pilgrims, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
