A yard (as inclosed by a fence); also a hamlet (as similarly surrounded with walls)
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חָצֵר (chatser) is the court — the enclosed space of YHWH's house where his people gathered for worship, festival, prayer, and the offering of sacrifice. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 190 H2691 uses, with representative anchors in the tabernacle and temple courts: the sacred enclosures where Israel met YHWH not in the innermost sanctuary (reserved for the priests) but in the open courts where the.
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Full entry for חָצֵר (H2691) · Open the biblical lexicon
חָצֵר (chatser) is the court — the enclosed space of YHWH's house where his people gathered for worship, festival, prayer, and the offering of sacrifice. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 190 H2691 uses, with representative anchors in the tabernacle and temple courts: the sacred enclosures where Israel met YHWH not in the innermost sanctuary.
The BSB source-word alignment has 190 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include court (35), along with their villages (19), of the courtyard (18), in the courtyard (15), courtyard (13).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 25:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Ezekiel (48), Joshua (32), Exodus (29), Jeremiah (15).
חָצֵר (chatser) is the court — the enclosed space of YHWH's house where his people gathered for worship, festival, prayer, and the offering of sacrifice. The local Hebrew index currently counts about 190 H2691 uses, with representative anchors in the tabernacle and temple courts: the sacred enclosures where Israel met YHWH not in the innermost sanctuary (reserved for the priests) but in the open courts where the congregation stood before him.
Psalm 84:10 gives chatser its definitive statement of value: 'For a day in your courts (chatsereycha) is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.' The psalmist would take one day in YHWH's courts over a thousand days anywhere else, and the lowest position in YHWH's courts over a life of ease in any other dwelling. The chatser has a quality of presence that nothing outside can match: YHWH is there.
Psalm 84:2 gives chatser its longing: 'My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts (chatserot) of YHWH; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.' The longing is specifically for the chatser — not just for an abstract divine encounter but for the specific space of YHWH's house, where YHWH's living presence is. The conjunction of soul-longing (soul, nephesh, longs) with body-longing (heart and flesh sing) makes this the whole-person desire for the whole-place of YHWH's courts.
Psalm 100:4 gives chatser its entrance-command: 'Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts (chatserotav) with praise!' The worshiper does not simply arrive at YHWH's chatser — they enter it with a deliberate posture: praise. The chatser is not a waiting room but a place of active worship.
Psalm 92:13 gives chatser its flourishing-image: 'They are planted in the house of YHWH; they flourish in the courts (chatserot) of our God.' The chatser is where the righteous flourish — like trees planted in the right soil. To be in the chatser of YHWH is not merely to attend; it is to be rooted in the place where YHWH's life flows.
Exodus 27:9 gives chatser its architectural specification: 'You shall make the court (chatser) of the tabernacle.' The court of the tabernacle was 100 cubits long and 50 wide, enclosed by linen curtains hung on bronze pillars (Exod 27:9-19) — the outer boundary of YHWH's dwelling. The altar of burnt offering stood in the chatser (Exod 40:29): the first thing one encountered on entering YHWH's chatser was the place of sacrifice.
For the preacher, חָצֵר (chatser) gives the congregation the question Psalm 84:10 poses: how do you value a day in YHWH's courts? The psalmist's comparison — one day in the chatser versus a thousand anywhere else — is the test of where one's heart lives.
The local Hebrew index currently counts about 190 H2691 uses. The word denotes the courts of the tabernacle and temple (Exod 27:9, Ps 84:2, 10, 100:4, 92:13) — the enclosed sacred space where Israel gathered before YHWH. It also denotes villages and settlements (Josh 15:45, 1Chr 4:33). The theological weight is in the Psalms, where the chatser of YHWH is the object of intense longing (Ps 84:2), the place of highest value (Ps 84:10), the destination of worshipers entering with praise (Ps 100:4), and the location where the righteous flourish (Ps 92:13).
For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
The definitive statement of the chatser's value: 'a day in your courts (chatsereycha) is better than a thousand elsewhere.' The psalmist sets the chatser against everything the world offers: a thousand days outside versus one in YHWH's courts. The value of the chatser is not its architecture but its presence — YHWH is there (v. 11: 'for YHWH God is a sun and shield').
The doorkeeper image adds social depth: even the lowest-status position in YHWH's chatser surpasses the highest position elsewhere. This is the measure of the chatser's worth.
My soul longs, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Whole-person longing for the chatser: 'my soul longs, yes, faints for the courts (chatserot) of YHWH.' The longing is somatic — soul (nephesh) and body (heart and flesh) cry out together. The chatser is not an abstract spiritual destination but a specific, located place: the courts of YHWH's house. The Levite who composed Psalm 84 was probably barred by circumstance from the temple courts — and the longing of distance gives the psalm its aching intensity.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name.
The entrance command for the chatser: 'enter his courts (chatserotav) with praise.' The worshiper does not drift into YHWH's chatser but enters deliberately, carrying praise as the required posture. The gate leads to the chatser, and the chatser leads to the sanctuary — each threshold requiring a new quality of approach. Psalm 100 is the great invitation psalm: all the earth is called to enter the courts of the God who made them (v. 3).
Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
Flourishing in the chatser: 'they flourish in the courts (chatserot) of our God.' Psalm 92's righteous person is like a palm tree and a cedar (v. 12) — tall, enduring, fruit-bearing. The location of their flourishing is the chatser of YHWH: to be in his courts is to be in the soil where the righteous grow. The contrast with the wicked (v. 7, they spring up like grass — quickly) shows that the chatser-flourishing is deep-rooted and lasting.
You are also to make a courtyard for the tabernacle. On the south side of the courtyard make curtains of finely spun linen, a hundred cubits long on one side,
The architectural chatser: 'you shall make the court (chatser) of the tabernacle.' The tabernacle court was the outer boundary of YHWH's dwelling — 100 by 50 cubits of linen-curtained enclosure. The altar of burnt offering stood inside it (Exod 40:29): the first encounter on entering YHWH's chatser was the place of sacrifice. The architectural precision of the chatser's specification (Exod 27:9-19) reflects the theological gravity of the space: the chatser was not incidental to the tabernacle but the site of most of Israel's priestly and festive life before YHWH.
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How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Enclosed space—literal (courtyard) or collective (village)—defined by protective boundary, not mere size.
Enclosed space—literal (courtyard) or collective (village)—defined by protective boundary, not mere size.
a yard (as inclosed by a fence); also a hamlet (as similarly surrounded with walls) BDB: settled abode Usage: court, tower, village.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 190 lexical occurrence verses.
חָצֵר is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
חָצֵר (chatser) gives the congregation a measure for their own hearts: Psalm 84:10's 'a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.' The preacher can ask the congregation to apply the arithmetic of the chatser to their own week: how do they weigh a day in the gathered presence of God against what competes for their time, attention, and energy? The psalmist was not making an argument — he was reporting a lived experience: one day in the chatser had a quality that ten years elsewhere could not match.
And the reason is not the building or the liturgy but the presence of the living God (v. 11). The NT's chatser-heir is the gathered community: Hebrews 10:25 warns against 'neglecting to meet together,' because the gathering is the chatser — the place of mutual encouragement, proclamation, and presence. And Revelation 21:22's 'I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb' is the eschatological end of the chatser: when YHWH himself is the temple, no court is needed to mediate access — his people are eternally in the chatser, and the chatser is everywhere.
Ps.84.10
חָצֵר (chatser) derives from a root meaning to enclose or surround — the chatser is the enclosed space, the bounded court. It is distinct from בַּיִת (bayit, H1004, house) and מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, H4908, tabernacle/dwelling): the chatser is the outdoor court that surrounds the inner sanctuary, while the bayit is the building and the mishkan is the tent-dwelling of YHWH.
The tabernacle had one chatser (Exod 27:9-19); Solomon's temple had two courts (the inner court and the outer court, 1Kgs 6:36, 7:12); Ezekiel's visionary temple had an inner and outer court (Ezek 40:17, 28). The Psalms frequently speak of the plural chatserot (courts) of YHWH's house — referring to the full complex of temple courts. In NT Greek, there is no single word that fully corresponds to chatser; the temple compound is referred to by hieron (the whole temple complex) versus naos (the inner sanctuary).
The closest conceptual equivalent is the gathered community as the temple (1 Cor 3:16, naos theou, 'you are the temple of God').
The NT's chatser-theology is distributed across the gathered community. Hebrews 10:19-22 gives the NT form of Ps 84:10's desire for the courts: 'we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus... let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.' The chatser-longing is now fulfilled in Christ, the new and living way. John 2:13-17 shows Jesus's jealousy for the chatser: 'take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade' — the zeal for the Father's chatser that Ps 69:9 anticipated.
Revelation 21:22's absence of a temple ('the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple') is the eschatological end of the need for a chatser: when YHWH and the Lamb are the temple, the whole new Jerusalem is the chatser — and the chatser-longing of Psalm 84 is eternally satisfied.
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