King James Bible Dictionary

See Temple
Temple

1. Ulam , or ulam . (1 Chronicles 28:11)
2. Misderon ulam , (Judges 3:23) strictly a vestibule, was probably a sort of veranda chamber in the works of Solomon, open in front and at the sides, but capable of being enclosed with awnings or curtains. The porch, (Matthew 26:71) may have been the passage from the street into the first court of the house, in which, in eastern houses, is the mastabah or stone bench, for the porter or persons waiting, and where also the master of the house often receives visitors and transacts business.

PORCH, noun [Latin porticus, from porta, a gate, entrance or passage, or from portus, a shelter.]

1. In architecture, a kind of vestibule supported by columns at the entrance of temples, halls, churches or other buildings.

2. A portico; a covered walk.

3. By way of distinction, the porch was a public portico in Athens, where Zeno, the philosopher, taught his disciples. It was called the painted porch from the pictures of Polygnotus and other eminent painters, with which it was adorned. Hence, the porch is equivalent to the school of the Stoics.

A colonnade on the east of the temple, so called from a tradition that it was a relic of Solomon's temple left standing after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. (Comp. 1 Kings 7:6.) The word "porch" is in the New Testament the rendering of three different Greek words-

1. Stoa, meaning a portico or veranda (John 5:2; 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12).

2. Pulon, a gateway (Matthew 26:71).

3. Proaulion, the entrance to the inner court (Mark 14:68).