Wall is the strength of a city; and by consequence signifies the stability and safety of those that are therein. So in Isa 26:1, "Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." So in Zec 2:5, "For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and be the glory in the midst of her;" that is, I will defend her from all enemies without, and rule her within with my glory and majesty.
A high wall. According to the notions and way of the ancients, before the use of cannon, the height of the walls was thought to contribute to the strength of the town; and therefore a high wall denotes still a greater stability and safety of the inhabitants.
A wall of brass is used by Horace as a symbol of the greatest strength and defence.f1
This word is used in Scripture, not unfrequently figuratively. Sometimes the Lord speaks of himself as "a wall of fire round about his people." (Zech. 2: 5.) And as a fence of safety in his salvation, which are Israel’s walls and bulwarks. (Isaiah 26. 1.) And the church describes Jesus as standing behind our wall and looking forth at the windows, when representing the wall of our mortal flesh, obscuring the otherwise glorious views the soul would have of his beauty, and which the soul will have when the spirit shall bedisembodied.(Song 2: 9.)
The explorations of recent years have yielded a rich store of materials for reconstructing the fashion of the walls of cities in ancient times. It can now be said with a great measure of definiteness to what period the remains of walls belong. This is of much importance as a test of the reliability of tradition. An instance falling within the Apostolic Age is found in the wall of Damascus, referred to in Act_9:25 (cf. 2Co_11:33). Examination of the wall as it now stands reveals three kinds of masonry-Turkish, Arabic, and Roman, the last in the lowest courses. The window shown as that by which St. Paul was let down is above the Turkish wall (cf. art. Basket), so that the tradition has little value.
The walls of Jericho are mentioned in Heb_11:30 (cf. Joshua 6). The allusion is to the narrative of the OT, and gives no insight into the local conditions during apostolic times. The recent excavations of Sellin, following previous surveys of other explorers, enable us to trace the history of Jericho, both in OT times and in the time of Christ. The walls, outer and inner, of the Canaanite Jericho have now been laid bare for a considerable part of their circuit, and much insight has been gained into the life of the ancient city. The first conclusions drawn after excavation have been somewhat modified (see PEFSt xlii. [1910] 54 ff., 234; cf. ExpT xxi. [1909-10] 353ff.). The remains of the Roman or Herodian Jericho are a mile or two south of the ancient city.
The remaining examples of ôåῖ÷ïò, a city wall, are grouped in Revelation 21, where there are six occurrences of the word (Rev_21:12; Rev_21:14-15; Rev_21:17-19). Although fully 200 ft. in height (or in breadth), the wall is insignificant compared with the height of the city itself (12,000 furlongs). The foundations are represented as monoliths of precious stone, filling the interval between adjoining gateways. See, further, art. Gate.
Walls of houses (ôïῖ÷ïò) are referred to only metaphorically. The ‘whited wall’ of Act_23:3 is usually explained in the light of Mat_23:27, where there is a reference to the practice of whitewashing the cippus (cf. Deu_27:2; Deu_27:4), or memorial stone, which marked the presence of graves (or rather, ossuaria). The practice extended to the stone door leading into underground tombs (see EBi , art. ‘Tomb’), and to monuments on a large scale, if they chanced to contain graves. Apart from the reference to the dead, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the practice of treating the walls of houses with a coating of whitewash in order to freshen the exterior would suggest such a figure of speech. It would be most pointed in the case of Ananias, the high priest, if he sat to judge in a white robe, which clothed a character that was not white (see W. M. Furneaux, The Acts of the Apostles, Oxford, 1912, p. 360).
The ‘middle wall of partition,’ ìåóüôïé÷ïí (ἄðáîëåã. in the NT) ôïῦ öñáãìïῦ of Eph_2:14, is a metaphor having its origin in the practice of building dividing walls, which were found between the rooms of ordinary houses, or between adjoining properties. While the figure of speech may well stand apart from the chel, or barrier, which marked off the Temple precincts in the narrower sense, and gave the limit not to be passed by any Gentile, we can imagine that this fence would be the öñáãìüò in especial to the Jewish mind. Some commentators think it did suggest the figure (Westcott); others think any kind of fence would serve the purpose (Meyer). Alford thinks the primary allusion is to the rending of the veil at the Crucifixion.
W. Cruickshank.