Dictionaries :: Fold

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Fold:

an enclosure for flocks to rest together (Isa 13:20). Sheep-folds are mentioned Num 32:16, 24, 36; 2Sa 7:8; Zeph. 2:6; Jhn 10:1, etc. It was prophesied of the cities of Ammon (Eze 25:5), Aroer (Isa 17:2), and Judaea, that they would be folds or couching-places for flocks. "Among the pots," of the Authorized Version (Psa 68:13), is rightly in the Revised Version, "among the sheepfolds."

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Fold:

first signifies "an open courtyard" before a house; then, "an enclosure" in the open, "a sheepfold," Jhn 10:1, 16. In the papyri "the word is extremely common, denoting the court attached to a house" (Moulton and Milligan, Vocab.). The "sheepfold" was usually surrounded by a stone wall, Num 32:16, preferably near a well, Exd 2:16; Psa 23:2, and often protected by a tower, 2Ch 26:10; Mic 4:8.
See COURT, HALL, PALACE.

Note: For the erroneous AV rendering, "fold," of poimne, "a flock," in Jhn 10:16, see FLOCK.