An elevated place, the name of a place in front of Pilate’s palace, whence he pronounced sentence against our Savior, John 19:13. In Greek it was called the pavement. It was not the usual judgment hall, which the Jews could not then enter, but some palace in the vicinity of the crowd without, John 18:28; 19:4,9,13. It appears to have been a checkered marble pavement, or mosaic floor, on which his seat of judgment was erected. Such ornamented pavements had become common at that day among the wealthy Romans.

Gab Baitha, i.e., "the ridge of the house" = "the temple-mound," on a part of which the fortress of Antonia was built. This "temple-mound" was covered with a tesselated "pavement" (Gr. lithostroton, i.e., "stone-paved"). A judgement-seat (bema) was placed on this "pavement" outside the hall of the "praetorium" (q.v.), the judgment-hall (John 18:28; 19:13).

(elevated; a platform ) the Hebrew or Chaldee appellation of a place, also called "Pavement," where the judgment-seat or bema was planted, from his place on which Pilate delivered our Lord to death. (John 19:13) It was a tessellated platform outside the praetorium, on the western hill of Jerusalem, for Pilate brought Jesus forth from thence to it.