Concise Bible Dictionary:
A place attached to the judgment-hall, where judgment was pronounced, speeches delivered, and so forth. It was on the βημα that Herod sat, when he made his oration (Matt. 27:19; John 19:13; Acts 12:21; Acts 18:12-17; Acts 25:6-17). The floor of this place was doubtless of tesselated stones, which accounts for its being called the PAVEMENT in John 19:13. In the Hebrew it was called GABBATHA, which signifies elevated or raised platform. In James 2:6 the word is κριτήριον. (For the judgment-seat of Christ, see JUDGMENT, No. 3.)
From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
1 Samuel 1:9. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord.
In some parts of the East a seat is placed in the court-yard, where the master of the house may sit and give judgment on all domestic affairs. This seat is usually placed in some shady part of the court, against a wall or column. Thus in the text, Eli “sat upon a seat by a post.” So David sat upon a seat by the wall (1 Sam. 20:25). These seats probably had no backs, and were therefore placed near the post or wall for support. Thus we are told that Eli fell backward from his seat at the gate and died (1 Sam. 4:18). The Assyrian monuments have many representations of such backless seats.
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