chatser, an enclosure of huts; chatserot; from a root "to enclose"; unwalled suburbs outside of walled towns (Jos_13:23; Jos_13:28; Jos_15:32; Lev_25:31; Lev_25:34). The Jehalin Arabs arrange their tents in a circle for security against attack; the village huts were often perhaps similarly arranged. Cities are often mentioned in the Old Testament with their dependent villages. So in the New Testament, Mar_8:27, "villages of Caesarea Philippi." In Mar_1:38 "village towns" (komopoleis) of Galilee. Caphar designates a regular village, and appears in "Caper-naum," which subsequently became a town; from kaphar "to cover" or "protect" (Neh_6:2; 1Ch_27:25).
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.