Tent
TENT
Dwelling in tents was very general in ancient times among Eastern nations, Gen 4:20 ; their way of life being pastoral, locomotion became necessary for pasturage, and dwellings adapted for such a life became indispensable, Isa 38:12 . The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt in tents, Gen 18:1 Heb 11:9 ; and on the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, throughout their peregrinations until they obtained the promised land, and to some extent afterwards, they adopted the same kind of habitation. See BOOTHS. Hence the expression. “Every man to his tents, O Israel,” etc.,Jdg 7:8 2Sa 20:1 2Ki 8:21 . Indeed, the people of the East, men, women, and children, lived very much in the open air, as is obvious from the New Testament narratives. And the same is true of them at the present day. The Midianites, the Philistines, the Syrains, the descendants of Ham, the Hagarites, and the Cushanites are mentioned in Scripture as living in tents. But the people most remarkable for this unsettled and wandering mode of life are the Arabs, who from the time of Ishmael to the present have continued the custom of dwelling in tents. Amid the revolutions which have transferred kingdoms from one possessor to another, these wandering tribes still dwell in tents, unsubdued and wild as was their progenitor. This kind of dwelling is not, however, confined to the Arabs, but is used throughout the continent of Asia. The word tent is formed from the Latin, “to stretch;” tents being usually made of canvas stretched out, and sustained by poles with cords secured to pegs driven into the ground. The “nail of the tent” with which Jael pierced the head of Sisera was such a tent-pin, Jdg 4:21 . See also Isa 33:20 40:22 54:2. The house of God, and heaven, are spoken of in Scripture as the tent or tabernacle of Jehovah, Psa 15:1 61:4 84:1 Heb 8:2 9:11; and the body as the tabernacle of the soul, taken down by death, 2Co 5:1 2Pe 1:13 . Says Lord Lindsay, “There is something very melancholy in our morning flitting. The tentpins are plucked up, and in a few minutes a dozen holes, a heap or two of ashes, and the marks of the camels’ knees in the sand, soon to be obliterated, are the only traces left of what has been for a while our home.” “Often,” says M’Cheyne, “we found ourselves shelterless before being fully dressed. What a type of the tent of our body! Ah, how often is it taken down before the soul is made meet for the inheritance of he saints in light.” A tent is also put for its inmates, Hab 3:7 Zec 12:7 .Tents are of various colors; black, as tents of Kedar, Psa 120:5 Son 1:5 ; red, as of scarlet cloth; yellow, as of gold shining brilliantly; white, as of canvas. They are also of various shapes; some circular, others of an oblong figure, not unlike the bottom of a ship turned upside down. In Syria, the tents are generally made of cloth of goats’ hair, woven by women, Exo 35:26 . Those of the Arabs are of black goats’ hair. Some other nations adopt the same kind, but it is not common. The Egyptian and Moorish inhabitants of Askalon are said to use white tents; and D’Arvieux mentions that the tent of an Arab emir he visited was distinguished from the rest by its being of white cloth. An Arab sheikh will have a number of tents, of himself, his family, servants, and visitors; as in patriarchal times Jacob had separate tents for himself, for Leah, Rachel, and their maids, Gen 31:33 Jdg 4:17 . Usually, however, one tent suffices for a family; being divided, if large, into several apartments by curtains.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Tent
(usually and properly , 6hel, so called from glittering [Gesenius] or being round [Frst], ; both occasionally tabernacle; elsewhere
, mishkcn, a. dwelling [Son 1:8], the regular term for tabernacle; , sukkah [2Sa 11:11], a booth; or , kubbdh’, a dome like pavilion, only in Num 2:8), a movable habitation, made of curtains extended upon poles. SEE TABERNACLE.
Among the leading characteristics of the nomad races, those two have always been numbered whose origin has been ascribed to Jabal the son of Lamech (Gen 4:20), viz. to be tent-dwellers ( , comp. Gen 25:27; , Pliny, 6:32, 35) and keepers of cattle. Accordingly the patriarchal fathers of the Israelites were dwellers in tents, and their descendants proceeded at once from tents to houses. We therefore read but little of huts, among them, and never as the fixed habitations of any people with whom they were conversant. By huts we understand small dwellings, made of the green or dry branches of trees intertwined, and sometimes plastered with mud. In Scripture they are called booths. Such were made by Jacob to shelter his cattle during the first winter of his return from Mesopotamia (Gen 33:17). In after-times we more frequently read of them as being erected in vine-yards and orchards to shelter the man who guarded the ripened produce (Job 27:18; Isaiah 1, 8; Isa 24:20). It was one of the Mosaical institutions that during the Feast of Tabernacles the people should live for a week in huts made of green boughs (Lev 23:42). In observing the directions of the law respecting the Feast of Tabernacles, the Rabbinical writers laid down as a distinction between the ordinary tent and the booth, sukkah, that the latter must in no case be covered by a cloth, but be restricted to boughs of trees as its shelter (Sukkah, 1, 3). In hot weather the Arabs of Mesopotamia often strike their tents and betake themselves to sheds of reeds and grass on the bank of the river (Layard, Nineveh, 2, 215; Burckhardt, Notes on Bed. 1, 37, 46; Volney, Travels, 1, 398).
In Egypt the Hebrews, for the most part, left off tent life, and lived in houses during their bondage; but on their deliverance, and during their protracted sojourn in the wilderness, tent life was again resumed by the nation (Exo 16:16; Jos 7:24), and continued for some time even after their settlement in the Holy Land (22, 8). Hence the phraseology of tent life remained among the people long after it had ceased to be their normal condition (1Ki 12:16). Here we may observe that tent life is not peculiar to nomads only, for we find settled clans, occupied in agricultural pursuits, still dwell in tents, and such, probably, was the case in Palestine in all ages. The family of Heber the Kenite was apparently of this class (Jdg 4:11-22), and even the patriarchs seem partly to have adopted that mode of life. Isaac not only had possession of flocks and possession of herds, but also he sowed in the land, and received in the same year a hundredfold (Gen 26:12). It was not until the return into. Canaan from Egypt that the Hebrews became inhabitants of cities, and it may be remarked that the tradition of tent-usage survived for many years later in the tabernacle of Shiloh, which consisted, as many Arab tents still consist, of a walled enclosure covered with curtains (Mishna, Zebachim, 14:6; Stanley, Sinai and Palest. p. 233).
The Midianites, the Philistines, the Syrians, the descendants of Ham, the Hagarites, and Cushanites are mentioned in Scripture as living in tents. But the people most remarkable for this unsettled and wandering mode of life are the Arabs, who, from the time of Ishmael to the present day, have continued the custom of dwelling in tents. Amid the revolutions which have transferred kingdoms from one possessor to another, these wandering tribes still dwell, unsubdued and wild as was their progenitor. This kind of dwelling is not, however, confined to the Arabs, but is used throughout the continent of Asia. In one of the tents shown in Assyrian sculptures a man is represented arranging a couch for sleeping on, in another persons are sitting conversing, and in others cooking utensils and the process of cooking are shown. In the smaller one (on next page), a man is watching a caldron on what appears to be a fire between some stones. Among tent- dwellers of the present day must be reckoned
(1) the great Mongol and Tartar hordes of Central Asia, whose tent- dwellings are sometimes of gigantic dimensions, and who exhibit more contrivance both in the dwellings themselves and in their method of transporting them from place to place than is the case with the Arab races (Horace, Carm. 3, 24, 10; Marco Polo, Trav. [ed. Bohn], p. 128,135, 211; Gibbon, ch. 26 [vol. 3, p. 298, ed. Smith]);
(2) as above observed, the Bedawin Arab tribes, who inhabit tents which are probably constructed on the same plan as those which were the dwelling-places of Abraham and of Jacob (Heb 11:9).
The first tents were undoubtedly covered with skins, of which there are traces in the Pentateuch (Exo 26:14); but nearly all the tents mentioned in Scripture were doubtless of goats’-hair, spun and woven by the women (Exo 35:26; Exo 36:14), such as are now, in Western Asia, used by all who dwell in tents. Tents of linen were, and still are, only used occasionally for holiday or traveling purposes by those who do not habitually live in them. Some modern tents are constructed, of most costly materials, and are very beautiful. Chardin mentions that a late king of Persia had one made which cost upwards of two millions sterling. It was called the golden house, because gold glittered everywhere about it (see Pict. Bible, note on Son 5:1). A tent or pavilion on a magnificent scale, constructed for Ptolemy Philadelphus at Alexandria, is described by Athenaeus (Exodus 5, 196 sq.). This class of tents is furnished with Turkey carpets for the floor and cushions to recline upon, according to the wealth of the owner, though the inside arrangements vary among different clans and tribes. Those who are too poor to afford themselves a proper tent merely hang a piece of cloth from a tree to give them shelter.
An Arab tent is called beit, house; its covering Consists of stuff, about three quarters of a yard broad, made of black goats’-hair (Song of Solomon i, 5; Shaw, Travels, p. 220), laid parallel with the tent’s length. This. is sufficient to resist the heaviest rain. The tent-poles, called amud, or columns, are usually nine in number placed in three groups, but many tents have only one pole, others two or three. The ropes which hold the tent in its place are fastened, not to the tent-cover itself, but to loops consisting of a leathern thong tied to the ends of a stick, round which is twisted a piece- of old cloth, which is itself sewed to the tent-cover. The ends of the tent- ropes are fastened to short sticks or pins, called wed or watedy which are driven into the ground with a chakij, or mallet. Of the same kind was the , nail (q.v.), and the , hammer (q.v.), which Jael used (Jdg 4:21). Round the back and sides of the tents runs a piece of stuff removable at pleasure to admit air. The tent is divided into two apartments, separated by. a carpet partition drawn across the middle of the tent and fastened to the three middle posts. The men’s apartment is usually on the right side on entering, and the women’s on the left; but this usage varies in different tribes, and in the Mesopotamian tribes the contrary is the rule. Of the three side posts on the men’s side, the first and third are called yed (hand), and the one in the middle is rather higher than the other two. Hooks are attached to these posts for hanging various articles (Gen 18:10; Jdg 13:6; Niebuhr, Voyage, 1, 187; Layard, Nin. and Bab. p. 261). SEE PILLAR.
In the men’s apartment the ground is usually covered with carpets or mats, and the wheat sacks and camel bags are heaped up in it around the middle post like a pyramid, at the base of which, or towards the back of the tent, are arranged the camel pack-saddles, against which the men recline as they sit on the ground. The women’s apartment is less neat, being encumbered with all the lumber of the tent, the water and butter skins, and the culinary utensils. The part of the tent appropriated to the women is called harem; and no stranger is permitted to enter it, unless introduced. Hence, perhaps, Sisera’s hope of greater security in the harem of Jael, SEE HOSPITALITY.
The tents are arranged in a sort of square; they are made of black hair-cloth, not large; and are mostly open at one end’ and on the sides, the latter: being turned-up. The tents form the common rendezvous of men, women, children, calves, lambs, and kids (Robinson, Researches, 1, 485). Few Arabs have more than one tent, unless the family be augmented by the families of a son or a deceased brother, or in case the wives disagree, when the master pitches a tent for one of them adjoining his own. An encampment is generally arranged in the form of an enclosure, within which the cattle are driven at night, and the center of which is occupied by the tent or tents of the emir or sheik. If he is a person of much consequence, he may have three or four tents, for himself, his wives, his servants, and strangers, respectively. The first two are of the most importance, and we know that Abraham’s wife had a separate tent (Gen 24:67). It is more usual, however, for one very large tent to be divided into two or more apartments by curtains. The holy tabernacle was on this model (Exo 26:31-37). The individual tents of Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah may thus have been either separate tents or apartments in the principal tent in each case (Gen 31:33). When the pasture near an encampment is exhausted, the tents are taken down, packed on camels, and removed (Isa 38:12; Gen 26:17; Gen 26:22; Gen 26:25). The beauty of an Arab encampment is noticed by Shaw (Travels, p. 221; see Num 24:5). In choosing places for encampment, Arabs prefer the neighborhood of trees, for the sake of the shade and coolness which they afford (Gen 18:4; Gen 18:8; Niebuhr, loc. cit.). Some tribes have their tents constructed so as to house their flocks at night. Grant describes such a one among the Hertush Kurds: Our tent was about forty feet long and eighteen or twenty wide, one side left quite open, while a wall of reeds formed the other sides The ample roof of black hair-cloth was supported by a number of; small poles, and secured with cords and wooden pins driven into the earth. About, one fourth of the tent was fenced off with a wicker trellis for the lambs of the flock, which are kept there during the night (Nestoians, p. 93). The manufacture of tents formed a regular and lucrative trade (), at which Paul occasionally labored, especially in connection with Aquila, at Corinth (Act 18:3. SEE PAUL.
A feature of Oriental life so characteristic as the tent could not fail to suggest many striking metaphors to the Biblical writers, and accordingly the Hebrew has special terms for pitching ( or ) and striking () a tent. The tent erected and its cords stretched out’ are often figuratively alluded to in the Scriptures. Thus Isaiah represents God as the one that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a teint to dwell in (Isa 40:22). He also says, in speaking of the glorious prosperity of the Church and the need of enlargement, Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes (Isa 54:2; see also Isa 33:20). It is a work of some effort to pitch a tent properly, especially a large one, requiring the united efforts of willing hands. Hence the pathetic language of Jeremiah in mourning over the desolations of God’s people: My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken; my children are gone forth of me, and they are not; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more and to set up my curtains (Jer 10:20). These tents are rapidly struck and removed from place to place, so that the eye which to-day rests on a large encampment active with life may to-morrow behold nothing but a wilderness. Thus Isaiah says, Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent (Isa 38:12). The facility with which tents are taken- down and the frailty of their material are beautifully alluded to by Paul in 2Co 5:1 (see also 2Pe 1:13-14). See Hackett, Illustr. of Script. p. 33-40; Van Lennep, Bible Lands, ch. 3; Rhodes, Tent-life from the Earliest Times (Lond. 1858); Conder, Tent-work in Palest. 2, 275 sq.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Tent (2)
The following description of this Arab domicile, from Conder’s Tent Work, 2:275, contains some additional information:
“The tents are arranged in different ways. Among the Sugr a large encampment was set out in parallel lines some fifty yards apart, the tents in each row being close together, end to end. Among the Ta’amireh and Jahalin the usual form is a rectangle. The average length of tile tent is from twenty to twenty-five feet, but the small ones will sometimes be only ten feet long, and the larger forty feet. The distance between two tents in a lile is about four feet. Thus a camp of twenty tents occupied a space of two hundred feet by seventy feet. In another case the form was a triangle, the reason of this arrangement being that the flocks are driven into the enclosure at night, and thus protected from the attacks of robbers or prevented from straying by themselves.
“The Arab tent is extremely unlike the usual representations, in which it is shown either as a sort of hut, as among the Turkomans, or as a bell-tent, instead of a long black ‘house of hair,’ with a low, slouping roof and open front. It has, however, been carefully described by Burckhardt, and there is little to add to his account. The canvas of the roof and side walls is of goat’s hair, black, with occasionally stripes of white running horizontally (Son 1:5). The pieces of stuff are about two feet wide, and thirty to fifty feet long. The tent has generally nine poles (‘Awamnid), arranged three and three, those in the centre being the longest; thus the tent has a low ridge both ways in order to run the rain off. The cloths at the side can be easily removed as the sun and wind requires, one side being always left open. The tents are supported by cords and by pegs (Antad), which are driven with a mallet (Jdg 4:21). The average height of a tent is about seven feet.
“Frail and cold as these habitations might be thought to prove ,in ‘winter, they are really far more comfortable than would be expected. Being so low, the wind does not blow them over, and they are, moreover, most skilfully pitched, generally below a steep bank or low swell. Even in heavy storms I have found the interiors dry, and the heavy canvas does not let the rain -through. The Arabs, however, suffer very much from rheumatism in winter. In summer they occasionally inhabit reed huts (‘Arish), which are cooler than the tents.”
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Tent
(1.) Heb. ‘ohel (Gen. 9:21, 27). This word is used also of a dwelling or habitation (1 Kings 8:66; Isa. 16:5; Jer. 4:20), and of the temple (Ezek. 41:1). When used of the tabernacle, as in 1 Kings 1:39, it denotes the covering of goat’s hair which was placed over the mishcan.
(2.) Heb. mishcan (Cant. 1:8), used also of a dwelling (Job 18:21; Ps. 87:2), the grave (Isa. 22:16; comp. 14:18), the temple (Ps. 46:4; 84:2; 132:5), and of the tabernacle (Ex. 25:9; 26:1; 40:9; Num. 1:50, 53; 10:11). When distinguished from ‘ohel, it denotes the twelve interior curtains which lay upon the framework of the tabernacle (q.v.).
(3.) Heb. kubbah (Num. 25:8), a dome-like tent devoted to the impure worship of Baal-peor.
(4.) Heb. succah (2 Sam. 11:11), a tent or booth made of green boughs or branches (See Gen. 33:17; Lev. 23:34, 42; Ps. 18:11; Jonah 4:5; Isa. 4:6; Neh. 8:15-17, where the word is variously rendered).
Jubal was “the father of such as dwell in tents” (Gen. 4:20). The patriarchs were “dwellers in tents” (Gen. 9:21, 27; 12:8; 13:12; 26:17); and during their wilderness wanderings all Israel dwelt in tents (Ex. 16:16; Deut. 33:18; Josh. 7:24). Tents have always occupied a prominent place in Eastern life (1 Sam. 17:54; 2 Kings 7:7; Ps. 120:5; Cant. 1:5). Paul the apostle’s occupation was that of a tent-maker (Acts 18:3); i.e., perhaps a maker of tent cloth.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Tent
‘ohel, “tabernacle “; mishkan, “dwelling”; sukkak, “booth”; qubbah, “recess” (Num 25:8). The characteristic dwelling of the keepers of cattle, the nomadic races, of whom Jabal was the father (Gen 4:20). The stay of Israel in Egypt weaned them from tent life and trained them for their fixed home in Canaan. The pastoral tribes Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, still in part retained the tent life E. of Jordan (Jos 22:8). The phrase “to your tents, O Israel,” remained as a trace of the former nomadic state, when the nation was no longer so (1Ki 12:16). Agriculture was sometimes associated with tent life, as in Isaac’s case (Gen 26:12), and probably in Heber’s case (Jdg 4:11-22). Hazerim (Deu 2:23) is not a proper name, but means nomadic “villages” or “enclosures,” a piece of ground surrounded with a rude fence, in which tents were pitched and cattle tethered at night for safety from marauders; or as the Yezidee tent in Syria, a stone wall five feet high, roofed with goats’ hair cloth raised on long poles.
So Hazar-adder in the S. and Hazar-erran in the N. (Num 34:4; Num 34:9.) Some tents are circular, resting on one central pole; others square on several poles. The better kind are oblong, and divided by a curtain into an outer apartment for the males and an inner one for the females. Hooks are fixed in the poles to hang articles on (Isa 22:23-24). To the rain-proof goats’ hair covering a cloth is sewn or twisted round a stick, to the ends of which are tied leather loops.
To these loops one end of the tent ropes is fastened, the other being tied to a hooked sharp pin of wood which they drive into the ground with a mallet; such a nail and mallet Jael used (Jdg 4:21). The patriarchs’ wives had separate tents (Gen 24:67; Gen 31:33). The beauty of Israel’s orderly and wide encampment by the four parallel brooks running westward into Jordan is compared to trees in rows in beautiful gardens, such as Balaam had seen along his own river Euphrates (Num 24:5-6). The quickness and ease with which tents can be struck, leaving their tenants without covering in the lonely desert, is Paul’s image for the speedy dissolution of our mortal body, preparatory to our abiding resurrection home (2Co 5:1).
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
TENT
Because tents could be easily put up and taken down, they were the normal dwelling places of ancient peoples who moved around from place to place with their flocks and herds. They were among the earliest kinds of human dwelling places (Gen 4:20; Gen 9:21; Gen 12:8; Gen 18:1; Gen 26:25; Song of Son 1:8; Isa 38:12; Jer 49:28-29).
Tents were made of the skins of animals, the woven hair of animals, or heavy cloth. The material was stretched over poles and tied with cords to pegs in the ground. Tents were dark and drab externally, but internally they were usually colourful, because of the curtain hangings that divided them into rooms (Song of Son 1:5; Isa 54:2).
Sometimes there were separate tents for men and women (Gen 18:6; Gen 18:9; Gen 31:33). Armies camped in tents (2Ki 7:7-8), and the Israelites camped in tents on their journey from Egypt to Canaan (Exo 16:16; Exo 33:8; Num 16:26; Num 24:5; Deu 1:27).
Israels place of worship, which they took with them on the journey, was in the form of a tent (Exo 26:14; Exo 26:36; see TABERNACLE). When David conquered Jerusalem he put the ark of the covenant in a tent he had erected for it in the city, in anticipation of the permanent temple he had planned for Jerusalem. This would replace the tabernacle-tent, which at that time was at Gibeon (1Ch 16:1; 1Ch 16:39).
Bible writers use the tent as a picture of the brief life that men and women have upon the earth. It comes to an inglorious end like a tent that collapses when its cords are cut (Job 4:21). But whereas the physical body is, like a tent, temporary, what God has prepared for believers in the age to come is a permanent home (2Co 5:1).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Tent
TENT ().The light shelter of the nomad, here to-day and away to-morrow, is an apt symbol of what is fleeting and transitory. This lends the suggestion of irony to our Lords phrase (Luk 16:9) eternal tents. The notion of transiency is uppermost also in 2Co 5:1; 2Co 5:4 ().
The ordinary Eastern tent is made of black goats hair cloth, spun and woven by the women with very primitive implements. The women pitch the tents, and on removing they strike and pack them for the journey. The roof is supported by three rows of three upright posts, from 6 feet to 8 feet in height, the middle row being highest. It is stretched by cords fastened to the edges, and attached to pegs driven firmly into the ground. The walls are hung like certains round the eaves, and a breadth of cloth across the tent cuts off the womens compartment from that open to the public. It is an effective shelter from the sun. When wet, the cloth shrinks and becomes quite waterproof. may also mean a hut, booth, or other temporary structure, like those made by the Arabs of el-Huleh from the reeds that abound in the marshes close by the base of Hermon. Peter was doubtless familiar with these rude peasant structures, the leafy shelters erected on the roofs for cool retreat in summer, and the booths for the Feast of Tabernacles (Mat 17:4 etc.).
W. Ewing.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Tent
TENT.Apart from the traditions of the patriarchs as quiet men, dwelling in tents (Gen 25:27 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ), the settled Hebrews preserved a reminder of their nomad ancestry in such phrases as going to ones tent for to go home (Jdg 19:9), and in the recurring call, to thy tents (i.e. to your homes), O Israel (1Ki 12:16 etc.). For an interesting case of adherence to the nomadic Ideal on religious grounds, see Rechabites.
The Hebrew tent, even in later days, cannot have differed much from the simple Bedouin tent of to-day, made by sewing together strips of the native goats hair cloth (cf. Son 1:5 I am black as the tents of Kedar). These curtains (Jer 4:20, Exo 26:2 and oft.) are held up by poles, generally 9 in number, arranged in three rows of three, and 67 ft. high, which are kept in position by ropesthe cords of EV [Note: English Version.] , and the tent-cord of Job 4:21 RV [Note: Revised Version.] attached to stakes or tent-pins driven into the ground by a mallet (Jdg 4:21). The larger the tent, the longer the cords and the stronger the stakes, according to the figure. Isa 54:2. The tent, then as now, was probably divided into two parts by hanging a curtain from the three middle poles along the length of the tentthe front division open and free to all, the back closed and reserved for the women and the privacy of domestic life (Jdg 15:1, Son 3:4; cf. Gen 18:9 f.).
In time of war we read both of booths (2Sa 11:11, so RV [Note: Revised Version.] rightly for AV [Note: Authorized Version.] tents) and of tents (2Ki 7:7, Jer 37:10). The Assyrian sculptures represent the soldiers tents as conical in shape, supported by a central pole with two arms. On the famous bronze Sheathing of the palace gates at Balawat, representing every detail of the conduct of war, the royal pavilion (1Ki 20:12; 1Ki 20:16) is frequently represented. It was rectangular in shape, with ornamental wooden pillars with floral capitals at the four corners. The walls were probably of linen, and the roof evidently of tapestry or other rich material edged with tassels (see the plates in Billerbecks Die Palasttore Satmanassars II., 1908).
In early times a special tent was pitched for a newly wedded pair (Psa 19:6, Joe 2:15; cf. 2Sa 16:22), as is still the custom among the Arahs. The canopy under which Jewish couples are married at the present day still retains the name, as it is a survival of the ancient chuppah or bridal tent.
Priscilla and Aquila, as well as the Apostle Paul, were tentmakers (Act 18:2 f.). See Spinning and, Weaving, 1, 4 (c). For the tent of meeting (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) see Tabernacle.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Tent
tent (, ‘ohel; , skene; ‘ohel is a derivative of , ‘ahal, to be clear, to shine; hence, ‘ohel, to be conspicuous from a distance): In the great stretches of uncultivated lands in the interior of Syria or Arabia, which probably have much the same aspect today as in Abraham’s time, it is an easy matter to espy an encampment of roving Bedouin, a nation … that dwelleth without care … that have neither gates nor bars (Jer 49:31). The peaks of their black (compare Son 1:5) goats’ hair tents stand out in contrast against the lighter colors of the soil.
There seems to be little doubt about the antiquity of the Arab tent, and one can rightly believe that-the dwelling-places of Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, and their descendants were made on the same pattern and of the same materials (Gen 4:20; Gen 9:27; Gen 12:8; Gen 13:3; Gen 18:6; Gen 31:25, Gen 31:30; Psa 78:55; Heb 11:9, etc.). Long after the children of Israel had given up their tents for houses they continued to worship in tents (2Sa 7:1-6; 2Ch 1:3, 2Ch 1:4) (for the use of tents in connection with religious observances see TABERNACLE).
The Arab tents (called bait shar, house of hair) are made of strips of black goats’ hair cloth, sewed together into one large piece (see &GOATS’ HAIR; WEAVING). Poles are placed under this covering at intervals to hold it from the ground, and it is stretched over these poles by ropes of goats hair or hemp (compare Job 4:21; Isa 54:2; Jer 10:20) fastened to hard-wood pins driven into the ground (Isa 54:2; Jdg 4:21; Jdg 5:26). A large wooden mallet for driving the pegs is part of the regular camp equipment (Jdg 4:21; Jdg 5:26). The sides (curtains) of the tent (Isa 54:2) are made of strips of goats hair cloth or from mats woven from split cane or rushes (see Illustration, p. 2948). Where more than one family occupies the same tent or the animals are provided with shelter under the same roof (compare 2Ch 14:15), curtains of the same materials mentioned above form the dividing walls. A corner of the matting where two ends meet is turned back to form the door of the tent (Gen 18:1). In the summer time the walls are mostly removed. New tents are not water-proof, and the condition of the interior after a heavy rain is not far from squalid. The tent material becomes matted by use, especially if wool has been woven into the fabric, and is then a better protection against the rain. It is the women’s duty to pitch the tents.
The poorer Arabs have no mats to cover the ground under their tents. Straw mats, goats’ hair or woolen rugs (compare Jdg 4:18), more or less elaborate as the taste and means of the family allow, are the usual coverings for the tent floor. The food supplies are usually kept in goats’ hair bags, the liquids, as oil or milk products, in skins. One or two tinned copper cooking-vessels, a shallow tray of the same material, a coffee set consisting of roasting pan, mortar and pestle, boiling-pot and cups, make up the usual camp furniture. The more thrifty include bedding in their equipment, but this increases the difficulties of moving, since it might require more than the one animal, sometimes only a donkey, which carries all the earthly belongings of the family. A sheikh or chief has several tents, one for himself and guests, separate ones for his wives and female servants, and still others for his animals (compare Gen 31:33).
Other Hebrew words translated tent are forms of , hanah (Num 13:19; 1Sa 17:53; 2Ki 7:16; 2Ch 31:2; Zec 14:15); , sukkah (2Sa 11:11; 2Sa 22:12); , mishkenoth (Son 1:8).
Figurative: Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there typified utter desolation (Isa 13:20). Enlarge the place of thy tent … stretch forth the curtains … lengthen thy cords … strengthen thy stakes prophesied an increase in numbers and prosperity of God’s people (Isa 54:2; compare Isa 33:20; Luk 16:9; 2Co 5:4). Tent cords plucked up denoted death. (Job 4:21). Jer 10:20 is a picture of a destroyed household as applied to Judah. Hezekiah in his sickness bewails that his dwelling (life) had been carried away as easily as a shepherd’s tent is plucked up (Isa 38:12). Isaiah compared the heavens to a tent spread out (Isa 40:22). They shall pitch their tents against her i.e. they shall make war (Jer 6:3).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Tent
Fig. 328Arabian Tent
The patriarchal fathers of the Israelites were dwellers in tents, and their descendants proceeded at once from tents to houses. We therefore read but little of huts among them; and never as the fixed habitations of any people with whom they were conversant. Tents were invented before the Deluge, and appear from the first to have been associated with the pastoral life, to which a movable habitation was necessary (Gen 4:20). The practice of the pastoral fathers was to pitch their tents near wells of water, and if possible, under some shady tree (Gen 18:4; Jdg 4:5). The first tents were undoubtedly covered with skins, of which there are traces in the Pentateuch (Exo 26:14); but nearly all the tents mentioned in Scripture were, doubtless, of goats’ hair, spun and woven by the women (Exo 35:26; Exo 36:14); such as are now, in Western Asia, used by all who dwell in tents; hence their black color (Son 1:5). Tents of linen were, and still are, only used occasionally, for holiday or traveling purposes, by those who do not habitually live in them. The patriarchal tents were probably such as we now see in Arabia, of an oblong shape, and eight or ten feet high in the middle. They vary in size, and have, accordingly, a greater or less number of poles to support themfrom three to nine. An encampment is generally arranged circularly, forming an enclosure, within which the cattle are driven at night, and the center of which is occupied by the tent or tents of the Emir or Sheikh. If he is a person of much consequence, he may have three or four tents, for himself, his wives, his servants, and strangers respectively. The two first are of the most importance, and we know that Abraham’s wife had a separate tent (Gen 24:27). It is more usual, however, for one very large tent to be divided into two or more apartments by curtains. The Holy Tabernacle was on this model (Exo 26:31-37).
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Tent
1. The word commonly translated ‘tent’ is ohel, but it is often translated in the A.V. ‘tabernacle,’ and is used also for ‘dwelling’ or ‘habitation,’ as in Job 8:22; Psa 91:10; etc. This word also shows that the goats’ hair curtains formed ‘the tent’ of the tabernacle. See TABERNACLE. It was also ‘a tent’ that Moses pitched outside the camp, in Exo 33:7. See CAMP.
2. mishkan , rightly translated ‘tabernacle’ but is ‘tent’ in Son 1:8.
3. sukkah also translated ‘tabernacle,’ ‘pavilion,’ ‘booth;’ and only once ‘tent.’ 2Sa 11:11.
4. qubbah, occurring only in Num 25:8. With the patriarchs their ‘tent’ was their dwelling place as far as they had any, easily moved from place to place as the cattle needed fresh pasture. On Israel entering the land the tents gave way to houses in the cities: as the Christian’s ‘tabernacle’ will give place to the ‘house’ above. 2Co 5:1.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Tent
Used for dwelling:
– General references
Gen 4:20
– By Noah
Gen 9:21
– By Abraham
Gen 12:8; Gen 13:18; Gen 18:1
– By Lot
Gen 13:5
– By Moses
Exo 18:7
– By children of Israel
Num 24:5-6; 2Sa 20:1; 1Ki 12:16
– By the Midianites
Jdg 6:5
– By Cushites
Hab 3:7
– By Arabians
Isa 13:20
– By shepherds
Isa 38:12; Jer 6:3
Women had tents apart from men
Gen 24:67; Gen 31:33
Used for cattle
2Ch 14:15
Manufacture of
Act 18:3
Used as a place of worship
Tabernacle
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Tent
Tent. Among the leading characteristics of the nomad races, those two have always been numbered, whose origin has been ascribed to Jabal, the son of Lameth, Gen 4:20, namely, to be tent-dwellers and keepers of cattle. The same may be said of the forefathers of the Hebrew race; nor was it, until the return into Canaan from Egypt, that the Hebrews became inhabitants of cities.
An Arab tent is called beit, “house”; its covering consists of stuff, about three quarters of a yard broad, made of black goat’s-hair, Son 1:5, laid parallel with the tent’s length. This is sufficient to resist the heaviest rain. The tent-poles or columns are usually nine in number, placed in three groups; but many tents have only one pole, others two or three.
The ropes which hold the tent in its place are fastened, not to the tent-cover itself, but to loops consisting of a leathern thong, tied to the ends of a stick, around which is twisted a piece of old cloth, which is itself sewed to the tent-cover. The ends of the tent-ropes are fastened to short sticks or pins, which are driven into the ground with a mallet. Jdg 4:21.
Round the back and sides of the tent runs a piece of stuff, removable at pleasure, to admit air. The tent is divided into two apartments, separated by a carpet partition drawn across the middle of the tent and fastened to the three middle posts. When the pasture near an encampment is exhausted, the tents are taken down, packed on camels and removed. Gen 26:17; Gen 26:22; Gen 26:25; Isa 38:12. In choosing places for encampment, Arabs prefer the neighborhood of trees, for the sake of the shade and coolness which they afford. Gen 18:4; Gen 18:8.