Tent
(1.) Heb. ‘ohel (Gen 9:21, Gen 9:27). This word is used also of a dwelling or habitation (1 Kgs 8:66; Isa 16:5; Jer 4:20), and of the temple (Ezek 41:1). When used of the tabernacle, as in 1 Kgs 1:39, it denotes the covering of goat’s hair which was placed over the mishcan.
(2.) Heb. mishcan (Song 1:8), used also of a dwelling (Job 18:21; Ps 87:2), the grave (Isa 22:16; comp. Isa 14:18), the temple (Ps 46:4; Ps 84:2; Ps 132:5), and of the tabernacle (Ex 25:9; Ex 26:1; Ex 40:9; Num 1:50, Num 1:53; Num 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, Lev 23:42; 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, Gen 9:27; Gen 12:8; Gen 13:12; Gen 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 Kgs 7:7; Ps 120:5; Song 1:5). Paul the apostle’s occupation was that of a tent-maker (Acts 18:3); i.e., perhaps a maker of tent cloth.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
