Reference: Tent
American
Dwelling in tents was very general in ancient times among Eastern nations, Ge 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, Ge 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.,
Jg 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, Jg 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, Ps 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 tent-pins 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, Ps 120:5; Song 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, Ex 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, Ge 31:33; Jg 4:17. Usually, however, one tent suffices for a family; being divided, if large, into several apartments by curtains.
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And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in tents, and breed cattle.
And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day.
And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two handmaids' tents, and found nothing; and he went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.
And all the women whose heart moved them in wisdom spun goats' hair.
But Sis'era fled away on foot to the tent of Ja'el, the wife of Heber the Ken'ite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Ken'ite.
But Ja'el the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.
So he took the jars of the people from their hands, and their trumpets; and he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men; and the camp of Mid'ian was below him in the valley.
{A Psalm of David.} Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tent? who shall dwell in the hill of thy holiness?
I will sojourn in thy tent for ever; I will take refuge in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
{To the chief Musician. Upon the Gittith. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.} How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts!
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
I am black, but comely, daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be pulled up, neither shall any of its cords be broken;
Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent. I have cut off like a weaver my life. He separateth me from the thrum: from day to night thou wilt make an end of me.
It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a gauze curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction; The curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
And Jehovah shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified over Judah.
For we know that if our earthly tabernacle house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched, and not man.
But Christ being come high priest of the good things to come, by the better and more perfect tabernacle not made with hand, (that is, not of this creation,)
By faith he sojourned as a stranger in the land of promise as a foreign country, having dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
Easton
(1.) Heb 'ohel (Ge 9:21,27). This word is used also of a dwelling or habitation (1Ki 8:66; Isa 16:5; Jer 4:20), and of the temple (Eze 41:1). When used of the tabernacle, as in 1Ki 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; 84:2; 132:5), and of the tabernacle (Ex 25:9; 26:1; 40:9; Nu 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 (Nu 25:8), a dome-like tent devoted to the impure worship of Baal-peor.
(4.) Heb succah (2Sa 11:11), a tent or booth made of green boughs or branches (see Ge 33:17; Le 23:34,42; Ps 18:11; Jon 4:5; Isa 4:6; Ne 8:15-17, where the word is variously rendered).
Jubal was "the father of such as dwell in tents" (Ge 4:20). The patriarchs were "dwellers in tents" (Ge 9:21,27; 12:8; 13:12; 26:17); and during their wilderness wanderings all Israel dwelt in tents (Ex 16:16; De 33:18; Jos 7:24). Tents have always occupied a prominent place in Eastern life (1Sa 17:54; 2Ki 7:7; Ps 120:5; Song 1:5). Paul the apostle's occupation was that of a tent-maker (Ac 18:3); i.e., perhaps a maker of tent cloth.
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And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in tents, and breed cattle.
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he uncovered himself in his tent.
And he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he uncovered himself in his tent.
Let God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, And let Canaan be his bondman.
Let God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, And let Canaan be his bondman.
And he removed thence towards the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel toward the west, and Ai toward the east; and there he built an altar to Jehovah, and called on the name of Jehovah.
Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan; and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched tents as far as Sodom.
And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his camp in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house, and for his cattle he made booths. Therefore the name of the place was called Succoth.
This is the thing which Jehovah has commanded: Gather of it every man according to what he can eat, an omer a poll, according to the number of your persons: ye shall take every man for those that are in his tent.
According to all that I shall shew thee, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the utensils thereof, even so shall ye make it.
And thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of twined byssus, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubim of artistic work shalt thou make them.
And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is in it, and shalt hallow it, and all its utensils; and it shall be holy.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths seven days to Jehovah.
In booths shall ye dwell seven days; all born in Israel shall dwell in booths;
But thou, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels; and they shall serve it, and round about the tabernacle shall they encamp;
but the Levites shall encamp round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there come not wrath upon the assembly of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.
And it came to pass in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony.
and he went after the man of Israel into the tent-chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. And the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; And thou, Issachar, in thy tents!
Then Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the mantle, and the bar of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up into the valley of Achor.
And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.
And Urijah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields: shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, Long live king Solomon!
On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that Jehovah had done to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
and that they should publish and proclaim through all their cities, and at Jerusalem, saying, Go forth to the mount, and fetch olive-branches, and wild olive-branches, and myrtle-branches, and palm-branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written. And the people went forth and brought them, and made themselves booths, everyone upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the open space of the water-gate, and in the open space of the gate of Ephraim. read more. And all the congregation of them that had come back from the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths. For since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun until that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
Surely, such are the dwellings of the unrighteous man, and such the place of him that knoweth not God.
He made darkness his secret place, his tent round about him: darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
There is a river the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the sanctuary of the habitations of the Most High.
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Jehovah loveth the gates of Zion more than all the habitations of Jacob.
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
Until I find out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob. ...
I am black, but comely, daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
If thou know not, thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, And feed thy kids beside the shepherds' booths.
And there shall be a tabernacle for shade by day from the heat, and for a shelter and for a covert from storm and from rain.
All the kings of the nations, all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house;
And a throne shall be established in mercy: and in the tent of David there shall sit upon it, in truth, one judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.
What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewn thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth out his sepulchre on high, cutting out in the rock a habitation for himself?
Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed; for the whole land is wasted: suddenly are my tents laid waste, my curtains, in a moment.
And he brought me to the temple; and he measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, the breadth of the tent.
And Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
and because they were of the same trade abode with them, and wrought. For they were tent-makers by trade.
Fausets
ohel, "tabernacle "; mishkan, "dwelling"; sukkak, "booth"; qubbah, "recess" (Nu 25:8). The characteristic dwelling of the keepers of cattle, the nomadic races, of whom Jabal was the father (Ge 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 (Ge 26:12), and probably in Heber's case (Jg 4:11-22). Hazerim (De 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. (Nu 34:4,9.) 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 (Jg 4:21). The patriarchs' wives had separate tents (Ge 24:67; 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 (Nu 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).
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And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in tents, and breed cattle.
And Isaac led her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after the death of his mother.
And Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold; and Jehovah blessed him.
And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two handmaids' tents, and found nothing; and he went out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.
How goodly are thy tents, Jacob, and thy tabernacles, Israel! Like valleys are they spread forth, like gardens by the river side, Like aloe-trees which Jehovah hath planted, like cedars beside the waters.
and he went after the man of Israel into the tent-chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. And the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
and your border shall turn from the south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin, and shall end southward at Kadesh-barnea, and shall go on to Hazar-Addar, and pass on to Azmon.
and the border shall go to Ziphron, and shall end at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border.
And the Avvites who dwelt in the hamlets as far as Gazah the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)
and spoke to them, saying, Return unto your tents with much wealth and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with copper, and with iron, and with clothing, in very great quantity; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
Now Heber the Ken'ite had separated from the Ken'ites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Za-anan'nim, which is near Kedesh. When Sis'era was told that Barak the son of Abin'o-am had gone up to Mount Tabor, read more. Sis'era called out all his chariots, nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Haro'sheth-ha-goiim to the river Kishon. And Deb'orah said to Barak, "Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sis'era into your hand. Does not the LORD go out before you?" So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. And the LORD routed Sis'era and all his chariots and all his army before Barak at the edge of the sword; and Sis'era alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Haro'sheth-ha-goiim, and all the army of Sis'era fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left. But Sis'era fled away on foot to the tent of Ja'el, the wife of Heber the Ken'ite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Ken'ite. And Ja'el came out to meet Sis'era, and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me; have no fear." So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. And he said to her, "Pray, give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty." So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. And he said to her, "Stand at the door of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, 'Is any one here?' say, No." But Ja'el the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.
But Ja'el the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued Sis'era, Ja'el went out to meet him, and said to him, "Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking." So he went in to her tent; and there lay Sis'era dead, with the tent peg in his temple.
And all Israel saw that the king hearkened not to them; and the people answered the king saying, What portion have we in David? And we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse: To your tents, O Israel! Now see to thine own house, David! And Israel went to their tents.
And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father's house: and they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all the small vessels, as well the vessels of cups as all the vessels of flagons.
For we know that if our earthly tabernacle house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Hastings
Apart from the traditions of the patriarchs as 'quiet' men, 'dwelling in tents' (Ge 25:27 Revised Version margin), the settled Hebrews preserved a reminder of their nomad ancestry in such phrases as 'going to one's tent' for to 'go home' (Jg 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. Song 1:5 'I am black as the tents of Kedar'). These 'curtains' (Jer 4:20; Ex 26:2 and oft.) are held up by poles, generally 9 in number, arranged in three rows of three, and 6
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And they said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
And the boys grew, and Esau became a man skilled in hunting, a man of the field; and Jacob was a homely man, dwelling in tents.
The length of one curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits one measure for all the curtains.
But Ja'el the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.
After a while, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson went to visit his wife with a kid; and he said, "I will go in to my wife in the chamber." But her father would not allow him to go in.
And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl's father, said to him, "Behold, now the day has waned toward evening; pray tarry all night. Behold, the day draws to its close; lodge here and let your heart be merry; and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home."
And Urijah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields: shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
So they spread a tent for Absalom upon the roof; and Absalom went in to his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
And all Israel saw that the king hearkened not to them; and the people answered the king saying, What portion have we in David? And we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse: To your tents, O Israel! Now see to thine own house, David! And Israel went to their tents.
And it came to pass when he heard this word, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the tents, that he said to his servants, Set yourselves. And they set themselves against the city.
And they went out at noon; and Ben-Hadad drank himself drunk in the tents, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings that helped him.
And they rose up and fled in the dusk, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
Is not their tent-cord torn away in them? they die, and without wisdom.
His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
I am black, but comely, daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
Scarcely had I passed from them, When I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, Until I had brought him into my mother's house, And into the chamber of her that conceived me.
Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.
Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed; for the whole land is wasted: suddenly are my tents laid waste, my curtains, in a moment.
For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, hallow a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly;
and finding a certain Jew by name Aquila, of Pontus by race, just come from Italy, and Priscilla his wife, (because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome,) came to them,
Morish
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; Ps 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 Ex 33:7. See CAMP.
2. mishkan, rightly translated 'tabernacle' but is 'tent' in Cant. 1:8.
3. sukkah also translated 'tabernacle,' 'pavilion,' 'booth;' and only once 'tent.' 2Sa 11:11.
4. qubbah, occurring only in Nu 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.
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And Moses took the tent, and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the Tent of meeting. And it came to pass that every one who sought Jehovah went out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp.
and he went after the man of Israel into the tent-chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. And the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
And Urijah said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah abide in booths; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields: shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame, and the tent of the wicked be no more.
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent.
For we know that if our earthly tabernacle house be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Smith
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,
viz., 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,
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, 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, which are driven into the ground with a mallet.
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.
In choosing places for encampment, Arabs prefer the neighborhood of trees, for the sake of the shade and coolness which they afford.
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And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in tents, and breed cattle.
Let now a little water be fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
And he took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate.
And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his camp in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
And he removed thence and dug another well; and they did not strive for that. And he called the name of it Rehoboth, and said, For now Jehovah has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
And he built an altar there, and called upon the name of Jehovah. And he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac's servants dug a well.
But Ja'el the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple, till it went down into the ground, as he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.
I am black, but comely, daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent. I have cut off like a weaver my life. He separateth me from the thrum: from day to night thou wilt make an end of me.