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 such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
And the LORD appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre: and he sat in 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 maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.
And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.
However Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and drove the peg into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
So the people took provisions in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.
[A Psalm of David.] LORD, who shall abide in your tabernacle? who shall dwell in your holy hill?
I will abide in your tabernacle forever: I will trust in the shelter of your wings. Selah.
[To the Chief Musician upon gittith. A Psalm for the Sons of Korah.] How lovely are your tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
I am dark, but lovely, O you daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: your eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of its stakes shall ever be removed, neither shall any of its cords be broken.
My age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off from the loom: from day even to night will you make an end of me.
It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are as grasshoppers; that stretches out the heavens as a curtain, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in:
Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations: spare not, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes;
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
But Christ being come a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling 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 such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
And he drank of the wine, and was drunk; and he was uncovered within his tent.
And he drank of the wine, and was drunk; and he was uncovered within his tent.
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
And he removed from there unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east: and there he built an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
And Isaac departed from there, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
This is the thing which the LORD has commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take every man for them who are in his tents.
According to all that I show you, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the furnishings of it, even so shall you make it.
Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubim of skillful work shall you make them.
And you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle, and all that is in it, and shall hallow it, and all its utensils: and it shall be holy.
Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD.
You shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are born Israelites shall dwell in booths:
But you shall 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 the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.
But the Levites shall encamp round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.
And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony.
And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and, Issachar, in your tents.
And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his donkeys, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.
And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; 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 you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.
And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.
On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.
And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mountain, and bring olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written. So the people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the water gate, and in the square at the gate of Ephraim. read more. And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.
Surely such are the dwellings of the wicked, and this is the place of him that knows not God.
He made darkness his secret place; his canopy round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
There is a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the most High.
My soul longs, yea, even faints for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
Until I find out a place for the LORD, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.
I am dark, but lovely, O you daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
If you know not, O you fairest among women, go your way forth in the footsteps of the flock, and feed your kids beside the shepherds' tents.
And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and from rain.
All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, everyone in his own tomb.
And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking justice, and hastening righteousness.
What have you here? and whom have you here, that you have hewed you out a sepulcher here, as he that hews him out a sepulcher on high, and that carves a tomb for himself in a rock?
Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is plundered: suddenly are my tents plundered, and my curtains in a moment.
Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits wide on the one side, and six cubits wide on the other side, which was the width of the tabernacle.
So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.
And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and worked: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
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 such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.
How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as aloes which the LORD has planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.
And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon:
And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the end of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border.
And the Avvim who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)
And he spoke unto them, saying, Return with much riches unto your tents, and with very much cattle, with silver, and with gold, and with bronze, and with iron, and with very much clothing: divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
Now Heber the Kenite, who was of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent as far as the oak of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh. And they showed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor. read more. And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the nations to the river of Kishon. And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand: is not the LORD gone out before you? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him. And the LORD routed Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his army, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera got down from his chariot, and fled away on foot. But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the army, unto Harosheth of the nations: and all the host of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left. However Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a rug. And he said unto her, Give me, I pray you, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a skin of milk, and gave him a drink, and covered him. Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man does come and inquire of you, and say, Is there any man here? that you shall say, No. Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and drove the peg into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and drove the peg into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the peg was in his temples.
So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to your own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place; and he shall become a glorious throne to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the posterity, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of pitchers.
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 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 unto him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
And the boys grew: and Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.
The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and every one of the curtains shall have the same measure.
Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and drove the peg into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid; and he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber. But her father would not allow him to go in.
And when the man rose up to depart, he, and his concubine, and his servant, his father-in-law, the young woman's father, said unto him, Behold, now the day draws toward evening, I pray you tarry all night: behold, the day grows to an end, lodge here, that your heart may be merry; and tomorrow get you early on your way, that you may go home.
And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; 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 you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.
So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father's concubines in the sight of all Israel.
So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to your own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.
And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.
And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
Does not their excellence which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom.
Its going forth is from the end of the heaven, and its circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
I am dark, but lovely, O you daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
It was but a little after I passed by them, when I found him whom my soul loves: 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 your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations: spare not, lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes;
Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is plundered: suddenly are my tents plundered, and my curtains in a moment.
For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto 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 a tent, and pitched it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one who sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of meeting, which was outside the camp.
And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; 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 you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.
They that hate you shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.
There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of 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 such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.
Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
And Isaac departed from there, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
And he removed from there, and dug another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD 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 the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants dug a well.
Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and drove the peg into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
I am dark, but lovely, O you daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
My age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off from the loom: from day even to night will you make an end of me.