'Tents' in the Bible

Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock.

“May God enlarge [the land of] Japheth,And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;And let Canaan be his servant.”

But Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

When the boys grew up, Esau was an able and skilled hunter, a man of the outdoors, but Jacob was a quiet and peaceful man, living in tents.

Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Jacob had pitched his tent on the hill, and Laban with his relatives camped on the same hill of Gilead.

When Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely and in peace at the city of Shechem, in the land of Canaan, and camped in front of the [walled] city.

If you will do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure [the responsibility], and all these people will also go [back] to their tents in peace.”

The Israelites shall camp according to their armies, every man by his own camp and every man by his own [tribal] standard (banner).

“Say to the congregation, ‘Get away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”

And he said to the congregation, “Get away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away in all their sin.”

So they got back from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the doorway of their tents with their wives and their sons and their little children.

And Balaam raised his eyes and he saw Israel living in their tents tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came on him.

How fair are your tents, O Jacob,And your tabernacles, O Israel!

You murmured and were ill-tempered (discontented) in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us He has brought us from the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us.

who went before you along the way, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to seek a place for you to make camp and to show you the way in which you should go.

Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.”

and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel.

You shall cook and eat it in the place which the Lord your God chooses. In the morning you are to return to your tents.

Of Zebulun he said,“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your interests abroad,And, Issachar, in your tents [at home].

So when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan with the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,

and he said to them, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers (fellow tribesmen).”

For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, and they would come in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were innumerable. So they came into the land to devastate it.

Gideon went up by the route of those who lived in tents to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their camp when the camp was unsuspecting.

The sons of Israel returned from their pursuit of the Philistines and plundered their camp.

Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in huts (temporary shelters), and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.”

There happened to be there a worthless and wicked man named Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite. He blew a trumpet [to call Israel to revolt] and said,“We have no portion in DavidAnd no inheritance in the son of Jesse,Every man to his tents, O Israel!”

On the eighth (fifteenth) day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and in good spirits because of all the goodness which the Lord had shown to David His servant and Israel His people.

So when all [the ten northern tribes of] Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people replied to the king, saying,“What portion do we have in David?We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse;To your tents, O Israel!Look now after your own house, David!” Then Israel went back to their tents.

So the Arameans set out and fled during the twilight, and left their tents, horses, and donkeys, even left the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives.

So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city. They told them, “We went to the camp of the Arameans (Syrians), and behold, there was no one there, nor the sound of man there—only the horses and donkeys tied up, and the tents [had been left] just as they were.”

Then the people [of Israel] went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So [goods were so plentiful that] a measure of finely-milled flour [was sold] for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in accordance with the word of the Lord [as spoken through Elisha].

Then the Lord gave Israel a savior [to rescue them and give them peace], so that they escaped from under the hand of the Arameans; and the sons (descendants) of Israel lived in their tents as before.

These, registered by name, came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and they attacked their tents and the Meunites (foreigners) who were found there, and utterly destroyed them to this day; and they settled in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks.

In the days of King Saul they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hands; and they lived in their tents throughout all the land east of Gilead.

When all Israel saw that the king did not listen and pay attention to them, the people answered him,“What portion do we have in David?We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.Every man to your tents, O Israel;Now, [Rehoboam, descendant of] David, see to your own house.” So all Israel went to their tents.

“Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,And the tents of the wicked will be no longer.”

If sin is in your hand, put it far away [from you],And do not let wrongdoing dwell in your tents;

“For the company of the godless is barren,And fire consumes the tents of bribery (wrong and injustice).

“If you return to the Almighty [and submit and humble yourself before Him], you will be built up [and restored];If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents,

May their encampment be desolate;May no one dwell in their tents.

And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,Around their tents.

He killed all the firstborn in Egypt,The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham.

He also drove out the nations before the sons of IsraelAnd allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].

The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,Of Moab and the Hagrites,

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand [anywhere else];I would rather stand [as a doorkeeper] at the threshold of the house of my GodThan to live [at ease] in the tents of wickedness.

But they sulked and complained in their tents;They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.

The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous:The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

Woe to me, for I sojourn in Meshech,and I live among the tents of Kedar [among hostile people]!

(The Chorus)“We will rejoice and be glad in you;We will remember and extol your love more [sweet and fragrant] than wine.Rightly do they love you.”(The Shulammite Bride)“I am deeply tanned but lovely,O daughters of Jerusalem,[I am dark] like the tents of [the Bedouins of] Kedar,Like the [beautiful] curtains of Solomon.

(The Bridegroom)“If you do not know [where your lover is],O you fairest among women,Run along, follow the tracks of the flock,And pasture your young goatsBy the tents of the shepherds.

News of one [terrible] disaster comes close after another,For the whole land is devastated;Suddenly my tents are spoiled and destroyed,My [tent] curtains [ruined] in a moment.

“Shepherds with their flocks will come against her;They will pitch their tents all around her;They will pasture, each one in his place [eating up all her rich grasses].

“Thus says the Lord,‘Behold (hear this), I will restore the fortunes of the tents of JacobAnd have mercy on his dwelling places;The city will be rebuilt on its [old, mound-like] ruin,And the palace will stand on its rightful place.

Nor shall you build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard or own one; but you shall live in tents all your days, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners (temporary residents).’

We have lived only in tents, and have obeyed and done [everything] according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

“They (the Babylonians) will take away their tents and their flocks;They will carry off for themselvesTheir tent curtains, all their goods and their camels,And they will call out to one another, ‘Terror on every side!’

He will pitch his palatial tents between the seas and the glorious Holy Mountain (Zion); yet he will come to his end with no one to help him [in his final battle with God].

For behold, they will go away because of devastation and destruction;Egypt will gather them up, Memphis will bury them.Weeds will take over their treasures of silver;Thorns will grow in their tents.

But I have been the Lord your God since [you became a nation in] the land of Egypt;I will make you live in tents again,As in the days of the appointed and solemn festival.

I [Habakkuk, in my vision] saw the tents of Cushan under distress;The tent curtains of the land of Midian were trembling.

The Lord shall save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah.

As for the man who does this, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob to the last man those who do this [evil thing], awake and aware, even the one who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts.

Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Rabbi (Master), it is good for us to be here; let us make three [sacred] tents—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land, as in a strange land, living in tents [as nomads] with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.