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Tents.

From: The New Topical Textbook

By: Reuben Archer Torrey

• 1 min. read • grade level: 11

Origin and antiquity of. Gen. 4:20²⁰And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. (Genesis 4:20).

CALLED

Tabernacles. Num. 24:5⁵How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! (Numbers 24:5). Job 12:6⁶The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly. (Job 12:6). Heb. 11:9⁹By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: (Hebrews 11:9).

Curtains. Isa. 54:2²Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; (Isaiah 54:2). Heb. 3:7⁷Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, (Hebrews 3:7).

Were spread out. Isa. 40:22²²It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: (Isaiah 40:22).

Fastened by cords to stakes or nails. Isa. 54:2²Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; (Isaiah 54:2). Jer. 10:20²⁰My 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. (Jeremiah 10:20), with Judg. 4:21²¹Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. (Judges 4:21).

WERE USED BY

Patriarchs. Gen. 13:5⁵And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. (Genesis 13:5). Gen. 25:27²⁷And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. (Genesis 25:27). Heb. 11:9⁹By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: (Hebrews 11:9).

Israel in the desert. Ex. 33:8⁸And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle. (Exodus 33:8). Num. 24:2²And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. (Numbers 24:2).

The people of Israel in all their wars. 1 Sam. 4:3, 10³And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. (1 Samuel 4:3)
¹⁰And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. (1 Samuel 4:10). 1 Sam. 29:1¹Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. (1 Samuel 29:1). 1 Kin. 16:16.

The Rechabites. Jer. 35:7, 10⁷Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers. (Jeremiah 35:7)
¹⁰But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. (Jeremiah 35:10).

The Arabs. Isa. 13:20²⁰It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. (Isaiah 13:20).

Shepherds while tending their flocks. SoS. 1:8. Isa. 38:12¹²Mine 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 with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. (Isaiah 38:12).

All eastern nations. Judg. 6:5⁵For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it. (Judges 6:5). 1 Sam. 17:4⁴And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. (1 Samuel 17:4). 2 Kin. 7:7. 1 Chron. 5:10¹⁰And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites, who fell by their hand: and they dwelt in their tents throughout all the east land of Gilead. (1 Chronicles 5:10).

Separate, for females of the family. Gen. 24:67⁶⁷And 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. (Genesis 24:67).

Separate, for the servants. Gen. 31:33³³And 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. (Genesis 31:33).

WERE PITCHED

With order and regularity. Num. 1:52⁵²And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts. (Numbers 1:52).

In the neighborhood of wells, &c. Gen. 13:10, 12¹⁰And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. (Genesis 13:10)
¹²Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. (Genesis 13:12). Gen. 26:17, 18¹⁷And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. ¹⁸And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. (Genesis 26:17‑18). 1 Sam. 29:1¹Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. (1 Samuel 29:1).

Under trees. Gen. 18:1, 4¹And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; (Genesis 18:1)
⁴Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: (Genesis 18:4). Judg. 4:5⁵And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. (Judges 4:5).

On the tops of houses. 2 Sam. 16:22²²So 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. (2 Samuel 16:22).

Sending persons to seek a convenient place for, alluded to. Deut. 1:33³³Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. (Deuteronomy 1:33).

Ease and rapidity of their removal, alluded to. Isa. 38:12¹²Mine 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 with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. (Isaiah 38:12).

Of the Jews contrasted with those of the Arabs. Num. 24:5⁵How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! (Numbers 24:5), with SoS. 1:5.

Custom of sitting and standing at the door of. Gen. 18:1¹And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; (Genesis 18:1). Judg. 4:20²⁰Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. (Judges 4:20).

ILLUSTRATIVE

(Spread out,) of the heavens. Isa. 40:22²²It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: (Isaiah 40:22).

(Enlarging of,) of the great extension of the Church. Isa. 54:2²Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; (Isaiah 54:2).

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The New Topical Textbook

• Sin-Offering.

• Sins, National.

• Spear, the.

• Stars, the.

• Steadfastness.

• Strangers in Israel.

• Swearing Falsely.

• Swearing, Profane.

• Sword, the.

• Synagogues.

• Tabernacle, the.

• Temple, the First.

• Temple, the Second.

• Temptation.

• Tents.

• Thanksgiving.

• Theocracy, the, or Immediate Government by God.