Tents in the Bible

• Jabal is the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestockGen 4:20
  The verses

  Gen 4:20Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock.
• Abram pitches his tent between Bethel and Ai, then moves to MamreGen 12:8, Gen 13:18
  The verses

  Gen 12:8From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

  Gen 13:18So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.
• Lot also has flocks, herds and tentsGen 13:5
  The verses

  Gen 13:5Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.
• Abraham sits at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the dayGen 18:1–2
  The verses

  Gen 18:1–2Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
• Sarah listens at the entrance to the tentGen 18:9–10
  The verses

  Gen 18:9–10“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked. “There, in the tent,” he replied. Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.
• Isaac brings Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tentGen 24:67
  The verses

  Gen 24:67And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death.
• Isaac pitches his tent, and his servants dig a wellGen 26:25
  The verses

  Gen 26:25So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there. His servants also dug a well there.
• Jacob, Leah, Rachel and the maidservants each have a tentGen 31:33
  The verses

  Gen 31:33So Laban went into Jacob’s tent, then Leah’s tent, and then the tents of the two maidservants, but he found nothing. Then he left Leah’s tent and entered Rachel’s tent.
• Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in tentsHeb 11:9
  The verses

  Heb 11:9By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
• Tents had curtains, ropes and stakesIsa 54:2, Jer 10:20
  The verses

  Isa 54:2“Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep.

  Jer 10:20My tent is destroyed, and all its ropes are snapped. My sons have departed from me and are no more. I have no one left to pitch my tent or set up my curtains.
• Dark like the tents of KedarSong 1:5
  The verses

  Song 1:5I am dark, yet lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
• Paul, Aquila and Priscilla were tentmakers by tradeActs 18:2–3
  The verses

  Acts 18:2–3There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them, and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was.

In the wilderness

• Moses greets his father-in-law, and they go into the tentExod 18:7
  The verses

  Exod 18:7So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. They greeted each other and went into the tent.
• Israel camps by divisions, each man under his standardNum 1:52, Num 2:2
  The verses

  Num 1:52The Israelites are to camp by their divisions, each man in his own camp and under his own standard.

  Num 2:2“The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it, each man under his standard, with the banners of his family.
• The people stand at their tent entrances watching MosesExod 33:8
  The verses

  Exod 33:8Then, whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand at the entrances to their own tents and watch Moses until he entered the tent.
• Balaam: “How lovely are your tents, O Jacob”Num 24:5
  The verses

  Num 24:5How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!
• Achan hides silver and gold in the ground inside his tentJosh 7:21–22
  The verses

  Josh 7:21–22When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.” So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there it all was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.

In the stories

• Jael gives Sisera milk in her tent and kills him with a tent pegJudg 4:18–21, Judg 5:25–26
  The verses

  Judg 4:18–21Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. “Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’” But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.

  Judg 5:25–26He asked for water, and she gave him milk. In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds. She reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman’s hammer. She struck Sisera and crushed his skull; she shattered and pierced his temple.
• The Midianites come with their livestock and tents like locustsJudg 6:5
  The verses

  Judg 6:5For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.
• David puts Goliath’s weapons in his own tent1 Sam 17:54
  The verses

  1 Sam 17:54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
• Uriah: the ark, Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents2 Sam 11:11
  The verses

  2 Sam 11:11Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”
• “Every man to his tent, O Israel!”2 Sam 20:1, 1 Kgs 12:16
  The verses

  2 Sam 20:1Now a worthless man named Sheba son of Bichri, a Benjamite, happened to be there, and he blew the ram’s horn and shouted: “We have no share in David, no inheritance in Jesse’s son. Every man to his tent, O Israel!”

  1 Kgs 12:16When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,
• Asa’s army attacks the tents of herdsmen and takes sheep and camels2 Chr 14:15
  The verses

  2 Chr 14:15They also attacked the tents of the herdsmen and carried off many sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.
• A shepherd’s tent is picked up and movedIsa 38:12
  The verses

  Isa 38:12My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.