Dwelling in tents

[Deepcallstodeep]

So, I was doing a study on Jael because she was the only other woman in the Bible besides Mary who is ever called "blessed among women." (Judges 5:24).

I got stuck on the qualifier, "blessed is she among women in tents."

So I started to look at other references to dwelling in tents, and trying to figure out if there was other spiritual symbolism to "dwelling in tents."

Does anyone know anything about this? Or is it just as straightforward as it sounds... that Jael as a Kenite (a nomadic gentile tribe, right?) simply dwelt in tents? Maybe the Hebrew scholars and historians can help me here.

Does it mean to be nomadic and wandering, rather than settled and stable and "owning" land? I have seen it used both in a positive and negative sense. I may be looking too hard at the phrase. :)

Was looking at:

Genesis 25:27 So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.

Psalm 78:55 He also drove out the nations before them,Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

Jeremiah 30:18 Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents, And have mercy on his dwelling places; The city shall be built upon its own mound, And the palace shall remain according to its own plan.

Jeremiah 35:7 You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.

Hosea 12:9 But I am the LORD your God, Ever since the land of Egypt; I will again make you dwell in tents, As in the days of the appointed feast.

Hebrews 11:9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise

[Miss Molly]

Could it reference a kind of temporary dwelling as though on the way to someplace more permanent?:scratch

[Bethanne]

Could it possibly be that it was only because of heroism and her playing a part in God's plan; nothing to do with tents?

[Deepcallstodeep]

Thanks Molly and Bethanne for your responses... I'm not so much interested in the phrase re: Jael so much as I'm interested in the way the phrase is used over and over in different places in the Bible... but I may be grasping at straws. I know we need to be careful about assigning symbolism to something that was never intended.:)

That's why I was hoping I would hear from someone who knows more about Hebrew root words, or historical info. regarding tent-dwelling. But I'll see what I can dig up too.

[Beth O]

Thanks Molly and Bethanne for your responses... I'm not so much interested in the phrase re: Jael so much as I'm interested in the way the phrase is used over and over in different places in the Bible... but I may be grasping at straws. I know we need to be careful about assigning symbolism to something that was never intended.:)

That's why I was hoping I would hear from someone who knows more about Hebrew root words, or historical info. regarding tent-dwelling. But I'll see what I can dig up too.

Not sure if this will help. I just looked under tents on my software and this is what it came up with.



Tents

Origin and antiquity of.
Gen 4:20

CALLED
Tabernacles.
Num 24:5; Job 12:6; Heb 11:9
Curtains.
Isa 54:2; Heb 3:7

Were spread out.
Isa 40:22
Fastened by cords to stakes or nails.
Isa 54:2; Jer 10:20; Jdg 4:21

WERE USED BY

Patriarchs.
Gen 13:5; Gen 25:27; Heb 11:9
Israel in the desert.
Ex 33:8; Num 24:2
The people of Israel in all their wars.
1Sam 4:3; 1Sam 29:1; 1Kin 16:16
The Rechabites.
Jer 35:7,10
The Arabs.
Isa 13:20
Shepherds while tending their flocks.
Song 1:8; Isa 38:12
All eastern nations.
Jdg 6:5; 1Sam 17:4; 2Kin 7:7; 1Chr 5:10

Separate, for females of the family.
Gen 24:67
Separate, for the servants.
Gen 31:33

WERE PITCHED

With order and regularity.
Num 1:52
In the neighborhood of wells, &c.
Gen 13:10; Gen 26:17-18; 1Sam 29:1
Under trees.
Gen 18:1,4
On the tops of houses.
2Sam 16:22
Sending persons to seek a convenient place for, alluded to.
Deu 1:33
Ease and rapidity of their removal, alluded to.
Isa 38:12

Of the Jews contrasted with those of the Arabs.
Num 24:5; Song 1:5
Custom of sitting and standing at the door of.
Gen 18:1; Jdg 4:20

ILLUSTRATIVE

(Spread out,) of the heavens.
Isa 40:22
(Enlarging of,) of the great extension of the Church.
Isa 54:2

[Deepcallstodeep]

Oh, thank you Beth for looking into this. Food for thought.

I should invest in some of that software! :)

[Beth O]

Oh, thank you Beth for looking into this. Food for thought.

I should invest in some of that software! :)

I love my swordsearcher software with the Way of life Encyclopedia!!

http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/wol-encyc-ssearcher.html

[antsinmypants]

From what I recall of the time of the Judges, not all of Israel had made cities, but were dwelling rather nomadically within their allotted territories.

Also, one dwells in "tents" or "booths" during Sukkot/Tabernacles...

Interesting note. . . the Kenai, or 'Kenites' :

Kenite = "smiths" (As in Blacksmiths etc)

1) the tribe from which the father-in-law of Moses was a member and which lived in the area between southern Israel and the mountains of Sinai

From what I understand within Judaism, the Kenai joined with Israel and were sojourners, therefore counted among the people... and also called to worship in the same way.


Check out this one: http://www.learnthebible.org/q-a-who-are-the-kenites.htm

--- A: The Kenites are first mentioned in Genesis 15:18. Their land was among those promised to Abram. Thus, they existed before him. His seed and theirs likely mixed with theirs through Midian, a son that Keturah bare him (Genesis 25:1-2). The Kenites show up later when we meet Jethro. He was the Midianite priest, who was Moses' father-in-law. (Judges 1:16) Jethro is also called "Hobab," the son of Raguel in Judges 4:11 and Numbers 10:29. He is also called "Reuel" in Exodus 2:18.

The Kenites had a very special place in Israel's history. They traveled with the children of Israel in the desert and therefore identified with them. Through Moses, you might say they are the first cousins of Israel, and enjoyed many of their blessings. Balaam said of them "Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock." We are familiar of the story of Jael (the wife of Heber the Kenite,) who put the tent nail through the temples of Sissera, the captain of the Canaanite host. (Judges 4:21) Her husband's name "Heber" means "Friend" in Hebrew. (The name "Hebrew" was from the same root. It was given to Abraham, the friend of God.)

When Saul went to slay the Amalekites, he told the Kenites to depart lest any of them were destroyed also (1Samuel 15:6). In 1Samuel 30:29, David sends the spoils of war to the cities of Judah and the Kenites. In 1Chronicles 2:55, the father of the house of Rechab was a Kenite, who was among the families of scribes. From that point on, the Kenites were reckoned in the house of Rechab and were called Rechabites. ...


Apparently the modern day Druze identify with the Kenai

[HollowofHishand]

Apparently the modern day Druze identify with the Kenai

WOW! WOW! WOW! Do a search on the Druze and try to keep your head from spinning off!

I am not sure where they will fall in the end times, but let's see: Friends of the Jews, Muslim ~ but not mainstream, already accepted by the Jews into high places in government and military, etc...............Hummmmmm

[Tenbear2808]

Tents are not a permanent structure. Could this be symbolism of our temporary dwelling on earth because Heaven is our home?