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TENTS VERY EARLY USED AS DWELLINGS-SCRIPTURE ALLUSIONS TO THEM-DESCRIPTION OF TENTS IN GENERAL-DEVASTATION OCCASIONED IN AN ENCAMPMENT BY A VIOLENT STORM-ABRAHAM'S TENT-BEDOUIN TENTS NEAR TEKOA-TENTS OF THE. TURKMANS THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES-THE TABERNACLE.

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GENESIS iv. 20.

(JABAL) was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle."

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GENESIS Xii. 8.

"And (Abram) removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent."

xxv. 27.

"Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents." xxvi. 17.

"And Isaac pitched

and dwelt there."

his tent in the valley of Gerar,

xxxi. 33.

"And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maid-servants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent."

EXODUS XXXiii. 8. 10.

"And 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... And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the tabernacle door: and all the people rose up and worshipped, every man in his tent door."

NUMBERS XXiv. 2–5.

"And 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. And he took up his parable and said,... How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel!"

JUDGES iv. 17-21.

"Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite... And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle... Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. Then 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 So he died.'

and weary.

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JUDGES Vii. 13.

“ And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along."

JOB V. 24.

"And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace."

xviii. 6.

"The light (of the wicked) shall be dark in his tabernacle." (See also verses 14, 15. 17. 21.

PSALM xix. 4.

"In them (the heavens) hath he set a tabernacle for the sun.”

cxviii. 15.

"The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous.

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CANT. i. 5.

"I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon." ISATAH Xxxiii. 20.

"Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken."

xxxviii. 12.

"Mine age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent."

xl. 22.

"It is he..that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in."

LUKE ix. 33.

"Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias."

2 PET. i. 13.

66 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up, by putting you in remembrance ; knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me."

We find, from numerous passages in the Old Testament, that in very early times tents were almost the only dwellings of mankind. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dwelt in tents; and Balaam, when blessing their descendants, exclaimed, How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! We read, that in the Wilderness the people worshipped, every man in his tent-door; and the sons of Rechab were expressly commanded by their father, 'All your days ye shall dwell in tents.'

At the present day, a large portion of the inhabitants in eastern countries, are dwellers in tents.

Tents may be of various forms and sizes, and while most of them are made of very common materials, others, which are designed for the residences of great persons, are often fitted up very magnificently. Mr. Madox mentions passing about twenty tents of the Bedouin Arabs, on the banks of the river Nile, "Some of them very large, and apparently well arranged in different apartments. These are generally the resi

dences of the chiefs and their families." A tent must have a supporting pole, or poles, placed near the centre. Mr. Bruce relates, that one day, claiming protection from an Arab family, he took hold of the pole which supported the tent; and there is probably some allusion to a custom of this kind in the words of the Lord by the mouth of Isaiah-" Let Him take hold of my

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strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.' That is, let him claim my protection, and he shall have it; but if he resist, he must perish.

We read in the book of Job, that at the reproof of the Most High, "the pillars of Heaven tremble," as the supporting pillars of a tent do, when shaken by the

storm.

Over these poles, or pillars, which form the "strength" of the tent, is stretched the covering, and this is generally of coarse hair-cloth. "All the tents of

the Bedouins that I have ever seen," writes Mr. Buckingham, "are made of sheep's wool, and goats' and camels' hair, and are mostly black, with sometimes, but rarely, stripes of white, grey, or brown; but this is so small a proportion, that even these striped tents all look black at a distance."

"Tents are distinguished from houses by an epithet expressive of the materials of which each is composed; 'Beeout Hadjar,' or dwellings of stone, being the name given to all buildings, large or small; and 'Beeout Shaar,' or dwellings of hair, being the name given to all the tents of the Bedouins, which are almost universally made of a black or brown cloth of hair, made in the camp, from sheep's, goat's, and camel's hair, in various proportions."

On the words, "I am black but comely, as the tents of Kedar," Mr. Hartley remarks,-"To the tents of the Turcomans, viewed singly, it would be often difficult to ascribe the attribute of comeliness; but as forming part of a prospect, they are a very beautiful object."

Dr. Shaw's description of these tents is very clear and concise. "Nothing, certainly, can afford a more delightful prospect, (he observes,) than a large extensive plain, with those moveable habitations pitched in circles upon them. When we find any number of these tents together (and I have seen from three to four hundred), they are usually placed in a circle. They differ in bigness

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