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Book of Hebrews compares the tabernacle sacrifices of Israel in the wilderness with the
sacrifice of Jesus at the true tabernacle: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and
he will dwell [
] with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be
with them and be their God” (Rev. 21:3).
B. Noun.
(
, 4908), “dwelling place; tent.” This word occurs nearly 140 times,
and often refers to the wilderness “tabernacle” (Exod. 25:9).
"
was also used later
to refer to the “temple.” This usage probably prepared the way for the familiar term
, which was widely used in later Judaism to refer to the “presence” of God.
C. Participle.
(
, 3427), “remaining; inhabitant.” This participle is sometimes used as a
simple adjective: “… Jacob was a plain man,
(
in tents” (Gen. 25:27). But the
word is more often used as in Gen. 19:25: “… All the
of the cities.”
E
EAR
A. Noun.
(
&
, 241), “ear.” The noun
is common to Semitic languages. It appears
187 times in the Old Testament, mainly to designate a part of the body. The first
occurrence is in Gen. 20:8: “Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his
servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.”
The “ear” was the place for earrings (Gen. 35:4); thus it might be pierced as a token
of perpetual servitude (Exod. 21:6).
Several verbs are found in relation to “ear”: “to inform” (Ezek. 24:26), “to pay
attention” (Ps. 10:17), “to listen” (Ps. 78:1), “to stop up” (Isa. 33:15), “to make deaf”
(Isa. 6:10), and “to tingle” (1 Sam. 3:11).
Animals are also said to have “ears” (Prov. 26:17). God is idiomatically said to have
“ears”: “Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto
me; … when I call answer me speedily” (Ps. 102:2). In this particular passage, the
NEB
prefers a more idiomatic rendering: “Hide not thy face from me when I am in distress.
Listen to my prayer and, when I call, answer me soon.” Elsewhere, the
KJV
reads: “And
Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord”
(1 Sam. 8:21); here the
NIV
renders “in the ears of” idiomatically as “before.” The Lord
“pierces” (i.e., opens up) ears (Ps. 40:6), implants ears (Ps. 94:9), and fashions ears (Prov.
20:12) in order to allow man to receive direction from his Creator. As the Creator, He
also is able to hear and respond to the needs of His people (Ps. 94:9). The Lord reveals
His words to the “ears” of his prophets: “Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear a day
before Saul came, saying …” (1 Sam. 9:15). Since the Israelites had not responded to the
prophetic message, they had made themselves spiritually deaf: “Hear now this, O foolish
people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and