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inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah” (Zech. 12:7; cf. Ps.
83:6).
Bedouin “tents” today (as in the past) are constructed of strong black cloth of woven
goat’s hair. They are shaped variously. The women pitch them by stretching the cloth
over poles and tying it down with cords of goat’s hair or hemp. Wooden mallets are used
to drive the tent pegs into the ground (Judg. 4:21). Sometimes the structure is divided in
order to separate families or to separate animals from people (2 Chron. 14:15). The back
of the “tent” is closed and the front open. The door is made by turning back the fold
where the two ends of the cloth meet (Gen. 18:1). The “tent” and all its contents are
transported on the back of a single pack animal. Richer people cover the floor with mats
of various materials. A chief or sheikh may have several “tents”—one for himself and his
guest(s), another for his wives and other females in his immediate family, and still
another for the animals (Gen. 31:33).
Before the construction of the tabernacle Moses pitched a “tent” outside the camp
(Exod. 33:7). There he met with God. The “tent” outside the camp persisted as a living
institution for only a short period after the construction of the tabernacle and before the
departure from Sinai (Num. 11:16ff.; 12:4ff.). Eventually the ark of the covenant was
moved into the tabernacle (Exod. 40:21) where the Lord met with Moses and spoke to
Israel (Exod. 29:42). This structure is called the tent of meeting inasmuch as it contained
the ark of the covenant and the tables of testimony (Num. 9:15). As the tent of meeting it
was the place where God met with His people through Moses (or the high priest) and
revealed His will to them (1 Sam. 2:22).
TO TEST
A. Verb.
(
, 6884), “to refine, try, smelt, test.” This root with the basic meaning of
smelting and refining is found outside the Old Testament in Akkadian, Phoenician, and
Syriac. In Arabic an adjective derived from the verb means “pure, unmixed,” describing
the quality of wine.
has maintained the meaning “to refine” in rabbinic and
modern Hebrew, but lost the primary significance of “to smelt” in modern Hebrew.
The verb occurs fewer than 35 times in the Old Testament, mainly in the prophets and
in the Book of Psalms. The first occurrence is in the story of Gideon, where 10,000 are
“being tested” and only 300 are chosen to fight with Gideon against the Midianites: “And
the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water,
and I will try them for thee there …” (Judg. 7:4). The meaning in this context is “to test,”
to find out who is qualified for battle. The only other occurrence of the verb in Judges is
equivalent to a noun in English: “smith,” in this context a silversmith (17:4). Jeremiah
describes the process of smelting and refining: “The bellows [blow fiercely], the lead is
consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain: for the wicked are not plucked away”
(Jer. 6:29), and the failure of refining the silver leads to rejection (Jer. 6:30). The process
(smelting) and the result (refining) are often considered together. It is difficult to separate
them in biblical usage. Hence, the work of the smith involves smelting, refining, and
particularly the use of the refined metals in making the final product: “The workman
melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth silver
chains” (Isa. 40:19). He used a hammer and anvil in making fine layers of gold used in
plating the form (Isa. 41:7).