Booth

Booth, a hut made of branches of trees, and thus distinguished from a tent properly so called. Such were the booths in which Jacob sojourned for a while on his return to the borders of Canaan, whence the place obtained the name of Succoth (Gen 33:17); and such were the temporary green sheds in which the Israelites were directed to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:42-43). As this observance was to commemorate the abode of the Israelites in the wilderness, it has been rather unwisely concluded by some that they there lived in such booths. But it is evident from the narrative, that, during their wanderings, they dwelt in tents; and, indeed, where, in that treeless region, could they have found branches with which to construct their booths? Such structures are only available in well-wooded regions; and it is obvious that the direction to celebrate the feast in booths, rather than in tents, was given because, when the Israelites became a settled people in Palestine, and ceased to have a general use of tents, it was easier for them to erect a temporary shed of green branches than to provide a tent for the occasion.

A shelter, made usually of poles fixed upright in the ground, and covered over with green boughs, Gen 33:17 . The great feast of tabernacles, or booths, had its name from the circumstance that the Jews were directed by their law to dwell in booths during the seen days of this feast, Lev 23:40-42 ; Neh 8:14 .\par

(סֻכָּהּ, sukkah’, often rendered " tabernacle" or " pavilion"), a hut made of branches of trees, and thus distinguished from a tent properly so called. Such were the booths in which Jacob sojourned for a while on his return to the borders of Canaan, whence the place obtained the name of Succoth (Gen 33:17); and such were the temporary green sheds in which the Israelites were directed to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev 23:42-43). SEE SUCCOTH; SEE TABERNACLES, FEAST OF. As this observance was to commemorate the abode of the Israelites in the wilderness, it has been rather unwisely concluded by some that they there lived in such booths. But it is evident from the narrative that, during their wanderings, they dwelt in tents; and, indeed, where, in that treeless region, could they have found branches with which to construct their booths ?

Such structures are only available in well-wooded regions; and it is obvious that the direction to celebrate the feast in booths, rather than in tents, was given because, when the Israelites became a settled people in Palestine and ceased to have a general use of tents, it was easier for them to erect a temporary shed of green branches than to provide a tent for the occasion. SEE COTTAGE.

Booth. Gen 33:17. See Dwelling.

By: Immanuel Benzinger, Morris Jastrow, Jr.

A rendering, in the English versions of the Bible, of the Hebrew word "sukkah"; also occasionally translated "pavilion" or "cottage." The ordinary habitation of the nomad is the tent, a rough textile fabric of goat's hair, stretched on poles (see Tent). This tent is distinguished in the Old Testament from the booths, or habitations formed of branches, foliage, etc., occasionally constructed with the aid of clay, examples of which may still be found among the Arabs of the Sinaitic peninsula. According to the law as given in Lev. xxiii. 42 et seq., the custom of dwelling in booths during the Feast of Tabernacles was instituted for the purpose of reminding the Israelites that, in the journey across the desert, their forefathers had also dwelt in booths. But the term here is undoubtedly employed in a general and not in a specific sense, and probably signifies every species of this form of habitation.

The passage Gen. xxxiii. 17 proves that the nomads also used their tents as shelters for their cattle, and it is probable that the peasant of fixed habitation did likewise. These huts were also erected for the watchmen in the field (Isa. i. 8), as well as for the soldiers encamped before the city (II Sam. xi. 11). But they served above all as a protection against the sun; and the prophet Jonah before Nineveh seeks shade under a booth (Jonah iv. 5). Even to-day it is customary in certain parts of Palestine to erect arbors of leafy branches upon the housetops as a protection against the heat; and during the harvests of the orchards and the vintage, for the villagers to go into their gardens, and dwell there for days in their leafy cottages. The Feast of Tabernacles, therefore, commemorates a very ancient custom; for it is the great harvest and thanksgiving festival. See Tabernacles, Feast of, and Feasts.

BOOTH.—The Heb. sukkâh (note Gen 33:17 RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ) was a simple structure made of the branches of trees, which the peasant erected for rest and shelter in his field or vineyard (Isa 1:8 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). In AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] it is variously rendered booth, cottage, hut, pavilion, tabernacle, tent. The booth was also a convenient shelter for cattle (Gen 33:17) and for the army in the field (2Sa 11:11 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ).

A. R. S. Kennedy.

booth, booth: The Hebrew word ṣukkāh (rendered in the King James Version “booth” or “booths,” eleven times; “tabernacle” or “tabernacles,” ten times; “pavilion” or “pavilions,” five times; “cottage” once) means a hut made of wattled twigs or branches (Lev 23:42; Neh 8:15). In countries where trees are abundant such wattled structures are common as temporary buildings as they can be constructed in a very short time. Cattle were probably housed in them (Gen 33:17). Such hurriedly-made huts were use d by soldiers (2Sa 11:11; 1Ki 20:12) and by harvesters - hence, the name feast of “booths” or “tabernacles” (see TABERNACLES, FEAST OF). Job (Job 27:18) uses booth (parallel moth’s house) as a symbol of impermanence. Similar huts were erected in vineyards, etc., to protect them from robbers and beasts of prey. The isolated condition of Jerusalem in the time of the prophet Isaiah is compared to a “booth in a vineyard” (Isa 18:1-7).

Lev 23:42 (c) This may be taken as a type of the transient character of our lives here on earth in order to remind us that we are pilgrims and strangers.