📖 Biblical Definition
Hebrew ohel, tent, the basic OT term for the patriarchal tent dwelling and, in the Mosaic period and after, the great 'Ohel Mo'ed (tent of meeting) where the LORD met Moses and Israel during the wilderness generation. The term carries weighty theological freight: the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in tents as sojourners in the promised land (Hebrews 11:9, By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise); the LORD's own dwelling among His people in the wilderness was a tent, indicating His condescending willingness to dwell among His pilgrim people in their condition (2 Samuel 7:6-7); the temple-as-permanent-house replaced the tent at Solomon's accomplishment but did not abolish the typology. In the NT, the Lord Jesus Christ tabernacled among us (John 1:14, Greek eskenosen, literally pitched His tent), explicitly recalling the OT tent-typology. The believer's body is called a tent in 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 (the earthly tabernacle to be dissolved, with the eternal building from God awaiting). The patriarchal-Reformed reader recovers ohel as the OT shadow of two great realities: the LORD's gracious condescension to dwell among His pilgrim people, and the believer's pilgrim sojourn through this present world toward the eternal city whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Hebrew ohel (H168), tent / tabernacle / dwelling; patriarchal tent; 'Ohel Mo'ed (tent of meeting); Christ tabernacled (John 1:14); believer's body as tent (2 Corinthians 5).
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OHEL, Hebrew noun (H168; tent, tabernacle, dwelling) Basic OT term for the patriarchal tent and the Mosaic 'Ohel Mo'ed (tent of meeting). Patriarchs lived in tents as sojourners (Hebrews 11:9). The LORD's wilderness-dwelling was a tent, indicating His condescending willingness to dwell among His pilgrim people (2 Samuel 7:6-7). Temple replaced tent at Solomon's accomplishment but did not abolish the typology. NT: the Lord Jesus Christ tabernacled among us (John 1:14, Greek eskenosen, pitched His tent). Believer's body as tent: 2 Corinthians 5:1-4.
📖 Key Scripture
John 1:14 — "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
Hebrews 11:9-10 — "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
2 Samuel 7:6-7 — "Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel..."
2 Corinthians 5:1 — "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition. The principal contemporary mishandling is the loss of the tent-typology in popular evangelical preaching, where the rich biblical shadow is rarely traced.
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Ohel as a Hebrew term does not undergo lexical corruption. The principal contemporary mishandling is the loss of the tent-typology in popular evangelical preaching, where the rich biblical shadow is rarely traced. The patriarchal-Reformed recovery is the deliberate tracing: from Abraham's tents in Canaan, to the wilderness Tabernacle, to Solomon's Temple, to the Lord Jesus Christ tabernacling in human flesh (John 1:14), to the believer's body as earthly tabernacle, to the heavenly Jerusalem with God Himself as the tabernacle of the redeemed (Revelation 21:3, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people). The whole biblical narrative is anchored in the LORD's dwelling progression from Eden, to tent, to temple, to Christ, to the new creation.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H168; tent / tabernacle / dwelling; patriarchal sojourn; Mosaic Tent of Meeting; Christ tabernacled; believer's body as tent.
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['Hebrew', 'H168', 'ohel', 'tent, tabernacle, dwelling']
['Hebrew', 'H4150', "mo'ed", "appointed time / meeting (in 'Ohel Mo'ed)"]
['Greek', 'G4633', 'skene', 'tent, tabernacle (Hebrews 8-9)']
Usage
"Ohel: tent / tabernacle; the LORD's wilderness dwelling among His people."
"Patriarchs sojourned in tents (Hebrews 11:9-10)."
"Christ tabernacled among us (John 1:14, eskenosen)."