Skēnē (G4633) means tent, tabernacle, booth, temporary dwelling. It is used both for ordinary tents (as in nomadic life) and for the sacred Tabernacle of Israel. It appears approximately 20 times in the New Testament. The verb skēnoō (G4637, 'to dwell in a tent, tabernacle') appears in the climactic statement of John 1:14. The Feast of Tabernacles (Skēnopēgia) — the joyful harvest celebration commemorating Israel's wilderness wandering — is a key liturgical backdrop to several NT passages.
The theology of skēnē runs from Exodus to Revelation. God dwelt among Israel in the wilderness Tabernacle — an 'ohel (H168) — and the LXX consistently translates this as skēnē. The Tabernacle was not a permanent residence but a mobile, provisional dwelling — God on the move with his pilgrims.
John 1:14 uses the verb: the Word 'tabernacled' (eskēnōsen) among us. Jesus was the living Tabernacle — the place where heaven and earth met, where the divine glory dwelt. Hebrews elaborates: Jesus is the high priest of the 'true tent' (alēthinēs skēnēs) set up by God rather than man (8:2). The Revelation vision completes the arc: 'Behold, the tabernacle (skēnē) of God is with men, and he will dwell with them' (21:3). The temporary wilderness tent becomes the eternal presence — God dwelling with his people forever, not provisionally but permanently.