Home/Topics/Tents

What the Bible Says About Tents

Overview

The Bible addresses tents across 40 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Genesis, Judges and 1 Samuel. Closely related themes include Philistines, Abraham, Trees and Woman. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Isaac, Abraham, Lot and Jacob.

Key Bible verses about tents

Old Testament

Genesis

Genesis 4:20

And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.

Genesis 13:5

And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

Genesis 13:10

And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

Genesis 13:12

Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Genesis 18:1

And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

Genesis 18:4

Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

Genesis 24:67

And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.

Genesis 25:27

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.

Genesis 26:17

And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

Genesis 26:18

And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

Genesis 31:33

And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maidservants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.

Judges

1 Samuel

Isaiah

Isaiah 13:20

It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.

Isaiah 38:12

Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. with: or, from the thrum

Isaiah 40:22

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: It is: or, Him that

Isaiah 54:2

Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

People in the Bible and tents

Biblical figures whose stories intersect with this theme.

In the Bible dictionary

Studying tents for yourself

  • Begin with Genesis 4:20, then read the passages below in canonical order.
  • Compare how Genesis, Judges and 1 Samuel each treat the theme.
  • Consider the lives of Isaac, Abraham and Lot and how their stories intersect with it.
  • Widen the study to related themes: Philistines, Abraham, Trees and Woman.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Bible say about tents?

The Bible addresses tents across 40 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Genesis, Judges and 1 Samuel. Closely related themes include Philistines, Abraham, Trees and Woman. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Isaac, Abraham, Lot and Jacob.

How many Bible verses are about tents?

The Bible references tents in 40 verses (King James Version).

Where does the Bible first mention tents?

In canonical order, the first of these passages is Genesis 4:20: “And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.”

Which people in the Bible are associated with tents?

Isaac, Abraham, Lot, Jacob and Jabal.

Preach & teach

Outline a sermon or build a study series on tents.

Preach a series on Tents