Tent Encampments

TENT ENCAMPMENTS AND MANNER OF SETTING UP OF TENTS If the Bedouin Arabs live together as a tribe or a clan, as they often do, or if more than one family dwell with each other, then their tents are not pitched in a promiscuous cluster, but more likely in a large circle to make it possible for at least some of their flocks to be protected inside the circle. By the side of the sheik's tent stands a long spear as an emblem of his authority (cf. practice of King Saul in I Samuel 26:7). His tent is generally larger than the others.6 The Bible says that some of the sons of Ishmael lived in tent villages or encampments (Genesis 25:16). The number of tents that made up the encampment of Abraham must have been large, for in his warfare against the confederacy of kings that took Lot captive, it is stated that he used a band of three hundred eighteen trained soldiers born in his household (Genesis 14:14). The arrangement of his tents was doubtless much like that of the wealthier Bedouin Arabs of today. The main overhead portion of the Bedouin's tent is composed of one large awning which is held up by poles, and the ends of the tent cloth are drawn out by cords which are tied to pegs and driven into the ground.7 It was one of these tent pins that Jael used in killing Sisera (Judges 4:21). [Manners And Customs of Bible Lands]

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