Booth

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A shelter, made usually of poles fixed upright in the ground, and covered over with green boughs, Genesis 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, Leviticus 23:40-42; Nehemiah 8:14 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Genesis 33:17Leviticus 23:42,43

Holman Bible Dictionary

Genesis 33:17Jonah 4:52 Samuel 11:111 Kings 20:16Isaiah 1:8Job 27:18Leviticus 23:40-43Nehemiah 8:15

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

BOOTH . The Heb. sukkâh (note Genesis 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 ( Isaiah 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 ( Genesis 33:17 ) and for the army in the field ( 2 Samuel 11:11 RV [Note: Revised Version.] ).

A. R. S. Kennedy.

King James Dictionary

BOOTH, n. Heb. beth, a house or booth, a nest for birds.

A house or shed built of boards, boughs of trees, or other slight materials, for a temporary residence.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Booth. Genesis 33:17. See Dwelling.

Webster's Dictionary

(1):

(n.) A covered stall or temporary structure in a fair or market, or at a polling place.

(2):

(n.) A house or shed built of boards, boughs, or other slight materials, for temporary occupation.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

Leviticus 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.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

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 (Leviticus 23:42; Nehemiah 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 (Genesis 33:17 ). Such hurriedly-made huts were use d by soldiers (2 Samuel 11:11; 1 Kings 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" (Isaiah 18:1-7 ).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

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 (Genesis 33:17); and such were the temporary green sheds in which the Israelites were directed to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 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.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(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 (Genesis 33:17); and such were the temporary green sheds in which the Israelites were directed to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:42-43). (See Succoth); (See Feast Of Tabernacles). 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).