mishkan · dwelling

What it means

mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “dwelling”.

The holy tent where God dwelt in the midst of Israel. It comes from the verb "dwell". Also any dwelling place.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. The holy tent where YHWH lived among Israel.
2. The house or place where someone lives.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Dwelling: a place where one lives; above all, the holy tent where YHWH dwelt in the midst of Israel. BDB: a residence (including a shepherd's hut, a lair, a grave, the temple); specifically, the Tabernacle. It comes from שָׁכַן, “to dwell”.

• The pattern of the dwelling Exodus 25:9
• The glory of YHWH filled the dwelling Exodus 40:34
• The Levites in charge of the dwelling Numbers 1:50
• “How beloved {are} your dwellings” Psalms 84:1Psalms 26:8
• “Moving about in a tent and in a dwelling” 2 Samuel 7:6

Historical and cultural background

Exodus 25:8-9 joins the word to its verb: “they shall make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst”, and goes on to speak of “the pattern of the dwelling”.

How we translate it

“Dwelling” 119 times, “dwellings” 20. This edition's glossary sets מִשְׁכָּן / אֹהֶל = “dwelling / tent” and never uses “tabernacle”; so the English shows its kinship with שָׁכַן, “dwell”.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• dwelling ×119
• dwellings ×20

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Exodus×58
• Leviticus×4
• Numbers×42
• Joshua×2
• 2 Samuel×1
• 1 Chronicles×6
• 2 Chronicles×2
• Job×3
• Psalms×11
• Song of Songs×1
• Isaiah×3
• Jeremiah×3
• Ezekiel×2
• Habakkuk×1

• Exodus 25:9

  According to all that I am showing you, the pattern of the dwelling and the pattern of all its furnishings, so you shall make it.

• Exodus 26:1

  The dwelling you shall make of ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; with cherubim, the work of a skilled craftsman, you shall make them.

• Exodus 26:6

  You shall make fifty clasps of gold and join the curtains one to another with the clasps, so that the dwelling shall be one whole.

• Exodus 26:7

  You shall make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the dwelling; you shall make eleven curtains.

• Exodus 26:12

  As for the overhang that remains in the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains shall hang over the back of the dwelling.

• Exodus 26:13

  And the cubit on this side and the cubit on that side, of what remains in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the dwelling on this side and on that side to cover it.

• Exodus 26:15

  You shall make the boards for the dwelling of acacia wood, standing upright.

• Exodus 26:17

  Two tenons shall be for each board, fitted one to another; so you shall do for all the boards of the dwelling.

• Exodus 26:18

  You shall make the boards for the dwelling: twenty boards for the southern side, toward the south.

• Exodus 26:20

  And for the second side of the dwelling, on the north side, twenty boards,

• Exodus 26:22

  For the rear of the dwelling, westward, you shall make six boards.

• Exodus 26:23

  And two boards you shall make for the corners of the dwelling at the rear.

• Exodus 26:26

  You shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the dwelling,

• Exodus 26:27

  and five bars for the boards of the second side of the dwelling, and five bars for the boards of the side of the dwelling at the rear, westward.

• Exodus 26:30

  Then you shall set up the dwelling according to its plan that you were shown on the mountain.

• Exodus 26:35

  You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the south side of the dwelling; and the table you shall put on the north side.

• Exodus 27:9

  You shall make the courtyard of the dwelling. For the southern side, toward the south, the courtyard shall have hangings of fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits long for the one side,

• Exodus 27:19

  All the utensils of the dwelling for all its service, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the courtyard, shall be of bronze.

• Exodus 35:11

  the dwelling, its tent and its covering, its clasps and its boards, its bars, its pillars and its bases;

• Exodus 35:15

  and the altar of incense and its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen of the entrance for the entrance of the dwelling;

• Exodus 35:18

  the pegs of the dwelling and the pegs of the courtyard and their cords;

• Exodus 36:8

  And all the wise of heart among those who did the work made the dwelling with ten curtains of twisted fine linen and blue and purple and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of a skilled craftsman, he made them.

• Exodus 36:13

  And he made fifty clasps of gold and joined the curtains, one to another, with the clasps, so that the dwelling became one.

• Exodus 36:14

  And he made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the dwelling; eleven curtains he made them.

• Exodus 36:20

  And he made the boards for the dwelling of acacia wood, standing upright.

• Exodus 36:22

  Two tenons were for each board, joined one to another; so he made for all the boards of the dwelling.

• Exodus 36:23

  And he made the boards for the dwelling: twenty boards for the south side,

• Exodus 36:25

  And for the second side of the dwelling, on the north side, he made twenty boards,

• Exodus 36:27

  And for the rear of the dwelling westward he made six boards.

• Exodus 36:28

  And two boards he made for the corners of the dwelling at the rear.

• Exodus 36:31

  And he made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of the one side of the dwelling,

• Exodus 36:32

  and five bars for the boards of the second side of the dwelling, and five bars for the boards of the dwelling at the rear westward.

• Exodus 38:20

  And all the pegs for the dwelling and for the courtyard all around were of bronze.

• Exodus 38:21

  These are the accounts of the dwelling, the dwelling of the testimony, which were recorded by order of Moses, the service of the Levites, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

• Exodus 38:31

  and the bases of the courtyard all around, and the bases of the gate of the courtyard, and all the pegs of the dwelling, and all the pegs of the courtyard all around.

• Exodus 39:32

  So all the labor of the dwelling, the tent of meeting, was finished; and the sons of Israel did according to all that YHWH had commanded Moses; so they did.

• Exodus 39:33

  And they brought the dwelling to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its clasps, its boards, its bars, and its pillars, and its bases;

• Exodus 39:40

  the hangings of the courtyard, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the courtyard, its cords and its pegs, and all the utensils for the service of the dwelling, for the tent of meeting;

• Exodus 40:2

  “On the day of the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall set up the dwelling, the tent of meeting.

• Exodus 40:5

  And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and you shall put the screen of the entrance for the dwelling.

And 99 more times.