BOOTH

booth, booth: The Hebrew word cukkah (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 ,FEAST OF ). 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).

T. Lewis

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.