Booth
Booth (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 (Ge 33:17); and such were the temporary green sheds in which the Israelites were directed to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Le 23:42-43). SEE SUCCOTH; SEE TABERNACLES, FEAST OF. 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.
