4636. skénos

Lexical Summary

skénos: Tent, Tabernacle, Dwelling

Original Word: σκῆνος
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: skénos
Pronunciation: SKAY-nos
Phonetic Spelling: (skay'-nos)
KJV: tabernacle
NASB: tent
Word Origin: [from G4633 (σκηνή - tabernacle)]

1. a hut or temporary residence
2. (figuratively) the human body (as the abode of the spirit)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

tabernacle.

From skene; a hut or temporary residence, i.e. (figuratively) the human body (as the abode of the spirit) -- tabernacle.

see GREEK skene

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
from skéné
Definition
a tent, fig. for the body
NASB Translation
tent (2).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon

STRONGS NT 4636: σκῆνος

σκῆνος, σκήνους, τό (Hippocrates, Plato, others), a tabernacle, a tent, everywhere (except Boeckh, Corpus inscriptions vol. ii., no. 3071) used metaphorically, of the human body, in which the soul dwells as in a tent, and which is taken down at death: 2 Corinthians 5:4; ἡ ἐπίγειος ἡμῶν οἰκία τοῦ σκήνους, i. e. ho esti τό σκῆνος (Winers Grammar, § 59, 7 d., 8 a.), which is the well-known tent, ibid. 1 (R. V. the earthly house of our tabernacle). Cf. Wis. 9:15 and Grimm at the passage; in the same sense in (Plato) Tim. Locr., p. 100ff and often in other philosophic writings; cf. Fischer, Index to Aeschines dial. Socrates; Passow, under the word; (Field, Otium Norv. pars iii., p. 113 (on 2 Corinthians 5:1)).

Topical Lexicon

Root imagery and biblical narrative

The term evokes the picture of a portable tent—light, impermanent, and easily dismantled. Throughout Scripture tents signify pilgrimage (Genesis 12:8), covenant gatherings (Exodus 33:7–11), and divine presence among a journeying people (Leviticus 23:42–43). The imagery anticipates both vulnerability and hope: life lived between promise given and promise fulfilled.

Pauline theology: the earthly tent and the heavenly dwelling

In 2 Corinthians 5:1, 4 the apostle employs the word to portray the human body: “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands”. The contrast is striking:
• “earthly tent” — a fragile domicile, susceptible to decay.
• “building from God” — a permanent, resurrection body crafted by the Creator.

Paul’s pastoral aim is assurance. Affliction, mortality, and persecution cannot nullify the covenant promise of a glorified body (Romans 8:23; Philippians 3:20–21). Believers groan, not in despair, but in longing for consummation.

Old Testament background and typology

The wilderness tabernacle prefigures this teaching (Exodus 25–40). Just as the tent of meeting signaled God’s presence yet pointed toward a more enduring temple, so the present body houses the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) while anticipating an everlasting habitation. The Feast of Tabernacles, celebrating God’s provision in temporary shelters, likewise foreshadows the day when “the dwelling place of God is with man” (Revelation 21:3).

Eschatological hope and resurrection

The imagery safeguards two truths:

1. Continuity — the same person who now occupies the earthly tent will inhabit the heavenly building; resurrection is not mere survival of the soul but transformation of the whole person (1 Corinthians 15:51–54).
2. Discontinuity — the resurrected body is of divine, not earthly, construction, free from corruption and fitted for eternal communion (2 Corinthians 4:16–18).

Pastoral and doctrinal implications

• Mortality is neither denied nor minimized; believers admit frailty while fixing eyes on unseen realities.
• Suffering takes on redemptive perspective; present “light and momentary affliction” prepares an “eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
• Stewardship of the body remains important, yet idolatry of physical health is exposed; the tent’s purpose is to serve until the Builder replaces it.

Historical interpretation in Church teaching

Early church fathers cited the passage to comfort martyrs, affirming that death releases them from the tent into the promised edifice. The Reformers appealed to it in controversies over purgatorial doctrine, emphasizing the immediacy of the believer’s hope in Christ. Modern evangelical theology likewise draws from this text to balance biblical realism about death with confident expectation of bodily resurrection.

Practical ministry applications

1. Funeral services: the metaphor offers language that honors the deceased body while proclaiming resurrection hope.
2. Counseling the sick: framing illness as tent-wear affirms dignity without masking hardship.
3. Mission motivation: awareness of temporal tents fuels urgency to proclaim the gospel before dismantling occurs (2 Corinthians 5:11, 20).

Affirmations for worship and discipleship

• “I confess my body is a tent, yet my Redeemer prepares a dwelling imperishable.”
• “I groan, but I do not lose heart; the tent’s decay signals the Architect’s nearness.”
• “I walk by faith, not by sight, trusting the promise of a house eternal in the heavens.”

Forms and Transliterations

σκηνει σκήνει σκηνους σκήνους skenei skēnei skḗnei skenous skēnous skḗnous

Englishman's Concordance

2 Corinthians 5:1 N-GNS
GRK: οἰκία τοῦ σκήνους καταλυθῇ οἰκοδομὴν
NAS: the earthly tent which is our house
KJV: house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved,
INT: house of the tabernacle be destroyed a building

2 Corinthians 5:4 N-DNS
GRK: ἐν τῷ σκήνει στενάζομεν βαρούμενοι
NAS: while we are in this tent, we groan,
KJV: in [this] tabernacle do groan,
INT: in the tabernacle we groan being burdened

Strong's Greek 4636
2 Occurrences

σκήνει — 1 Occ.
σκήνους — 1 Occ.