Hebrew word · H5521
סֻכָּה
sukah
booth
A temporary shelter woven from branches and leaves. Its common notes are temporary, light, protective and humble.
Appears 31 times in 29 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) thicket, covert, booth
1a) thicket
1b) booth (rude or temporary shelter)
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
A temporary shelter woven from branches and leaves. It covers:
- the booths Israel lived in at the Feast of Booths (Leviticus 23:42–43)
- a watchman's hut in a vineyard or cucumber field (Isaiah 1:8; Job 27:18)
- shelters for cattle (Genesis 33:17, the origin of the place-name Succoth)
- soldiers' field shelters on campaign (2 Samuel 11:11; 1 Kings 20:12, 16)
- shade from heat (Jonah 4:5; Isaiah 4:6)
- in poetry, God's 'canopy' of cloud (Psalm 18:11).
Its common notes are temporary, light, protective and humble.
- Against the English
ESV and NASB 'booth' is accurate. NIV 'shelter' catches the function. BSB and WEB 'tent' is close, but a tent (Hebrew 'ohel) is cloth or skins, and a sukkah is branches. KJV 'tabernacle' comes through the Latin tabernaculum, which meant a hut or tent. Today the word suggests Moses' portable sanctuary (Hebrew mishkan) or a church building, and neither is meant. NLT 'house' gives the meaning (dynasty) but drops the image.
- How it drifted
The Latin Vulgate's tabernaculum gave KJV 'tabernacle'. In English that word narrowed to the wilderness sanctuary and later to churches and worship halls. So 'tabernacle of David' now sounds like a place of worship rather than a ruined hut.
- Used elsewhere in the period
- The Greek Septuagint uses skēnē (tent or dwelling), and Acts 15:16 follows it.
- Targum Jonathan, the ancient Aramaic paraphrase, interprets the phrase as 'the kingdom of the house of David that has fallen'.
- At Qumran, 4QFlorilegium (4Q174) reads the 'booth of David' as the messianic 'Branch of David' who will arise at the end. The Damascus Document (CD 7:15–16) applies a related 'booth' phrase from Amos 5:26 and 9:11 to the books of the Torah.
- In the Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 96b), the Messiah is called bar niflê, 'son of the fallen', from this verse.
- Jewish grace after meals during the Feast of Booths still prays: 'May the Merciful One raise up for us the fallen booth of David.'
- Range of meaning
A temporary shelter made of branches, leaves or matting. It could be a herdsman's pen or hut (Gen 33:17, where Jacob builds sukkot for his cattle and the place is named Succoth), a watchman's hut in a vineyard or cucumber field (Isa 1:8), soldiers' field shelters on campaign (2 Sam 11:11; 1 Kgs 20:12, 16), or a covert where animals lie in wait (Job 38:40). It also names the festival booths of Sukkot (Lev 23:42–43). Poets use it for God's protective covering (Ps 27:5; 31:20; Isa 4:6, where the sukkah is explicitly "for shade by day from the heat").
- Against the English
KJV, WEB and ESV say "booth." BSB, NASB and NIV say "shelter." Today "booth" suggests a market stall, a phone booth or a voting booth: something built, enclosed and put up by someone else. A sukkah was a quickly woven hut of cut branches that let light and air through and dried out within days.
- How it drifted
In 1611 "booth" did mean a temporary hut of boughs; it came into English from Norse. Since then it has narrowed to stalls and cubicles.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation) renders it skēnē, "tent/booth," and the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin) has umbraculum, "shade-shelter." Jerome's choice gets the purpose of the hut exactly right. The festival booths of Lev 23 are recalled in Neh 8:15–16, where the materials are olive, myrtle and palm branches. That is the kind of construction an ancient reader would picture.
- Range of meaning
A booth or thicket-shelter made of interwoven branches. It can be a field-watcher's shelter (Job 27:18), cattle shelters (Gen 33:17, which named Succoth), soldiers' field tents (2 Sam 11:11), the booths of the Festival of Booths (Lev 23:42), and poetically God's covering or pavilion (Ps 18:11; 31:20; Isa 4:6).
- Against the English
KJV says 'cottage'. In 1611 a cottage was a poor labourer's hut, but today it suggests a cosy cottage with a garden. BSB and WEB say 'shelter', ESV and YLT 'booth', and these are accurate.
- How it drifted
Over the 18th and 19th centuries 'cottage' moved upmarket to mean a charming small house or holiday home.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Job 27:18 is the closest parallel: the wicked man's house is 'like a booth (sukkâ) that a watchman (nōṣēr, the same root as nĕṣûrâ here) makes', meaning something temporary that will not last. The Greek translation (LXX) has skēnē, 'tent'.
Where it appears
Genesis · 1
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Genesis 33:17 סֻכֹּ֔ת shelters
but Jacob went on to Succoth, where he built a house for himself and shelters for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.
Leviticus · 4
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Leviticus 23:34 הַסֻּכּ֛וֹת <the> booths
“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles to the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days.
Here: "The booths": temporary shelters roofed with leafy branches, like the huts harvesters put up in vineyards and orchards. Verses 40–43 explain that Israel lives in them for the week.
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Leviticus 23:42 בַּסֻּכֹּ֥ת בַּסֻּכֹּֽת׃ in <the> booths
You are to dwell in booths for seven days. All the native-born of Israel must dwell in booths,
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Leviticus 23:43 בַסֻּכּ֗וֹת in <the> booths
so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’”
Deuteronomy · 3
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Deuteronomy 16:13 הַסֻּכֹּ֛ת the booths
You are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress.
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Deuteronomy 16:16 הַסֻּכּ֑וֹת the booths
Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
Here: 'The Booths': rough shelters of branches, like the huts harvesters lived in at autumn grape and olive harvest. Leviticus 23:42–43 links them to Israel's wilderness journey.
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Deuteronomy 31:10 הַסֻּכּֽוֹת׃ the booths
Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of remission of debt, during the Feast of Tabernacles,
2 Samuel · 2
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2 Samuel 11:11 בַּסֻּכּ֗וֹת in <the> booths
Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!”
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2 Samuel 22:12 סֻכּ֑וֹת shelters
He made darkness a canopy around Him, a gathering of water and thick clouds.
1 Kings · 2
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1 Kings 20:12 בַּסֻּכּ֑וֹת in the booths
Ben-hadad received this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they stationed themselves against the city.
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1 Kings 20:16 בַּסֻּכּ֗וֹת in the booths
They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.
2 Chronicles · 1
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2 Chronicles 8:13 הַסֻּכּֽוֹת׃ <the> booths
He observed the daily requirement for offerings according to the commandment of Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons, and the three annual appointed feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
Ezra · 1
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Ezra 3:4 הַסֻּכּ֖וֹת <the> booths
They also celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles in accordance with what is written, and they offered burnt offerings daily based on the number prescribed for each day.
Nehemiah · 5
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Nehemiah 8:14 בַּסֻּכּ֛וֹת in <the> booths
And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,
Here: "In the booths": rough shelters woven from branches, like a farmer's hut in the field or a watchman's shelter. The festival takes its name from them (Sukkot), and v.15 describes how they were built.
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Nehemiah 8:15 סֻכֹּ֖ת booths
and that they should proclaim this message and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem, saying, “Go out to the hill country and bring back branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
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Nehemiah 8:16 סֻכּ֜וֹת booths
And the people went out, brought back branches, and made booths on their own rooftops, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God, and in the squares by the Water Gate and by the Gate of Ephraim.
Here: Rough huts of cut foliage. It is the same word that names the festival, so building one was the festival's defining act.
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Nehemiah 8:17 סֻכּוֹת֮ בַסֻּכּוֹת֒ booths, in the booths
The whole assembly that had returned from exile made booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated like this. And there was great rejoicing.
Job · 3
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Job 27:18 וּ֝כְסֻכָּ֗ה and like a shelter
The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman.
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Job 36:29 סֻכָּתֽוֹ׃ pavilion his
Furthermore, who can understand how the clouds spread out, how the thunder roars from His pavilion?
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Job 38:40 בַסֻּכָּ֣ה in <the> thicket
when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in the thicket?
Here: 'In the thicket / leafy cover.' The word means any shelter woven from branches. For a lion, that is the dense brush it hides in. It is the same word as the booths of the Feast of Booths (Sukkot).
Psalms · 2
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Psalm 18:11 סֻכָּת֑וֹ canopy his
He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him.
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Psalm 31:20 בְּסֻכָּ֗ה in a shelter
You hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the schemes of men. You conceal them in Your shelter from accusing tongues.
Here: "In a booth." This is a covered shelter made of branches or matting, the kind used by watchmen, soldiers in the field and pilgrims at the Feast of Booths. It gives shade and cover. The Hebrew has no "your," though the shelter is clearly God's.
Isaiah · 2
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Isaiah 1:8 כְּסֻכָּ֣ה like a shelter
And the Daughter of Zion is abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a shack in a cucumber field, like a city besieged.
Here: A shelter put together from branches and leaves. Farmers put one up in the vineyard so a watcher could guard the grapes at harvest. It was flimsy and seasonal, and once the harvest was in it was left to fall apart.
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Isaiah 4:6 וְסֻכָּ֛ה and a shelter
a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and the rain.
Amos · 1
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Amos 9:11 סֻכַּ֥ת [the] booth of
“In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
Here: A booth or hut made of branches, the kind built in a vineyard or at the Feast of Booths. Calling David's royal house a 'booth' is deliberately humble. The once-great house has shrunk to a flimsy shack.
Jonah · 1
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Jonah 4:5 סֻכָּ֗ה a shelter
Then Jonah left the city and sat down east of it, where he made himself a shelter and sat in its shade to see what would happen to the city.
Here: A rough, temporary hut woven from branches and leaves. It gave partial shade at best, and its leaves would wither in the heat. That helps explain why God supplies the plant in the next verse.
Zechariah · 3
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Zechariah 14:16 הַסֻּכּֽוֹת׃ <the> Tabernacles
Then all the survivors from the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD of Hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
Here: 'The booths': temporary huts made of branches, which Israelites lived in for the seven days of the autumn feast (Lev 23:42–43). These are leafy shelters, not the tent-sanctuary.
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Zechariah 14:18 הַסֻּכּֽוֹת׃ <the> Tabernacles
And if the people of Egypt will not go up and enter in, then the rain will not fall on them; this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
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Zechariah 14:19 הַסֻּכּֽוֹת׃ <the> Tabernacles
This will be the punishment of Egypt and of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.