Hebrew word · H5523

סֻכּוֹת

sukot

Succoth

In Hebrew it would mean 'booths, huts, shelters' (plural of sukkah). As an Egyptian place name it most likely represents Tjeku (ṯkw), the district and fortress of the Wadi Tumilat, the valley route east from the Delta toward the Sinai.

Appears 18 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Succoth = "booths"

the site where Jacob put up booths for his cattle and built a house for himself; apparently east of the Jordan near the ford of the torrent Jabbok and later allotted to the tribe of Gad

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

From the study of Exodus 12:37

Range of meaning

In Hebrew it would mean 'booths, huts, shelters' (plural of sukkah). As an Egyptian place name it most likely represents Tjeku (ṯkw), the district and fortress of the Wadi Tumilat, the valley route east from the Delta toward the Sinai.

Against the English

English 'Succoth' does not show the Hebrew wordplay 'Booths'. Nor does it show that the name probably goes back to an Egyptian one.

Used elsewhere in the period

Egyptian texts mention Tjeku as a frontier post. Papyrus Anastasi VI (late 13th century BCE) records Edomite herders being let through the fortress of Tjeku to the pools of Pithom. Tjeku is commonly placed at or near Tell el-Maskhuta. There is a different Succoth east of the Jordan in Gen 33:17. Later tradition linked the Feast of Booths (Sukkot) with Israel living in booths when God 'brought them out of the land of Egypt' (Lev 23:43).

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 33:17 סֻכֹּ֔תָה סֻכּֽוֹת׃ ס Succoth towards, Succoth

    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.

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 12:37 סֻכֹּ֑תָה Succoth towards

    The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth with about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children.

    Here: "To Succoth." The ending -ah means "toward". The name sounds like Hebrew for "booths, shelters", but it most likely renders an Egyptian district name, Tjeku.

  2. Exodus 13:20 מִסֻּכֹּ֑ת from Succoth

    They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness.

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 33:5 בְּסֻכֹּֽת׃ at Succoth

    The Israelites set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth.

  2. Numbers 33:6 מִסֻּכֹּ֑ת from Succoth

    They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 13:27 וְסֻכּ֣וֹת and Succoth

    and in the valley, Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, with the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon (the territory on the east side of the Jordan up to the edge of the Sea of Chinnereth).

    Here: 'Booths, shelters'. This is the place Jacob named after the shelters he built (Gen 33:17) and the town Gideon punished (Judg 8). It is often identified with Tell Deir ʿAlla near the Jabbok river.

Judges · 7

  1. Judges 8:5 סֻכּ֔וֹת Succoth

    So Gideon said to the men of Succoth, “Please give my troops some bread, for they are exhausted, and I am still pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.”

  2. Judges 8:6 סֻכּ֔וֹת Succoth

    But the leaders of Succoth asked, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your army?”

  3. Judges 8:8 סֻכּֽוֹת׃ Succoth

    From there he went up to Penuel and asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth.

  4. Judges 8:14 סֻכּ֖וֹת סֻכּוֹת֙ Succoth

    There he captured a young man of Succoth and interrogated him. The young man wrote down for him the names of the seventy-seven leaders and elders of Succoth.

  5. Judges 8:15 סֻכּ֔וֹת Succoth

    And Gideon went to the men of Succoth and said, “Here are Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your possession, that we should give bread to your weary men?’”

  6. Judges 8:16 סֻכּֽוֹת׃ Succoth

    Then he took the elders of the city, and using the thorns and briers of the wilderness, he disciplined the men of Succoth.

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 7:46 סֻכּ֖וֹת Succoth

    The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 4:17 סֻכּ֖וֹת Succoth

    The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zeredah.

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 60:6 סֻכּ֣וֹת Succoth

    God has spoken from His sanctuary: “I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem and apportion the Valley of Succoth.

    Here: A town east of the Jordan near the Jabbok river, where Jacob built booths (Gen 33:17). Together with Shechem it stands for Israel's land on both sides of the Jordan.

  2. Psalm 108:7 סֻכּ֣וֹת Succoth

    God has spoken from His sanctuary: “I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem and apportion the Valley of Succoth.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.