UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament

Sense 1: dwelling

Semantic entry: 7.8

Semantic domains: Constructions

Subdomains: Buildings

Definition: a dwelling, with the implication of temporary duration

Notes: In RV ACT 7:46 · LV ACT 7:46 · Read together ACT 7:46 there is a complex textual problem in which the critical text has τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακώβ ‘the house of Jacob’ (but in the figurative sense of ‘people’), but the Byzantine text reads τῷ θεῷ Ἰακώβ ‘the God of Jacob.’ It is only with this latter form of the text that σκήνωμα would mean an actual construction or dwelling. If one adopts the form of the critical text, then σκήνωμα would point to ‘a place to dwell,’ in other words, an area or region (see 85.77: σκήνωμα).

Sense 2: dwelling place, temporary dwelling place

Semantic entry: 85.77

Semantic domains: Existence in Space

Subdomains: Dwell, Reside

Definition: (derivative of σκηνόω ‘to take up residence,’ 85.75: ἐπισκηνόω / 85.75: σκηνόω) a place where one may dwell, with the possible implication in certain contexts of something which is of temporary duration

Notes: An alternative reading of the expression σκήνωμα τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακώβ ‘dwelling place for the people of Jacob’ in RV ACT 7:46 · LV ACT 7:46 · Read together ACT 7:46 has θεῷ for οἴκῳ (see 7.8: σκήνωμα) and the consequent translation ‘a house for the God of Jacob.’|For another interpretation of σκήνωμα in RV PE2 1:14 · LV PE2 1:14 · Read together PE2 1:14, see 8.5: σκῆνος / 8.5: σκήνωμα.

Sense 3: body

Semantic entry: 8.5

Semantic domains: Body, Body Parts, and Body Products

Subdomains: Body

Definition: (figurative extension of meaning of σκήνωμα[a] ‘temporary dwelling,’ 7.8: σκήνωμα) temporary habitation in the human body

Notes: Only rarely can one preserve in translation the figurative meanings suggested by the terms σκῆνος and σκήνωμα. What is significant in such contexts is the temporary nature of the dwelling, and therefore the relatively brief time which the body is to serve the person who dwells in it. In some cases it may be relevant, therefore, to have a footnote to point out the temporal aspects of this figurative usage of σκῆνος and σκήνωμα[c] .|It is also possible to interpret σκήνωμα in RV PE2 1:14 · LV PE2 1:14 · Read together PE2 1:14 as meaning a temporary habitation, though referring, of course, to the human body (see 85.77: σκήνωμα).

Further resources: realia:3.2

Sense 4: to be alive

Semantic entry: 23.91

Semantic domains: Physiological Processes and States

Subdomains: Live, Die

Definition: (an idiom, literally: to be in a dwelling, see 7.8: σκήνωμα) to be alive, with special emphasis upon physical existence on earth

Notes: Most languages have rather generic expressions for ‘life’ or ‘to live,’ but sometimes there are idiomatic expressions which may readily fit the types of contexts illustrated by RV CO2 5:6 · LV CO2 5:6 · Read together CO2 5:6 and RV PE2 1:13 · LV PE2 1:13 · Read together PE2 1:13, for example, ‘to have strength,’ ‘to have one’s eyes,’ and ‘to walk about on the earth.’

Collocations: εἶναι ἐν σκηνώματι