H5521 — סֻכָּה (sukkah)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H5521
Original: סֻכָּה
Transliteration: sukkah (çukkâh)
Pronunciation: sook-kaw
Part of Speech: Feminine noun
Root: H5520 סֹךְ (sok) — a thicket, hut, lair (masculine form)
Occurrences: 29 unique verses (34 tokens) in 14 books
First Occurrence: Gen 33:17 — "Jacob...made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Feminine of H5520 (סֹךְ); a hut or lair: — booth, cottage, covert, pavilion, tabernacle, tent.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
tabernacles / feast of tabernacles	11	38%
booths / in booths	8	28%
pavilion(s) / in the pavilions	5	17%
tabernacle (singular)	3	10%
cottage	1	3%
covert	1	3%
tents	1	3%

Note: KJV phrase parsing splits compound expressions ("feast of tabernacles" → counted per phrase fragment).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Jonah	1	2.1
Zechariah	3	1.4
Nehemiah	4	1.0
Amos	1	0.7
Ezra	1	0.4
Leviticus	3	0.3
Deuteronomy	3	0.3
2 Samuel	2	0.3
Job	3	0.3
1 Kings	2	0.2
Isaiah	2	0.2
Genesis	1	0.1
2 Chronicles	1	0.1
Psalms	2	0.1

Concentration patterns: Nehemiah and Zechariah dominate in density — both connected to the post-exilic revival of the Feast of Tabernacles. Job uses the word 3x in diverse figurative settings. Absent from the Pentateuchal narrative core (only 4 occurrences across Genesis, Leviticus, Deuteronomy). Entirely absent from the prophetic corpus except Isaiah, Amos, and Zechariah.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) — Israel's Annual Festival¶

The commanded 7-day festival in which Israelites dwell in booths to remember the wilderness journey. This is the dominant usage context.

Lev 23:34 — "The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD"
Lev 23:42–43 — "Ye shall dwell in booths seven days...that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of Egypt"
Neh 8:16–17 — "The people...made themselves booths...all the congregation made booths and sat under the booths: for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun had not the children of Israel done so"
Zech 14:16 — "Every one that is left of all the nations...shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles"

2. Temporary Shelter — Booth or Hut¶

A simple, temporary constructed shelter for humans or animals; emphasizes the provisional, impermanent nature of the structure.

Gen 33:17 — "Jacob...built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth" (First occurrence; origin of the place name)
Jonah 4:5 — "Jonah...made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city"
Job 27:18 — "He buildeth his house as a moth, and as a booth that the keeper maketh" (Metaphor for the wicked man's fragile, temporary dwelling)

3. Royal / Military Pavilion¶

A tent encampment for kings or armies during battle or campaign.

1 Kgs 20:12 — "Benhadad heard this message...as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions"
1 Kgs 20:16 — "Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings"
2 Sam 11:11 — "Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields"

4. Divine Protective Shelter — God's Pavilion¶

Used metaphorically for God's sheltering, concealing presence — the place where God "hides" his people from danger.

Ps 18:11 — "He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies"
Ps 31:20 — "Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence...thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues"
Isa 4:6 — "And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain"

5. Symbol of Frailty or Desolation¶

A sukkah as a figure for something abandoned, collapsing, or fallen — the opposite of a secure dwelling.

Isa 1:8 — "The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city" (Jerusalem like an abandoned harvest hut)
Amos 9:11 — "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen" (The Davidic kingdom as a collapsed booth — awaiting restoration)
Job 38:40 — "When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait" (Animal lair/ambush hide)

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
חַג (chag)	H2282	10x (34%)	"feast of tabernacles" — festival name formula
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	9x (31%)	"made booths" — construction of festival shelters
יוֹם (yom)	H3117	7x (24%)	"seven days" — festival duration
יָשַׁב (yashab)	H3427	7x (24%)	"dwell/sit in booths" — the commanded act of residing in sukkot
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	6x (21%)	"feast of the LORD" — divine command framing
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Israel)	H3478	6x (21%)	festival commanded specifically to Israel
כֹּל (kol)	H3605	6x (21%)	"all the congregation" — corporate observance
עִיר (ir)	H5892	4x (14%)	proclaiming the feast through cities (Neh 8:15)
עָלָה (alah)	H5927	4x (14%)	"go up" — pilgrimage language
שֶׁבַע (sheva)	H7651	4x (14%)	"seven" — the festival's 7-day duration

Word Family / Cognates¶

H5520 סֹךְ (sok) — root noun (masculine): a thicket, lair, covert; the parent word from which sukkah is derived. 4x in OT (Ps 10:9; 27:5; 31:21; 76:3). More often refers to a natural concealment (animal den, undergrowth) while sukkah refers to a constructed shelter.
H5523 סֻכּוֹת (Sukkoth) — proper name (plural of sukkah): "Booths"; the place Jacob named after building sukkot (Gen 33:17); also a wilderness camp site (Num 33:5–6). Named directly from this word.

Synonyms¶

בַּיִת (H1004)
אֹהֶל (H168)
מָלֹון (H4411)

Antonyms¶

No antonyms returned by search_relationships.py.

Semantic Domains¶

[001002009009] Tents — Other words: אֹהֶל (H168), אֹהֶל (H169), אַפֶּדֶן (H643), דֹּור (H1755), דֹּור (H1756), וָו (H2053)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared KJV Translation	Key Difference
אֹהֶל (ohel)	H168	tent, tabernacle	ohel = general tent/dwelling; sukkah = specifically a temporary booth or hut; ohel can describe permanent-feeling tents, sukkah always emphasizes temporariness
מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan)	H4908	tabernacle	mishkan = the formal portable sanctuary (Tabernacle of the congregation); sukkah = any simple hut or booth; mishkan has sacred/dwelling connotations, sukkah is mundane
סֹךְ (sok)	H5520	pavilion, covert, tabernacle	sok is the masculine root, often referring to a natural thicket or den; sukkah is the feminine/constructed booth; both can describe shelter, but sok emphasizes cover/concealment

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
σκηνοπηγία (skenopēgia)	G4634	5x	9.61	"Feast of Tabernacles/Booth-Pitching"; compound skēnē + pēgnymi; John 7:2
σκηνή (skēnē)	G4633	20x	5.58	Primary rendering; "tent/tabernacle"; the main LXX bridge word
ἑορτή (heortē)	G1859	10x	6.56	"feast/festival"; used when the festival context is primary
ἑορτάζω (heortazō)	G1858	3x	7.29	"to keep a feast"; related verbal form

Primary bridge: G4633 σκηνή with 20 co-occurrences carries the sense of "tent/booth/tabernacle" into Greek. G4634 σκηνοπηγία (not in all lexicons as standalone entry) is the specific compound word used for the Feast of Tabernacles in post-biblical Greek.