TR: mishkan → skene (Tabernacle/Dwelling)¶

The Chain¶

Hebrew OT              LXX (Greek OT)           Greek NT
───────────           ───────────────           ────────
מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan)  →  σκηνή (skene)        →  σκηνή (skene)
H4908, 129x in OT       LXX co-occ: 88x          20x in NT
"tabernacle/dwelling"    Primary equivalent        "tabernacle/tent"

OT Usage (Hebrew)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
H4908	מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan)	129	tabernacle, dwelling place, habitation
H7931	שָׁכַן (shakan)	123	root verb: to dwell, settle, abide

Key OT passages: - Exo 25:9 — "the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof" - Exo 40:34 — "the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle" - Lev 26:11 — "I will set my tabernacle among you" - Eze 37:27 — "My tabernacle also shall be with them"

Library: H4908-mishkan.md

LXX Bridge¶

Hebrew	Greek Translation	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
mishkan (H4908)	σκηνή (G4633)	88x	25.70	Primary equivalent (~68% of LXX renderings)
mishkan (H4908)	σκήνωμα (G4638)	17x	16.64	Extended/figurative dwelling sense
mishkan (H4908)	μαρτύριον (G3142)	25x	14.27	"tabernacle of testimony" phrases

Other Hebrew words also rendered as skene in the LXX:

Hebrew	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI	Notes
ohel (אֹהֶל)	H168	230x	30.99	Highest co-occurrence; ohel is the broader "tent" term
moed (מוֹעֵד)	H4150	138x	27.13	"ohel moed" (tent of meeting) rendered as skene
mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן)	H4908	88x	25.70	This word
cukkah (סֻכָּה)	H5521	20x	16.97	"booth" — merges with skene in LXX

Semantic continuity in translation: The LXX preserves the core meaning well. Both mishkan and skene denote a physical tent-structure that serves as a dwelling. The LXX does not distinguish between mishkan (the inner wooden-walled structure) and ohel (the outer tent covering) — both become skene. This merger simplifies the Hebrew architectural distinction but preserves the theological point: God's portable dwelling among his people.

NT Usage (Greek)¶

Strong's	Word	Occurrences	Primary Meaning
G4633	σκηνή (skene)	20	tent, tabernacle, dwelling
G4637	σκηνόω (skenoo)	5	to dwell in a tent, tabernacle
G4638	σκήνωμα (skenoma)	3	dwelling-place, encampment
G4636	σκῆνος (skenos)	2	tent (figurative: the body)

Key NT passages: - Heb 8:2 — "A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man" - Rev 21:3 — "the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them" (using skenoo) - John 1:14 — "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt (eskenosen) among us" (verbal form of skene) - Act 7:44 — "Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness"

Library: G4633-skene.md

Direct OT→NT Quotations¶

NT Verse	Quotes OT	Shared Word	Significance
Act 7:44	Exo 25:40	mishkan → skene	Stephen recounts the wilderness tabernacle built "according to the pattern"
Act 7:43	Amos 5:26	mishkan → skene	"tabernacle of Moloch" — idolatrous misuse of the dwelling concept
Heb 9:2-3	Exo 26 (passim)	mishkan → skene	"a tabernacle was prepared; the first, wherein was the candlestick"
Rev 21:3	Eze 37:27 / Lev 26:11	mishkan → skene	"the tabernacle of God is with men" — eschatological fulfillment

Continuity and Shifts¶

What stays the same across testaments: - The core concept of God's portable, accessible dwelling among his people persists from Exodus through Revelation - The skene word family in the NT consistently refers back to the wilderness tabernacle as its reference point - The association between divine presence and the tent-structure remains intact (cloud/glory in OT; incarnation/eschaton in NT)

What shifts: - In the OT, mishkan is overwhelmingly a concrete physical structure (90%+ of uses); in the NT, skene carries increasing figurative weight (the body as a tent in 2 Cor 5:1-4, using skenos) - The NT introduces the concept of a heavenly "true tabernacle" (Heb 8:2) of which the earthly mishkan was a copy — a typological layer not explicit in the Pentateuchal construction texts - John 1:14 uses the verbal form (eskenosen, "tabernacled") to describe the incarnation, extending the dwelling-concept from structure to person