Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT ausisp.com>]

In reference to the word I used - pavilion - I was trying to tie in the 
suggestion that
what existed at Shiloh was not a building with foundations, but rather a 
tent, as in the
tent of meeting a la Exodus. My point was that the structure of the _heykal_ 
(whether
fixed edifice or not) has nothing really to do with the idea behind the word 
_heykal_.

Yes, the word _bayit_ means 'house', but that is the most common Hebrew word 
used to refer
to a temple. Behind it is the understanding that a temple is the residence of 
a deity -
where a deity lives and/or has their address. As has already been said, the 
word _heykal_
does become more common in Late Biblical Hebrew. The idea behind _heykal_, 
however, is of
spacious, or luxurious interior.


Best regards,

GEORGE ATHAS
(Sydney, Australia)