G4638 σκήνωμα (skḗnōma)

7.8 · Constructions · Buildings

dwelling a dwelling, with the implication of temporary duration In 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).

ACT 7:46

85.77 · Existence in Space · Dwell, Reside

dwelling place, temporary dwelling place (derivative of σκηνόω ‘to take up residence,’ 85.75) a place where one may dwell, with the possible implication in certain contexts of something which is of temporary duration An alternative reading of the expression σκήνωμα τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακώβ ‘dwelling place for the people of Jacob’ in ACT 7:46 has θεῷ for οἴκῳ (see 7.8) and the consequent translation ‘a house for the God of Jacob.’
For another interpretation of σκήνωμα in 2PE 1:14, see 8.5.

ACT 7:46 · 2PE 1:14

8.5 · Body, Body Parts, and Body Products · Body

body (figurative extension of meaning of σκήνωμα[a] ‘temporary dwelling,’ 7.8) temporary habitation in the human body 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 2PE 1:14 as meaning a temporary habitation, though referring, of course, to the human body (see 85.77).

2PE 1:13 · 2PE 1:14

23.91 · Physiological Processes and States · Live, Die

Collocation: εἶναι ἐν σκηνώματι

to be alive (an idiom, literally: to be in a dwelling, see 7.8) to be alive, with special emphasis upon physical existence on earth 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 2CO 5:6 and 2PE 1:13, for example, ‘to have strength,’ ‘to have one’s eyes,’ and ‘to walk about on the earth.’

2PE 1:13