Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BEAM

Eight Hebrew, one Aramaic, and two Greek words are translated variously as “beam,” “plank,” “timber,” “pillar,” “rafter,” and “board.” The most common occurrences of these terms in the OT are in the context of building construction, especially of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs. 6:6, 9, 36; 7:6). The roofs of most Israelite houses were constructed with support beams made of dressed or undressed wood and then finished with mud and plaster (Ezra 6:11; Hab. 2:11); no such roofs have survived to the present. In Ps. 104:3 God is said to have laid the beams for the upper rooms of his heavenly dwelling. “Beam” is used metaphorically for the large wooden bar of a weaver’s loom to describe the width of the spearhead of Israel’s enemies (1 Sam. 17:7; 2 Sam. 21:19; 1 Chr. 11:23).

In the NT, Jesus spoke of the beam or plank in the eye of the hypocrite (Matt. 7:3-5), and shipwrecked travelers were saved by taking hold of planks as they floated to shore (Acts 27:44).

Donald Fowler

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BEAM

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)