Pavilion

Pavilion translates several Hebrew words in Scripture denoting a tent, booth, canopy, or sheltered enclosure. The term appears both in literal military contexts and in figurative theological ones. In 1 Kings 20:12–16, Ben-hadad of Syria is found drinking with his allied kings in their pavilions — field tents or portable booths — while besieging Samaria, a detail that contributes to the narrative irony of his subsequent defeat.

The richest theological use of the image is in the Psalms, where God's pavilion becomes a metaphor for his protective presence and hidden shelter. Psalm 27:5 declares: In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion; in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. Psalm 18:11 describes God making darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him of dark waters and thick clouds. The pavilion thus evokes the divine glory concealed within the cloud of the tabernacle, where God's presence both reveals and hides itself — accessible to those he shelters, overwhelming to those who oppose him.