Acts 18:3 - "And because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked, for by trade they were tentmakers."

Because of the general use of tents by the Hebrews, the making of tents was an important industry. Both men and women were involved in this trade, and many of them worked in their own homes on homemade looms.

Although originally the tents were probably made of animal skins, it is likely that the early biblical patriarchs had ones made of a coarse cloth, such as is still used by Bedouins today. This cloth was made from black goat’s hair, which would shrink after a rain, stretching it tightly across the tent poles. We have the evidence from the New Testament that Paul, who came from Cilicia, was a tentmaker. And this black goat’s hair comes primarily from there. In fact, because of this it was given the name "cilicium" in Latin.

Starting with this black - or sometimes dark brown - material, weathering in the sun soon turned it into a golden brown, and the addition of new material then gave it a striped or stippled effect, which was not unpleasing. New tents were also added to the enclosure of clan encampments after weddings, and this practice gave rise to the "bridal canopy" which is still a part of the Jewish wedding ceremony.

Even after the Hebrews settled in Canaan, and began to live in houses in the villages, they still returned to live in tents during the summer harvest season. During this Feast of Tabernacles, the Jews erected tabernacles, or booths, upon the roofs of their homes or in the courtyard, in commemoration of the days when they dwelt in tents in the wilderness. For a whole week they lived out of doors in these booths. It is from these structures that the festival received its name.

Paul, of course, is the most famous tentmaker that we know. But, as our text reminds us, there were many of them, including Aquila and Priscilla, with whom he stayed while in Corinth. Today he would have been right at home working with our modern tentmakers (for those of us who enjoy camping and the great outdoors), those who work with canvas, and, perhaps, with leatherworkers.