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 f…