Listening to Alex Kendrick’s story of the Kendrick Brothers’ Sherwood movies- Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous, and War Room- was inspiring. It was almost funny how many contractors have been receiving requests to enlarge or reconfigure closets to make space for prayer! Whatever it takes…..
“Closet” ……..the way it was translated from the Hebrew
(1) chuppah, and
(2) tameion, also tamieion.
Chuppah, derived from chaphah, “to cover,” was probably originally the name of the tent specially set apart for the bride, and later (Joel 2:16) used for the bride’s chamber. The word tameion, originally storeroom (compare Luke 12:24, the King James Version “storehouse”; the Revised Version (British and American) “storechamber”), but since for safety it was the inner rooms of the Hebrew house which were used for storage purposes, the word came to mean inner room, as in Matthew 6:6; Luke 12:3, in both the King James Version “closet” (compare Matthew 24:26, the King James Version “secret chamber”). In all cases the Revised Version (British and American) uses “inner chamber.”
My sense of the word is that it is a place where distractions are removed and where valued things are kept. Storehouse is probably more appropriate as the idea of having multiple garments requiring an actual room is a fairly recent phenomenon. Susannah Wesley, I once read, would pull her apron up over her head to shut out the distractions and pray. Hard to find a quiet place in a family of 18! It brings a humorous image to mind: Some older kid shushing a younger a kid saying, “Be quiet. Momma’s praying.”