Kedar's Tents
Preserved but no longer current.
This world. Kedar was a soa of Ishmael (Gen. xxv, 15), and was the ancestor of an important tribe of nomadic Arabs* T&e phrase means houses in the wilder- ness of this world, and comes from Ps. cxx, 5: **Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Kedar's Tents” mean?
This world. Kedar was a soa of Ishmael (Gen. xxv, 15), and was the ancestor of an important tribe of nomadic Arabs* T&e phrase means houses in the wilder- ness of this world, and comes from Ps. cxx, 5: **Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.
Is “Kedar's Tents” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.