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Exodus 36:14–19 — The Eleven Curtains of Goat Hair. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The construction of the outer covering of goats’ hair follows, and is expressed in terms nearly identical with those used in Exodus 26:7-11 .

Ellicott names the command-and-execution doublet that governs this whole unit: chapter 26 commands, chapter 36 records the doing.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

the verbs עשׂה in Exodus 36:8 , ויחבּר in Exodus 36:10 , etc., are in the third person singular with an indefinite subject, corresponding to the German man (the French on).

The grammatical key to every "he made" in the unit — the Hebrew leaves the maker unnamed.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

For the outward covering of the tabernacle.

Trimmed of Poole's opening "i. e."; the excerpt is a contiguous substring of his note. Poole reads the goat-hair layer functionally — protection, not ornament.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

it is all along said "he" did this and the other; either referring to Moses, by whose orders they were done, or to Bezaleel, the chief director of the work, or to each and everyone of the artificers severally concerned.

Gill names the candidates for the unit's first unnamed "he made" — the very indefinite subject Keil & Delitzsch identify grammatically. The text declines to choose; so does the synthesis.

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He then made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven curtains in all.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·ya·‘aś yə·rî·‘ōṯ ‘iz·zîm lə·’ō·hel ‘al- ham·miš·kān ‘aš·tê- ‘eś·rêh yə·rî·‘ōṯ ‘ā·śāh ’ō·ṯām

Word by word11 · parsed

וַיַּ֙עַשׂ֙way·ya·‘aśHe then madeH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

Qal consecutive imperfect of ‘âsâh (H6213), "to do or make" — the workshop verb that drums through this whole unit (vv. 14, 17, 18, 19). The Hebrew supplies no subject; the agent (Bezalel, the artisans, or "one") is inferred. The deliberate echo of God's own making in Genesis 1 — the craftsmen making a dwelling for the One who made all — is a resonance the chapter invites but does not state.

יְרִיעֹ֣תyə·rî·‘ōṯcurtainsH3407

√ yᵉrîyʻâh — a hanging (as tremulous)Nounfeminine plural construct

yᵉrîyʻâh (H3407), "curtain" — root sense "a hanging, as tremulous," something that shakes in the wind. The unit's keyword: it recurs across the eleven goat-hair curtains exactly as it did for the ten linen ones.

עִזִּ֔ים‘iz·zîmof goat hairH5795

√ ʻêz — a she-goat (as strong), but masculine in plural (which also is used elliptically for goat's hair)Nounfeminine plural

‘êz (H5795), "she-goat" — strength-named (the lexicon: "a she-goat, as strong"). The coarse, dark goat-hair tent is the second of four layers; humble material over the embroidered cherubim-linen within.

לְאֹ֖הֶלlə·’ō·helfor the tentH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Preposition-lNounmasculine singular

ʼôhel (H168), "tent" — named, the lexicon says, "as clearly conspicuous from a distance." Note the careful distinction the chapter keeps: the goat-hair layer is the tent (ʼôhel) over the dwelling (mishkân) — covering versus structure.

עַל־‘al-overH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

‘al (H5921), "over, upon" — a downward-aspect preposition; the tent comes down over the dwelling.

הַמִּשְׁכָּ֑ןham·miš·kānthe tabernacleH4908

√ mishkân — a residence (including a shepherd's hut, the lair of animals, figuratively, the graveArticleNounmasculine singular

mishkân (H4908), "dwelling-place," from the root shakan, "to settle, abide." This is the architectural heart of the unit's theology: not merely a tent but the place of God's settled presence. Matthew Henry draws the line to the Word who "did tabernacle among us" (John 1:14).

עַשְׁתֵּֽי־‘aš·tê-elevenH6249

√ ʻashtêy — eleven or (ordinal) eleventhNumbercommon singular construct

‘ashtêy (H6249), the construct half of "eleven" — an old idiom ("perhaps from H6238 and H6240") that survives in only eighteen verses; pairs with ‘eś·rêh below.

עֶשְׂרֵ֥ה‘eś·rêh. . .H6240

√ ʻâsâr — ten (only in combination), iNumberfeminine singular

‘âsâr (H6240), "ten" in combination — supplies the "-teen" of eleven. The eleventh curtain is the surplus that will be doubled over at the tent's front (Exodus 26:9), a detail this execution-account compresses.

יְרִיעֹ֖תyə·rî·‘ōṯcurtainsH3407

√ yᵉrîyʻâh — a hanging (as tremulous)Nounfeminine plural

עָשָׂ֥ה‘ā·śāhin allH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

‘âsâh (H6213) again, here Qal perfect — "he made them" — bracketing the verse with the making-verb that opened it.

אֹתָֽם׃’ō·ṯāmH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine plural

ʼêth (H853) with masculine-plural suffix, the direct-object marker — "them," the eleven curtains. A function word; it merely points to the object.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And he made curtains of-goat[s] for-a-tent over the-dwelling-place; eleven curtains he-made them.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיַּ֙עַשׂ֙ BSB's He then made turns the bare wayyiqtol way·ya·‘aś ("and he made," H6213) into a smooth narrative beat. The Hebrew has no named subject at all — Keil & Delitzsch note this verb is "in the third person singular with an indefinite subject," closer to the German man or French on. "He" is the translator's supplied agent, not the text's.
עִזִּ֔ים ‘iz·zîm (H5795) is simply "goats" — the noun for the animal, feminine plural. "Goat hair" is the correct sense (the curtains were woven of the hair), but the original names the beast, not the fiber; the material is left elliptical, as the lexicon itself flags ("used elliptically for goat's hair").
הַמִּשְׁכָּ֑ן BSB "the tabernacle" renders ham·miš·kān (H4908), literally "the dwelling-place" — the place where one resides. The same root covers a shepherd's hut or a lair. "Tabernacle" (from Latin tabernaculum, "tent") is technically accurate but loses the root idea of indwelling that the Hebrew presses.
עַשְׁתֵּֽי־עֶשְׂרֵ֥ה The number is two words, ‘aš·tê ‘eś·rêh (H6249 + H6240), an archaic and relatively rare way to say "eleven" (the form appears in only 18 verses). The smooth English "eleven" gives no sign that this is the deliberately odd count — one more than the ten linen curtains beneath.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size.

The Geneva note here is the Geneva rendering of the verse itself — preserving "one curtain," the singular the BSB distributes as "each."

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

the exactness with which they performed it, and the faithfulness with which they objected to receive more contributions, are worthy of our imitation.

Henry's "exactness" is the moral reading of these dimension-verses: uniform measure as a form of faithfulness.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

Preparation of the dwelling-place: viz., the hangings and covering ( Exodus 36:8-19 , as in Exodus 26:1-14 )

Locates this verse within the larger structural unit (36:8–19) that mirrors 26:1–14.

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Each of the eleven curtains was the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hā·’e·ḥāṯ hay·rî·‘āh lə·‘aš·tê ‘eś·rêh yə·rî·‘ōṯ ’a·ḥaṯ mid·dāh hā·’a·ḥaṯ hay·rî·‘āh šə·lō·šîm bā·’am·māh ’ō·reḵ wə·’ar·ba‘ ’am·mō·wṯ rō·ḥaḇ

Word by word15 · parsed

הָאֶחָ֑תhā·’e·ḥāṯEachH259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iArticleNumberfeminine singular

ʼechâd (H259), "one" — here "the one curtain," the singular pattern from which the uniform set is reckoned. The same word will close v. 18 ("as a unit"), bracketing the section with oneness.

הַיְרִיעָ֣הhay·rî·‘āhH3407

√ yᵉrîyʻâh — a hanging (as tremulous)ArticleNounfeminine singular

לְעַשְׁתֵּ֥יlə·‘aš·têof the elevenH6249

√ ʻashtêy — eleven or (ordinal) eleventhPreposition-lNumbercommon singular construct

עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה‘eś·rêh. . .H6240

√ ʻâsâr — ten (only in combination), iNumberfeminine singular

יְרִיעֹֽת׃yə·rî·‘ōṯcurtainsH3407

√ yᵉrîyʻâh — a hanging (as tremulous)Nounfeminine plural

אַחַ֔ת’a·ḥaṯwas the sameH259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iNumberfeminine singular

ʼechâd again — "one" measure. The repetition (the one curtain / one measure) presses exactness: every panel identical.

מִדָּ֣הmid·dāhsizeH4060

√ middâh — properly, extension, iNounfeminine singular

middâh (H4060), "measure" — the precision-word. The artisans' faithfulness, Matthew Henry observes, lay partly in "the exactness with which they performed" the work; here that exactness is dimensioned.

הָאַחַ֗תhā·’a·ḥaṯH259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iArticleNumberfeminine singular

הַיְרִיעָ֣הhay·rî·‘āhH3407

√ yᵉrîyʻâh — a hanging (as tremulous)ArticleNounfeminine singular

שְׁלֹשִׁים֙šə·lō·šîmthirtyH7970

√ shᵉlôwshîym — thirtyNumbercommon plural

shᵉlôwshîym (H7970), "thirty" — the length of the goat-hair curtain, two cubits longer than the linen (Exodus 26:2, twenty-eight), so the dark covering overhangs the bright one.

בָּֽאַמָּ֔הbā·’am·māhcubitsH520

√ ʼammâh — properly, a mother (iPreposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

אֹ֜רֶךְ’ō·reḵlongH753

√ ʼôrek — lengthNounmasculine singular construct

ʼôrek (H753), "length," masculine construct — a bare measurement noun.

וְאַרְבַּ֣עwə·’ar·ba‘and fourH702

√ ʼarbaʻ — fourConjunctive wawNumberfeminine singular

ʼarbaʻ (H702), "four" — the width in cubits, matching the linen curtains exactly; only the length differs.

אַמּ֔וֹת’am·mō·wṯcubitsH520

√ ʼammâh — properly, a mother (iNounfeminine plural

רֹ֖חַבrō·ḥaḇwideH7341

√ rôchab — width (literally or figuratively)Nounmasculine singular construct

rôchab (H7341), "width," the lexicon adds, "literally or figuratively." Here strictly literal.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

The-one curtain [was] thirty by-the-cubit [in] length, and four cubits [in] breadth: one measure [for] the-eleven curtains.

Where the English smooths the original

הָאֶחָ֑ת BSB "Each" flattens hā·’e·ḥāṯ (H259), "the one" — the word ʼechâd, whose root sense is "united, one." The text reasons from a single representative curtain ("the one curtain was thirty cubits") outward to the set; English "each" distributes what Hebrew states singularly.
מִדָּ֣ה mid·dāh (H4060), "measure, extension," stands behind BSB's "size." The phrase is literally "one measure for the eleven" — uniformity expressed as a noun of measurement, not the adjectival "the same size."
בָּֽאַמָּ֔ה The cubit is ’am·māh (H520), whose root, the lexicon notes, is "properly, a mother" — the forearm as the "mother" of measure. BSB's plain "cubits" loses the somatic image: the standard is a body part, the human arm made the ruler of the sanctuary.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.

"Coupled" catches the Piel of châbar better than BSB's "joined into one set"; "by themselves" preserves the lə·ḇāḏ ("apart") that BSB smooths.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

Where have we the representation of God's love towards us, that we by love dwell in him and he in us, save in Emmanuel?

Henry reads the joining of the dwelling as a figure of mutual indwelling — the curtains' union answering to "we in him and he in us."

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

it is all along said "he" did this and the other; either referring to Moses, by whose orders they were done, or to Bezaleel, the chief director of the work, or to each and everyone of the artificers severally concerned.

Gill canvasses the candidates for the unnamed "he" — the same indefinite subject Keil & Delitzsch flag grammatically.

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He joined five of the curtains into one set and the other six into another.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·ḥab·bêr ’eṯ- ḥă·mêš hay·rî·‘ōṯ lə·ḇāḏ wə·’eṯ- hay·rî·‘ōṯ šêš lə·ḇāḏ

Word by word9 · parsed

וַיְחַבֵּ֛רway·ḥab·bêrHe joinedH2266

√ châbar — to join (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

châbar (H2266), Piel consecutive imperfect — "he coupled." The unit's binding-verb; what is divided into two sets here will be made "one" (v. 18) by clasps. Henry's note on the tabernacle as the figure of God's love "that we by love dwell in him and he in us" hovers over this language of joining.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

חֲמֵ֥שׁḥă·mêšfiveH2568

√ châmêsh — fiveNumberfeminine singular construct

châmêsh (H2568), "five" — the first set of curtains, coupled by-itself.

הַיְרִיעֹ֖תhay·rî·‘ōṯof the curtainsH3407

√ yᵉrîyʻâh — a hanging (as tremulous)ArticleNounfeminine plural

לְבָ֑דlə·ḇāḏinto one setH905

√ bad — properly, separationPreposition-lNounmasculine singular

bad (H905), "separation, apart" — "by themselves." Function word, but theologically charged here: the parts are apart precisely so they can be joined.

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

הַיְרִיעֹ֖תhay·rî·‘ōṯand the otherH3407

√ yᵉrîyʻâh — a hanging (as tremulous)ArticleNounfeminine plural

שֵׁ֥שׁšêšsixH8337

√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Numberfeminine singular construct

shêsh (H8337), "six" — the larger set; the asymmetry (5 + 6) distinguishes the goat-hair tent from the linen dwelling (5 + 5, Exodus 26:9).

לְבָֽד׃lə·ḇāḏinto anotherH905

√ bad — properly, separationPreposition-lNounmasculine singular

bad (H905) again — the second "by themselves," closing the verse on division before v. 17–18 supply the means of union.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And he joined five of-the-curtains by-themselves, and six of-the-curtains by-themselves.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיְחַבֵּ֛ר way·ḥab·bêr (H2266, châbar, "to join") is in the Piel stem — intensive, "he coupled, bound together" — not a casual "joined." The same root reappears as the purpose-infinitive in v. 18 ("to join the tent"), framing the loops-and-clasps work as a single act of binding-into-one.
לְבָ֑ד BSB "into one set" renders lə·ḇāḏ (H905, bad), whose root is "separation" — literally "by itself, apart." The irony is exact: the verse joins the curtains yet describes each group as standing "apart" (5 apart, 6 apart). The two sets are bound, yet remain two until the clasps unite them in v. 18.
שֵׁ֥שׁ šêš (H8337), "six," the lexicon notes, is reckoned "as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand" — five plus one. The split is uneven by design: five plus six, not five plus five, because the goat-hair tent has eleven panels, one more than the ten beneath.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

"Uttermost edge" renders the qîytsôwn ("outermost"); "which coupleth" catches the chôbereth seam-noun.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

As these have all been already explained, the only thing remaining to be noticed here is, that the verbs עשׂה in Exodus 36:8 , ויחבּר in Exodus 36:10 , etc., are in the third person singular with an indefinite subject

Keil & Delitzsch decline to re-explain the loops, having treated them at chapter 26 — itself a witness to the deliberate command-execution repetition.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

only an account of the making of the tabernacle, its curtains, coverings, boards, sockets, and bars, the vail for the most holy place, and the hangings for the tabernacle, exactly as they are ordered to be made

Gill's "exactly as they are ordered to be made" states the unit's governing logic: execution matching command point for point.

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He made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in the first set, and fifty loops along the edge of the corresponding curtain in the second set.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·ya·‘aś ḥă·miš·šîm lu·lā·’ōṯ ‘al śə·p̄aṯ haq·qî·ṣō·nāh hay·rî·‘āh bam·maḥ·bā·reṯ wa·ḥă·miš·šîm lu·lā·’ōṯ ‘ā·śāh ‘al- śə·p̄aṯ hay·rî·‘āh haš·šê·nîṯ ha·ḥō·ḇe·reṯ

Word by word16 · parsed

וַיַּ֜עַשׂway·ya·‘aśHe madeH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

חֲמִשִּׁ֗יםḥă·miš·šîmfiftyH2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

chămishshîym (H2572), "fifty" — fifty loops on each edge, matched fifty-for-fifty so every loop has its partner; the same fifty recurs as the fifty clasps of v. 18.

לֻֽלָאֹ֣תlu·lā·’ōṯloopsH3924

√ lulâʼâh — a loopNounfeminine plural

lulâʼâh (H3924), "loop" — rare (7 vv), a sanctuary-only word. The loops are the receptive element; they do nothing until the clasps fill them.

עַ֚ל‘alalongH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

שְׂפַ֣תśə·p̄aṯthe edgeH8193

√ sâphâh — the lip (as a natural boundary)Nounfeminine singular construct

sâphâh (H8193), "lip, edge" — the boundary of the curtain. The loops sit on the very margin so the two sets can meet.

הַקִּיצֹנָ֖הhaq·qî·ṣō·nāhof the endH7020

√ qîytsôwn — terminalArticleAdjectivefeminine singular

qîytsôwn (H7020), "outermost, terminal" — the edge-panel; its loops face the corresponding edge of the other set.

הַיְרִיעָ֔הhay·rî·‘āhcurtainH3407

√ yᵉrîyʻâh — a hanging (as tremulous)ArticleNounfeminine singular

בַּמַּחְבָּ֑רֶתbam·maḥ·bā·reṯin the first setH4225

√ machbereth — a junction, iPreposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

machbereth (H4225), "the coupling, junction" — from châbar; the place where the five-curtain set is coupled. The word names the seam itself.

וַחֲמִשִּׁ֣יםwa·ḥă·miš·šîmand fiftyH2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyConjunctive wawNumbercommon plural

לֻלָאֹ֗תlu·lā·’ōṯloopsH3924

√ lulâʼâh — a loopNounfeminine plural

עָשָׂה֙‘ā·śāh. . .H6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

עַל־‘al-alongH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

שְׂפַ֣תśə·p̄aṯthe edgeH8193

√ sâphâh — the lip (as a natural boundary)Nounfeminine singular construct

הַיְרִיעָ֔הhay·rî·‘āhof the corresponding curtainH3407

√ yᵉrîyʻâh — a hanging (as tremulous)ArticleNounfeminine singular

הַשֵּׁנִֽית׃haš·šê·nîṯin the secondH8145

√ shênîy — properly, double, iArticleNumberordinal feminine singular

shênîy (H8145), "second" — root sense "double"; the second of the two sets, whose loops mirror the first's.

הַחֹבֶ֖רֶתha·ḥō·ḇe·reṯsetH2279

√ chôbereth — a jointArticleNounfeminine singular

chôbereth (H2279), "the joining, joint" — another châbar-derivative; the participial seam answering machbereth above. The verse stacks three joining-words around a work of edges and loops.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-made fifty loops upon the-lip of-the-outermost curtain in-the-coupling, and fifty loops he-made upon the-lip of-the-curtain of-the-second joining.

Where the English smooths the original

לֻֽלָאֹ֣ת lu·lā·’ōṯ (H3924, lulâʼâh), "loops" — a rare word, occurring in only seven verses, all in the tabernacle texts. These are the loop-eyes the clasps will pass through; the term is a technical hapax-cluster confined to the sanctuary, which BSB's everyday "loops" cannot signal.
שְׂפַ֣ת śə·p̄aṯ (H8193, sâphâh) is literally "the lip" — "the lip, as a natural boundary." BSB "the edge" is right in sense but loses the bodily metaphor: the curtain's border is its "lip," the same word used for the human mouth and for a riverbank.
הַקִּיצֹנָ֖ה BSB "of the end" renders haq·qî·ṣō·nāh (H7020, qîytsôwn), "terminal, outermost" — the panel at the far edge of the set, where it meets the next. A precise architectural adjective compressed to "end."

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

And he made fifty taches of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one.

"That it might be one" preserves the climactic ʼechâd; "taches" is the archaic English for the qereç clasps.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

This was the design of the tabernacle of witness, a visible testimony of the love of God to the race of men

Henry's "visible testimony" reading suits the joining-into-one: the assembled dwelling as a sign of God's purpose to dwell with man.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

either referring to Moses, by whose orders they were done, or to Bezaleel, the chief director of the work, or to each and everyone of the artificers severally concerned.

Gill's threefold guess at the unnamed maker — the same indefinite "he" Keil & Delitzsch identify grammatically.

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He also made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together as a unit.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·ya·‘aś ḥă·miš·šîm nə·ḥō·šeṯ qar·sê hā·’ō·hel lih·yōṯ lə·ḥab·bêr ’eṯ- ’e·ḥāḏ

Word by word9 · parsed

וַיַּ֛עַשׂway·ya·‘aśHe also madeH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

‘âsâh (H6213) — "he made," the unit's recurring workshop verb, now applied to the clasps.

חֲמִשִּׁ֑יםḥă·miš·šîmfiftyH2572

√ chămishshîym — fiftyNumbercommon plural

chămishshîym (H2572), "fifty" — fifty clasps for fifty-and-fifty loops; the count is exact, each loop filled.

נְחֹ֖שֶׁתnə·ḥō·šeṯbronzeH5178

√ nᵉchôsheth — copper, hence, something made of that metal, iNounfeminine singular

nᵉchôsheth (H5178), "copper/bronze" — the metal of the outer tent's fastenings, deliberately baser than the gold within (Exodus 26:6, 11).

קַרְסֵ֥יqar·sêclaspsH7165

√ qereç — a knob or belaying-pin (from its swelling form)Nounmasculine plural construct

qereç (H7165), "clasp, hook" — rare (7 vv), sanctuary-only; the active element that fills the passive loops and makes two sets one.

הָאֹ֖הֶלhā·’ō·helto join the tentH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)ArticleNounmasculine singular

לִֽהְיֹ֥תlih·yōṯ. . .H1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iPreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

לְחַבֵּ֥רlə·ḥab·bêrtogetherH2266

√ châbar — to join (literally or figuratively)Preposition-lVerbPielInfinitive construct

châbar (H2266), Piel infinitive construct, "to join" — the purpose of the clasps. The same root as v. 16's coupling; the binding begun there is completed here.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

אֶחָֽד׃’e·ḥāḏas a unitH259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iNumbermasculine singular

ʼechâd (H259), "one" — the goal-word of the whole assembly. Henry's reading of the tabernacle as the figure of mutual indwelling finds its sharpest token here: the manifold made one. The resonance with Christ's prayer "that they may be one" (John 17) is a connection the text invites typologically, not by quotation.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-made fifty clasps of-bronze to-join the-tent, to-be one.

Where the English smooths the original

קַרְסֵ֥י qar·sê (H7165, qereç), "clasps" — like the loops, a rare term (7 verses, all tabernacle). The lexicon: "a knob or belaying-pin, from its swelling form." These bronze hooks pass through the fifty loops and bind the two sets; the rarity marks them as purpose-built sanctuary hardware.
נְחֹ֖שֶׁת nə·ḥō·šeṯ (H5178) is properly "copper" — "copper, hence something made of that metal." BSB "bronze" follows the common rendering, but the Hebrew names the base metal; the goat-hair tent's clasps are humble copper, where the inner linen used gold clasps (Exodus 26:6).
אֶחָֽד׃ The verse ends on ’e·ḥāḏ (H259), "one" — "that it might be one." BSB "as a unit" is accurate but abstract; the bare word is the great oneness-term ʼechâd, the same root that opened the section (v. 15, "the one curtain"). The many panels become, by the clasps, literally one.

Additionally, he made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of fine leather.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·ya·‘aś lā·’ō·hel miḵ·seh ’ê·lîm ‘ō·rōṯ mə·’ād·dā·mîm mil·mā·‘ə·lāh ū·miḵ·sêh ‘ō·rōṯ tə·ḥā·šîm

Word by word10 · parsed

וַיַּ֤עַשׂway·ya·‘aśAdditionally, he madeH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

‘âsâh (H6213) — the making-verb a final time, closing the unit as it opened (v. 14).

לָאֹ֔הֶלlā·’ō·helfor the tentH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Preposition-l, ArticleNounmasculine singular

מִכְסֶה֙miḵ·seha coveringH4372

√ mikçeh — a covering, iNounmasculine singular

mikçeh (H4372), "covering" — the third and fourth layers; rare (12 vv), and specific to these protective skins over the goat-hair tent.

אֵלִ֖ים’ê·lîmof ramH352

√ ʼayil — properly, strengthNounmasculine plural

ʼayil (H352), "ram" — root sense "strength." The third layer is rams' skins, reddened.

עֹרֹ֥ת‘ō·rōṯskinsH5785

√ ʻôwr — skin (as naked)Nounmasculine plural construct

‘ôwr (H5785), "skin" — "skin, as naked"; the animal hide itself, the material of the two outermost coverings.

מְאָדָּמִ֑יםmə·’ād·dā·mîmdyed redH119

√ ʼâdam — flush or turn rosyVerbPualParticiplemasculine plural

ʼâdam (H119), Pual participle "reddened" — the verbal root for redness is rare (only 10 verses), and it is the same root that names ʼadam (man, made of the red ʼadamah, the ground) and gives Edom its name (Genesis 25:30). The Pual is passive: the skins have been made red, the color worked upon them. The blood-red ram-skins have long drawn Christological reading; that this red layer lay hidden beneath the outermost taḥash, unseen by any worshipper, is a figure the church has not let pass unnoticed — though the redemptive weight is figural inference, not the bare grammar (see the Christ section).

מִלְמָֽעְלָה׃סmil·mā·‘ə·lāhand over thatH4605

√ maʻal — properly, the upper part, used only adverbially with prefix upward, above, overhead, from the top, etcPreposition-m, Preposition-lAdverbthird person feminine singular

maʻal (H4605), "above, overhead" — the topmost position; the taḥash-skins crown the whole stack of four layers.

וּמִכְסֵ֛הū·miḵ·sêha coveringH4372

√ mikçeh — a covering, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

עֹרֹ֥ת‘ō·rōṯvvvH5785

√ ʻôwr — skin (as naked)Nounmasculine plural construct

תְּחָשִׁ֖יםtə·ḥā·šîmof fine leatherH8476

√ tachash — a (clean) animal with fur, probably a species of antelopeNounmasculine plural

tachash (H8476), the uncertain animal — "probably a species of antelope" (Strong's); "dugong" (Cambridge). The outermost, weather-facing layer; its very name resists us.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-made for-the-tent a-covering of-rams' skins reddened, and-a-covering of-skins of-taḥash above.

Where the English smooths the original

מְאָדָּמִ֑ים BSB "dyed red" renders mə·’ād·dā·mîm (H119, ʼâdam), a Pual participle — "made-red, reddened." The root ʼâdam ("to flush, turn rosy") is the same root behind ʼadam (man) and ʼadamah (ground). The rams' skins are "reddened"; whether by dye or by the natural blood-red of tanning, the word names the color-change, not necessarily a dye-process.
תְּחָשִׁ֖ים tə·ḥā·šîm (H8476, tachash) is the unit's true crux. BSB "fine leather" is a guess; the lexicon offers "probably a species of antelope." The Cambridge Bible reads "dugong / sealskins." The word is genuinely uncertain — no two traditions agree — and any English rendering is an interpretive choice, not a translation of a known animal.
מִכְסֶה֙ miḵ·seh (H4372, mikçeh), "a covering" — the precise word for these two outer layers (it occurs in only 12 verses). It is distinct from the inner curtains (yᵉrîyʻâh): these are not woven panels but protective coverings, the weatherproof roof over the whole.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The unnamed maker and the doubled book — 36:14–19

This unit is the second half of a deliberate diptych. Everything here was first commanded in Exodus 26:7–14; now it is done. Ellicott (1878) states it plainly: the goat-hair covering "is expressed in terms nearly identical with those used in Exodus 26:7-11," and v. 19 "corresponds exactly to Exodus 26:14." The Verifier confirms the verbal overlap mechanically — 36:14 and 26:7 share the rare lexemes ‘ashtêy ("eleven," H6249, 18 vv), yᵉrîyʻâh ("curtain," H3407, 32 vv), and ‘êz ("goat," H5795); 36:19 and 26:14 share tachash (H8476), mikçeh ("covering," H4372), and the reddening verb ʼâdam (H119). That Scripture spends a second full account re-saying the first is itself the point: obedience is narrated with the same care as command. And throughout, as Keil & Delitzsch (1860s) observe, the verbs "are in the third person singular with an indefinite subject, corresponding to the German man." The maker is unnamed. Gill (1746–63) lists the candidates — "Moses... or Bezaleel... or each and everyone of the artificers" — but the grammar keeps the spotlight off the worker and on the work.

ii. Measure, loop, and clasp — the many made one — 36:15–18

The middle verses are a study in exactness and union. "The one curtain was thirty cubits... one measure for the eleven" (v. 15): uniformity stated through the noun middâh (H4060, "measure") and the oneness-word ʼechâd (H259). Matthew Henry (1706) reads this craftsmanship morally — "the exactness with which they performed it... worthy of our imitation." Then comes the binding. He "coupled" (Piel of châbar, H2266) five curtains "by themselves" and six "by themselves" — and the Hebrew word for "by themselves," bad (H905), literally means "apart." The parts are joined yet still apart, until v. 17–18 supply the means: fifty loops (lulâʼâh, H3924, a word in only 7 verses) filled by fifty clasps (qereç, H7165, also 7 verses) of copper, "to join the tent, to be one." The Verifier splits the link cleanly along the two operations: 36:17↔26:10 is verbal on the loop-words chôbereth (3 vv), qîytsôwn (4 vv), and lulâʼâh (7 vv), while 36:18↔26:11 is verbal on the clasp-words qereç (7 vv) and châbar (24 vv). Henry hears in all this joining the figure of indwelling love, "that we by love dwell in him and he in us, save in Emmanuel."

iii. The reddened skins and the unknown beast — 36:19

The unit ends with two outer coverings (mikçeh, H4372) laid over the goat-hair tent: rams' skins reddened (ʼâdam, H119, a Pual participle) and, above them, skins of taḥash (H8476). Geneva (1599) notes the stacking — "these two were above the covering of goat's hair." But the taḥash defeats certainty: Strong's offers "probably a species of antelope," the Cambridge Bible (1880s) reads "dugong skins," and the BSB ventures "fine leather." Three serious traditions, three different animals. The honest record is that the outermost, weather-facing layer of God's dwelling is named by a word we can no longer translate with confidence — a fitting hiddenness for the layer no worshipper ever saw from within.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Under Sola Scriptura, read this passage as the Bible's own theology of obedience: God's command in chapter 26 and Israel's doing in chapter 36 are narrated with equal, near-identical care, so that the text dignifies execution as much as instruction — the dwelling is built exactly as it was spoken. And read the architecture as a parable of unity from multiplicity: eleven separate panels, fifty loops, fifty clasps, all so that the tent might "be one" (ʼechâd, v. 18). The repeated oneness-word, bracketing the section from "the one curtain" (v. 15) to "that it might be one" (v. 18), is the verse's own claim — many made one for the sake of a single dwelling-place (mishkân) where the One God would settle. This is the tool's fallible synthesis, offered to be tested against the text, not added to it.

Fifty loops, fifty clasps, eleven panels — counted, coupled, and clasped until the many were one. (A fallible reading, not Scripture.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The command and its doing: the goat-hair tent verbal / quotation — confirmed

Exodus 36:14 executes the instruction given in Exodus 26:7. The two verses share the rare numeral ‘ashtêy ("eleven," H6249, in 18 vv), the keyword yᵉrîyʻâh ("curtain," H3407, in 32 vv), and ‘êz ("goat," H5795), along with mishkân and ‘âsâr. This is not a quotation of one text by another but the priestly doublet of command (ch. 26) fulfilled in execution (ch. 36) — the same hand, the same words, deliberately re-said.

Exodus 26:7 · Exodus 26:8

basis: Verifier-computed shared lexemes incl. rare H6249 ʻashtêy (18 vv), H3407 yᵉrîyʻâh (32 vv), H5795 ʻêz (74 vv); nature is command→execution doublet within Exodus, not citation

Loops, clasps, and the joining into one verbal / quotation — confirmed

Exodus 36:17–18 fulfils Exodus 26:10–11, and the Verifier shows the link cleaves precisely along the two operations. The loops verse (36:17↔26:10) shares some of the rarest vocabulary in the Torah — chôbereth ("joint," H2279, in only 3 vv), qîytsôwn ("outermost," H7020, 4 vv), and lulâʼâh ("loop," H3924, 7 vv). The clasps verse (36:18↔26:11) shares qereç ("clasp," H7165, 7 vv) and the binding verb châbar (H2266, 24 vv). The shared rare vocabulary makes the verbal link secure; both passages describe the identical mechanism by which the two sets of curtains are bound "to be one" — though, as throughout this unit, the relationship is command→execution within one document, not one text citing another.

Exodus 26:10 · Exodus 26:11

basis: Verifier-computed: 36:17↔26:10 share rare H2279 chôbereth (3 vv) + H7020 qîytsôwn (4 vv) + H3924 lulâʼâh (7 vv); 36:18↔26:11 share rare H7165 qereç (7 vv) + H2266 châbar (24 vv). Command→execution doublet within Exodus, not citation

The two outer coverings: reddened rams' skins and taḥash verbal / quotation — confirmed

Exodus 36:19 corresponds exactly, as Ellicott notes, to Exodus 26:14. They share the disputed animal-name tachash (H8476, in 14 vv), the covering-word mikçeh (H4372, in 12 vv), and the reddening verb ʼâdam (H119, in only 10 vv) — three uncommon lexemes that lock the verbal parallel. The same triad recurs at Exodus 39:34, where the finished coverings are brought to Moses.

Exodus 26:14 · Exodus 39:34

basis: Verifier-computed rare shared lexemes H119 ʼâdam (10 vv), H4372 mikçeh (12 vv), H8476 tachash (14 vv); execution mirroring command (26:14) and gathered for inspection (39:34)

The Levites carry the dwelling and its curtains structural / thematic — confirmed

Numbers 4:25 assigns the Gershonites to carry "the curtains of the dwelling, the tent of meeting, its covering." It shares with this unit yᵉrîyʻâh (H3407), mishkân (H4908), and ʼôhel (H168) — but these are the common structural terms of the whole tabernacle corpus, with no rare lexeme. The link is the shared object (the same goat-hair tent now in transit), a thematic and structural connection, not a quotation. It is, however, a real one: the very curtains here woven are later the Gershonites' charge, so this fabrication-account and that travel-account describe one and the same object across the wilderness years.

Numbers 4:25

basis: Verifier-computed shared lexemes H3407 yᵉrîyʻâh (32 vv), H4908 mishkân (129 vv), H168 ʼôhel (315 vv) — all common; same tent as object, no rare lexeme, so thematic not verbal

The reddened ram and the ram of Moriah structural / thematic — confirmed

The third covering of God's dwelling is rams' skins reddened (v. 19). The only other place the same animal-noun ʼayil ("ram," H352) carries this weight of substitution is Genesis 22:13, where "Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns," and offered it "in place of his son." The Verifier rates the link structural, not verbal — ʼayil is a common word (170 vv) and the verbal overlap is the single noun "ram" — so the connection is thematic, and the deeper reading (the slain ram providing a blood-red covering over the place of meeting) is figural, the church's typology, not a lexeme-driven claim. Recorded here as a motif worth tracing, with the substitution-reading marked as figural inference below.

Genesis 22:13

basis: Verifier-computed single shared lexeme H352 ʼayil ("ram," 170 vv) — common, so thematic not verbal; the substitutionary-ram typology is figural (see Christ section), not asserted from the lexeme

The Word who tabernacled among us typological

John 1:14 — "the Word became flesh and dwelt (eskēnōsen, 'tabernacled') among us" — is a Greek text; the Verifier finds no shared original-language lexeme with this unit (Greek↔Hebrew cannot share a Strong's number), so the link cannot be verbal and any connection must be argued, not asserted. The argument is old and strong: the Septuagint regularly renders mishkân (H4908) and its verb shakan ("to settle, dwell") with the skēnē / skēnoō family John deliberately echoes, so the apostle's word-choice reaches back over the tabernacle. Matthew Henry draws the line within this unit's own sources: the dwelling-place prefigures Christ "taking up his abode on earth... wherein, as the original expresses it, he did tabernacle among us." This is a figural reading on the dwelling motif, not a shared-lexeme verbal link.

John 1:14

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): Verifier returns no shared Strong's lexeme — figural only. Link rests on the LXX skēnē/skēnoō rendering of mishkân/shakan, echoed by John and drawn explicitly by Matthew Henry in this unit's sources — ancient/widely-held, never verbal

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The dwelling that became flesh ancient/widely-held

The whole sanctuary is the mishkân, the "dwelling-place" (H4908) where God settles among His people. The New Testament takes up the figure directly: John says the Word "dwelt (tabernacled) among us" (1:14), and Matthew Henry reads the Exodus tabernacle as exactly this anticipation — "this love was shown by Christ's taking up his abode on earth; by the Word being made flesh... he did tabernacle among us." The dark goat-hair tent, plain on the outside, housing glory within, is an apt figure of the incarnate Word: no form that we should desire him, yet the fullness of God dwelling bodily. This reading is ancient and widely held.

John 1:14 · Exodus 36:14 · Exodus 36:18

The reddened covering hidden above novel

Over the goat-hair tent lay rams' skins reddened (ʼâdam, H119) — a blood-red layer that no worshipper standing inside ever saw, since the taḥash-skins crowned it above. The church has long read the red ram-skins, sharing the very animal-noun ʼayil ("ram," H352) with the ram caught for Isaac (Genesis 22:13) and offered "in place of his son," as a figure of the substitutionary, blood-bought covering of Christ: the protection over God's dwelling is the color of sacrifice. The lexical tie to Moriah is only the common word "ram" (the Verifier rates it structural, not verbal), so the substitution-typology is figural, not lexeme-driven. The further reading — that the costliest layer is the hidden one, seen by God before it is understood by man — is the tool's own inference, offered to be tested, not asserted as the text's plain sense.

Exodus 36:19 · Genesis 22:13

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)

This unit is an execution-account: every verse re-tells, in near-identical Hebrew, a command from Exodus 26. The in-Exodus threads carry the Verifier's verbal tier on rare shared lexemes (‘ashtêy, chôbereth, qîytsôwn, qereç, lulâʼâh, tachash, mikçeh, ʼâdam are all low-frequency), but the reader should understand the relationship as command→execution within one document, not one book quoting another — the same author, deliberately re-saying. The loops/clasps thread has been corrected to match the Verifier exactly: the rare loop-vocabulary (chôbereth, qîytsôwn, lulâʼâh) links 36:17↔26:10, while the rare clasp-vocabulary (qereç, châbar) links 36:18↔26:11; an earlier draft had merged the two basis sets. The agent of every "he made" is grammatically indefinite (Keil & Delitzsch); we have not resolved it to Bezalel where the text refuses to.

One genuine textual uncertainty is recorded rather than hidden: taḥash (H8476, v. 19) has no agreed meaning — Strong's "antelope," Cambridge "dugong/sealskin," BSB "fine leather." The literal rendering leaves it transliterated. The cross-Testament thread to John 1:14 and both Christ readings are explicitly figural: the Verifier returns no shared Strong's lexeme for the Greek↔Hebrew pair, so no verbal tier is possible and none is claimed; the John 1:14 link rests on the LXX skēnē/skēnoō rendering of mishkân and is drawn by Matthew Henry in this unit's own sources (ancient/widely-held). The reddened-skins / Moriah-ram reading is marked novel, its substitution-typology and hidden-above inference both flagged as the tool's own figural reading rather than lexical fact. Two of the harvested voices — Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (whose note treats v. 5, the restrained giving, not these verses) and Barnes ("See the notes to Exodus 26") — carry no comment on vv. 14–19 and are honestly omitted rather than padded in.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)