What Does Exodus 27:9 Mean?
And you shall make the enclosure of the dwelling. On the south edge, southward, there shall be hangings for the enclosure of fine twisted linen, one hundred forearms long along that edge.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And thou shalt make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:THE KEY
The sanctuary’s boundary is woven from joined strands: sacred space takes shape through a measured edge.
THE MEANING
The dwelling place has a deliberate, measured court, with a hundred cubits of twisted linen along its southern side. Its boundary joins many strands into one continuous hanging, giving the space a visible shape.
THE ROOT
מָשְׁזָר
mashzar
GROWS FROM
שזר
shazar
To twist or ply strands together.
“fine twisted linen” in this verse is mashzar. The fabric is not merely linen with a decorative finish: its name carries the act of strands being twisted together. The court’s edge is made from joined filaments, many becoming one continuous hanging.
ALSO GROWS
mashzar: Twisted or plied; used of fine linen.
מָשְׁזָר
This is the word describing the linen that forms the court’s boundary.
shezirah: Twisting or plying fibers into thread.
שְׁזִירָה
It names the joining process carried within the description of the linen.
THE PATTERN
Sacred dwelling takes visible form through measured spaces and materials joined together.
Moreover you shall make the dwelling with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; with cherubim of cunning work you shall make them.And the innermost room, in its forepart, was twenty forearms in length, and twenty forearms in breadth, and twenty forearms in its height; and he sheathed it with clean gold; and so he covered the altar which was of cedar.And the city lies four-cornered, and its length is as great as its width. And he measures the city with the reed, twelve thousand stades. Its length and width and height are equal.THE THREAD
Moreover you shall make the dwelling with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet; with cherubim of cunning work you shall make them.Exodus 26:1 uses מָשְׁזָר (mashzar), meaning “twined,” for the tabernacle curtains. Here that material forms the court’s perimeter; there it forms the tent’s covering, and the shared word binds the two parts of the dwelling together.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us