What Does Exodus 35:18 Mean?
The pegs of the dwelling, and the pegs of the courtyard, and their cords.
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
The pins of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords,THE KEY
The Hebrew for “tabernacle” shares its root with “neighbor,” revealing sacred dwelling as presence that settles near.
THE MEANING
This verse makes dwelling tangible: pegs anchor its edges, and cords hold its parts together. In your life now, a place of presence also depends on quiet supports and connections, including the ones that are easy to overlook.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The sacred is carried only by what is grand and visible; here, even pegs and cords belong to the dwelling’s structure.
THE ROOT
מִשְׁכָּן
mishkan
GROWS FROM
שׁכן
sh-k-n
to dwell, settle, or abide
The Hebrew name for the tabernacle grows from the verb for dwelling or settling. The same root names a neighbor, one who dwells nearby, so the word carries sacred presence as nearness.
ALSO GROWS
shākan: To make a dwelling or settle in a place.
שָׁכַן
The tabernacle is named as a dwelling: a place where presence settles.
shākēn: One who lives nearby.
שָׁכֵן
The shared root links sacred dwelling with the nearness of a neighbor.
מֵיתָר
mētār
GROWS FROM
יתר
y-t-r
to remain, be left over, or be in excess
“cords” in this verse is mētār. The word for cord belongs to a root family whose other forms mean what remains or is left over. The line extending between anchors is part of what lets the dwelling remain standing.
ALSO GROWS
yāṯar: To remain after something else is gone or taken away.
יָתַר
The cord holds the dwelling in place so its structure remains.
yéther: What is left over or in excess.
יֶתֶר
The root family connects the cord with what extends beyond the central structure to secure it.
THE PATTERN
A dwelling remains stable through the often-overlooked supports that hold its parts together.
Widen the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwellings stretch out. Do not hold back; lengthen your cords, and grip your pegs.My tent is ravaged, and all my cords are torn. My children have gone out from me, and they are not. There is none to stretch out my tent any more, and to raise my curtains.You also, as living stones, are built up into a house of breath, a set-apart priesthood, to carry up sacrifices of breath, well received by God through Jesus, the Anointed One.THE THREAD
Widen the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your dwellings stretch out. Do not hold back; lengthen your cords, and grip your pegs.Isaiah repeats מֵיתָר (mētār, cord) and יָתֵד (yātēḏ, stake), the same support words found here. In Exodus they fasten the dwelling; in Isaiah, lengthening and strengthening them makes room for it to expand.
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