What Does Exodus 36:20 Mean?
And he made frames for the dwelling of acacia wood, standing up.
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 he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.THE KEY
The tabernacle is named by its purpose: it is a dwelling, and its boards stand to give that dwelling a shape.
THE MEANING
Dwelling becomes visible as the boards stand upright, holding open a space among the people. Presence takes tangible form through a structure that holds its place.
THE ROOT
מִשְׁכָּן
mishkan
GROWS FROM
שׁכן
sh-k-n
To dwell, settle, or remain.
English “tabernacle” conceals its kinship with the verb “to dwell”: the structure is a dwelling-place by its very name. The boards give that dwelling a visible form among the people.
ALSO GROWS
shakan: To dwell, settle, or remain.
שָׁכַן
This verb shares the root of “tabernacle,” tying the structure to the act of dwelling.
shakhen: Neighbor, inhabitant; one who dwells nearby.
שָׁכֵן
The root links a dwelling with the person who lives there, bringing habitation into relationship.
mishkan: Dwelling-place, tabernacle.
מִשְׁכָּן
This is the verse’s word: the dwelling takes shape through its standing boards.
עֹמְדִים
omdim
GROWS FROM
עמד
ʿ-m-d
To stand or take one’s position.
“standing up” in this verse is omdim. English gives the boards a posture; the root עמד (ʿ-m-d, “to stand”) also forms עַמּוּד (amud, “pillar”), linking uprightness with structural support. The boards hold their place as the dwelling’s frame.
ALSO GROWS
amad: To stand or take one’s position.
עָמַד
The boards’ standing is the root action itself, not a detail separate from their role in the structure.
amud: Pillar, column.
עַמּוּד
This branch joins standing with an upright support, illuminating what the boards do.
ma'amad: Standing, position, or status.
מַעֲמָד
The root can name a position from which something stands, echoing the boards’ place in the dwelling.
THE PATTERN
Dwelling becomes tangible when distinct parts are brought into a structure prepared to receive it.
And let them make me a set-apart place, that I may pitch my tent among them.For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has longed for it as his seat.In whom you also are built together into a place where God settles, through breath.THE THREAD
And let them make me a set-apart place, that I may pitch my tent among them.The noun מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling-place”) and the verb שָׁכַן (shakan, “to dwell”) share the root שׁכן (sh-k-n). Exodus 25:8 names the purpose, dwelling among the people, while Exodus 36:20 shows the boards standing into that purpose.
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