What Does Exodus 36:38 Mean?
And the five pillars of it with their hooks; and he sheathed their heads and their bands with gold, but their five bases were of bronze.
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 the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “pillars” grows from the verb “to stand”: the entrance is built around standing.
THE MEANING
Five uprights hold the threshold; their capitals and bands are gold, while their five sockets are bronze. The verse makes the entrance visible as a joined structure, with each part taking its place in the whole.
THE ROOT
עַמֻּדֶיהָ
ʿammudeha
GROWS FROM
עמד
ʿ-m-d
To stand, remain, or take one’s stand.
The word for these pillars grows from עמד (ʿāmad), “to stand,” so the Hebrew holds the act of standing within the name of the structure. Its related forms can describe standing itself and a standing place, linking the pillars to the position they hold at the threshold.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāmad: To stand, remain, or take one’s position.
עָמַד
This is the verb at the seed of “pillars”: they are the parts that stand at the opening.
maʿamad: A station, position, or place where one stands.
מַעֲמָד
It carries the root from the act of standing to the position held, echoing the pillars’ place in the entrance.
THE PATTERN
Pillars mark and support the threshold into sacred space.
And you shall make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold; and you shall cast five sockets of brass for them.And he raised the pillars in the porch of the temple. He raised the right pillar, and called its name Jachin, and he raised the left pillar, and called its name Boaz.The length of the porch was twenty forearms, and its breadth eleven forearms. Then he brought me by the rising steps by which they climbed to it, and there were pillars beside the posts, one on this side and one on that side.THE THREAD
And you shall make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be of gold; and you shall cast five sockets of brass for them.This verse names the same five pillars and bronze sockets at the entrance. The shared Hebrew word for “pillars” comes from עמד (ʿ-m-d), “to stand,” while this parallel verse makes clear how those standing supports carry the hanging.
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