What Does Exodus 28:16 Mean in the King James?

Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.

Exodus 28:16 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

Doubling turns the one-span square into a folded, layered breastpiece.

THE MEANING

What rests at your heart takes a measured, doubled form: one span long and one span wide, folded into a layer. The verse gives sacred nearness a concrete shape, joining exact measure to a covering carried over the heart.

THE ROOT

כָּפוּל

kāphul

GROWS FROM

כפל

k-p-l

To double; in this construction, to fold over.

The Hebrew word holds doubling and folding together: the breastpiece is a square made into a layered form. English can make “doubled” sound like mere repetition, while the root points to a change in the fabric’s shape.

ALSO GROWS

kaphal: To double or fold over.

כָּפַל

This verb describes doubling the sixth curtain of the tabernacle, showing the same root shaping sacred fabric.

kephal: A double amount or double portion.

כֶּפֶל

This noun carries the root’s sense of doubling as a second measure, echoing the breastpiece’s doubled construction.

THE PATTERN

The sacred is given a definite shape through measured construction.

And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle.

Exodus 26:9 · KJVDoubling the curtain gives the tabernacle a form made through deliberate layers.

It was foursquare; they made the breastplate double: a span was the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof, being doubled.

Exodus 39:9 · KJVThe breastpiece’s square shape, span measures, and doubled form repeat the construction described here.

And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

Revelation 21:16 · KJVThe holy city also takes a defined form through equal dimensions and explicit measure.

THE THREAD

And thou shalt couple five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves, and shalt double the sixth curtain in the forefront of the tabernacle.

Exodus 26:9 · KJV

The same ⁨כפל⁩ root appears here in the instruction to double the sixth curtain. In both passages, doubling gives sacred fabric its constructed form.

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