What Does Exodus 38:6 Mean in the King James?

And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.

Exodus 38:6 · 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

The altar’s carrying poles are part of its sacred design: what is set apart is built to travel.

THE MEANING

Here the altar is made for movement: its distinct wooden poles are covered in bronze and built into its design for carrying. Sacred work is not confined to one fixed place; its means of travel are part of its making.

THE ROOT

הַבַּדִּים

habbaddim

GROWS FROM

בדד

b-d-d

Be apart, remain separate, be alone.

“staves” in this verse is habbaddim. The pole noun ⁨בַּד⁩ (bad) is commonly connected with ⁨בָּדַד⁩ (badad, to be apart). The carrying pieces are distinct from the altar’s body, and that separation serves a purpose: it makes the altar bearable.

ALSO GROWS

levad: Alone, apart, by oneself.

לְבַד

This branch names apartness; the poles, too, are distinct pieces that belong to the altar’s design.

boded: One who is solitary or set apart.

בּוֹדֵד

The word carries the sense of separation into a form describing something distinct, echoing the poles as separate supports for carrying.

נְחֹשֶׁת

nechosheth

GROWS FROM

נחש

⁨נְחֹשֶׁת⁩ means copper or bronze; its consonants echo ⁨נָחָשׁ⁩ (nachash, serpent), a pairing made explicit in Numbers 21:9.

The bronze covering carries the same consonants as the Hebrew word for serpent. Numbers 21:9 brings the echo into view in the phrase “serpent of brass”; here it adds a scriptural sound-link without making the altar a serpent symbol.

ALSO GROWS

nachash: Serpent.

נָחָשׁ

Numbers 21:9 places this word beside ⁨נְחֹשֶׁת⁩ (nechosheth, bronze), making the shared consonants audible.

nichesh: Practice divination.

נִחֵשׁ

This verb shares the ⁨נחש⁩ consonants, extending the sound-family while leaving the bronze covering’s meaning here concrete.

THE PATTERN

What is sacred moves through material supports and vessels made to carry it.

And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

Exodus 25:14 · KJVThe ark’s poles are fitted into its design so the sacred object can be borne.

And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day.

1 Kings 8:8 · KJVThe poles remain visible at the sanctuary, marking the ark as an object built to be carried.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

2 Corinthians 4:7 · KJVThe treasure is carried in a material vessel, while its source is not the vessel itself.

THE THREAD

And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

Exodus 25:14 · KJV

The same word, ⁨הַבַּדִּים⁩ (habbaddim, the poles), appears there, where their purpose is stated plainly: the ark is borne with them. That makes the separate poles in Exodus 38:6 part of a design for movement, not incidental hardware.

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