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Exodus 26:2

in Exodus 26

Each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide—all curtains the same size.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

The length of each curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits: all the curtains shall have one measure.

KJV

The length of one curtain shall be eight and twenty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and every one of the curtains shall have one measure.

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This verse in Exodus 26

Commentary

2 notes on this verse
The length of one curtain shall be twenty eight cubits,.... Or fourteen yards: and the breadth of one curtain four cubits; or two yards; according to the common notion of a cubit being half a yard; but if, as Dr. Cumberland says, the Jewish and Egyptian cubit was three inches longer, this will make a considerable difference in the length and breadth of those curtains, especially in the former: and everyone of the curtains shall have one measure; be of equal length and breadth.

This site's exposition

make the tabernacle with ten curtains

on Exodus 26:1-2

The first thing named in the tabernacle is not a wall but a woven cloth, and the figures worked into it are cherubims. Genesis 3:24 set cherubims at the east of Eden with a flaming sword to keep the way of the tree of life, and here they are woven into the covering of the place where God will dwell among the people. The same four materials, fine twined linen with blue, purple and scarlet, return at the vail in verse 31 and at the door in verse 36.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

As you were first told, namely, the pattern of the tabernacle (Ex.:9).
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Exodus 26:1:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • אֹ֣רֶךְ׀[the] length of

    ʾorekhH753 →95 times

  • הַיְרִיעָ֣הthe curtain

    hayriahH3407 →54 times

  • הָֽאַחַ֗ת<the> one

    haachatH259 →971 times

  • שְׁמֹנֶ֤ה[will be] eight

    shemonehH8083 →109 times

  • וְעֶשְׂרִים֙and twenty

    veesrimH6242 →315 times

  • בָּֽאַמָּ֔הby the cubit

    baamahH520 →247 times

  • וְרֹ֙חַב֙and [the] breadth

    verochavH7341 →101 times

  • אַרְבַּ֣ע[will be] four

    ʾarba'H702 →318 times

  • בָּאַמָּ֔הby the cubit

    baamahH520 →247 times

  • הַיְרִיעָ֖הthe curtain

    hayriahH3407 →54 times

  • הָאֶחָ֑ת<the> one

    haechatH259 →971 times

  • מִדָּ֥הsize

    midahH4060 →55 times

  • אַחַ֖תone

    ʾachatH259 →971 times

  • לְכָל־[will belong] to all

    lekholH3605 →5413 times

  • הַיְרִיעֹֽת׃the curtains

    hayriotH3407 →54 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

6 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Chronicles 17:1After David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent.”3 worksNumbers 4:25They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with the covering of fine leather over it, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,3 works2 Samuel 7:2he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”3 worksExodus 26:13And the tent curtains will be a cubit longer on either side, and the excess will hang over the sides of the tabernacle to cover it.2 worksExodus 26:8Each of the eleven curtains is to be the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.2 worksExodus 26:7–8You are to make curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven curtains in all.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 7:2

    he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 5:11

      Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.

    • 1 Chronicles 16:1

      So they brought the ark of God and placed it inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

    • Haggai 1:4

      “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?”

  • Through

    Numbers 4:25

    They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with the covering of fine leather over it, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

    it leads to

    • Numbers 3:25–26

      The duties of the Gershonites at the Tent of Meeting were the tabernacle and tent, its covering, the curtain for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

    • Exodus 26:14

      Also make a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of fine leather.

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 17:1

    After David had settled into his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 6:7–9

      Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel.

    • 1 Chronicles 15:1

      David constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

    • 1 Chronicles 17:5

      For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved from tent to tent and dwelling to dwelling.

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 26 →

This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Exodus 26 →