Exodus 26:18

Summary

This verse instructs the construction of twenty kerashim ("frames", H7175) for the mishkan ("tabernacle", H4908), specifying their placement on the southern side of the structure. The Hebrew doubles the directional terminology for the south, giving unusual emphasis to this orientation.

Key words

• 'a.Si.ta ("you will make", H6213H) — qal sequential perfect, continuing a chain of prior instructions with an implied "you" (masculine singular), giving the verse a continuative, procedural tone.
• ke.ra.Shim ("frames", H7175) — masculine plural noun with the definite article (ha, H9009), marking these as the frames already mentioned in the wider passage, not new items.
• f.'At ("side of", H6285) — feminine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must be followed by another noun to complete its meaning ("side of ___"), here linking to negbah.
• Neg.ba ("south", H5045H) + directional he (H9011) — the he suffix marks direction "toward," so the form literally conveys "southward" rather than simply "south" as a location.
• tei.Ma.na ("south", H8486) + directional he (H9011) — a second, distinct Hebrew word for "south," also carrying the directional suffix, placed immediately after negbah.

What the text says

The verse follows a narrative-sequential structure typical of instructional Hebrew: the vav-prefixed verb ve'asita ("and you will make") continues a chain of commands, moving from an unspecified prior action to this new specification about the frames. The direct object marker 'et (H0853) precedes hakkerashim, confirming that "the frames" are the grammatical object being made, and the article ha indicates these frames were already introduced earlier in the passage rather than being introduced fresh here.

The most distinctive feature is the doubling of "south" through two different Hebrew words, negbah and teimanah, each carrying its own directional he suffix. This produces a construction like "toward the south, southward," using two separate lexical roots for the same cardinal direction in immediate succession. The construct noun fe'at ("side of") governs this double expression, so the phrase as a whole reads structurally as "for the side of [the] south-ward south-ward."

Differences between versions

The Septuagint renders the direction as πρὸς βορρᾶν ("toward the north"), diverging from the Hebrew's south-facing terminology (negbah / teimanah). The Vulgate follows the Hebrew orientation, stating in latere meridiano quod vergit ad austrum ("on the southern side, which faces toward the south"), preserving the double reference to the southern direction found in the Hebrew text. The Spanish RV1909 and SBLIBRE also follow the Hebrew's southern orientation.