Exodus 26:19

Summary

The verse specifies that forty silver bases ('adnei "bases of", H0134) should be made to support the twenty frames (qeresh "frame", H7175) of the tabernacle structure, with two bases positioned under each individual frame to receive its two tenons (yadot "hands", H3027G).

Key words

• 'ar.ba.'im ("forty", H0705) — cardinal number specifying the total count of bases required.
• 'adnei ("bases of", H0134) — masculine plural construct noun, grammatically linked to khesef ("silver", H3701G) to form "bases of silver."
• ta'aseh ("you will make", H6213H) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular, expressing a directed future/ongoing action addressed to a singular "you."
• qeresh ("frame", H7175) — masculine singular noun, appearing twice with the definite article (ha-, H9009) as "the frame," referring individually to "the one frame" (ha'echad, H0259) in each half of the verse.
• yadotav ("its hands", H3027G + H9023) — feminine plural construct noun with third-person masculine singular suffix ("his/its"), here denoting the two projecting tenons of each frame, in construct with shtei ("two of", H8147).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the verb ta'aseh ("you will make", H6213H) governing the object 'arba'im 'adnei khesef ("forty bases of silver"), establishing the total quantity before detailing the distribution. The phrase tachat 'esrim ha-qaresh ("under twenty the-frame", H8478G + H6242 + H7175) uses tachat in construct form to indicate spatial placement — the bases go beneath the frames as a group.

The verse then shifts to a distributive structure, repeated twice with parallel syntax: shnei 'adanim tachat ha-qeresh ha'echad ("two bases under the frame, the one"). Here ha'echad ("the one", H0259) singles out an individual frame from the group of twenty, and shnei 'adanim ("two bases", H8147 + H0134) specifies exactly two bases per frame. This is followed by li-shtei yedotav ("for the two hands of it", H9005 + H8147 + H3027G + H9023), where yedotav denotes the two tenons or projections of the frame, each requiring its own base. The construct chain shtei yedotav ("two of its hands") ties the dual number directly to the possessive suffix referring back to the frame just mentioned. This distributive clause is repeated verbatim for a second frame, reinforcing the pattern that applies to all twenty frames collectively.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders yadotav ("its hands", H3027G) as τὰ μέρη αὐτοῦ ("its parts/sides"), a more general term than the Hebrew's anatomical metaphor of "hands" for the tenons. The Vulgate similarly abstracts this with per duos angulos ("through two corners/angles"), diverging from the Hebrew's body-part imagery. The LXX also compresses the two repeated distributive clauses in the Hebrew (for "the one frame" mentioned twice) into a single generalized statement using στύλῳ τῷ ἑνὶ ("the one pillar"), rather than preserving the verse's parallel repetition structure found in the Hebrew.