Exodus 26:2

Summary

The verse specifies the dimensions of each individual curtain (yeri'ah, H3407) used in constructing the tabernacle covering: twenty-eight cubits in length and four cubits in width. It closes by stating that this single measurement applies uniformly to all the curtains.

Key words

• 'Orekh ("length of", H0753) — construct-state noun opening the sentence, syntactically binding to "the curtain" that follows; construct nouns in Hebrew function like the first half of an "X of Y" phrase, so "length" is grammatically tied to the curtain rather than standing as an independent subject.
• ha-'aChat ("the one", H9009 + H0259) — feminine singular numeral with article, functioning here as a demonstrative-like qualifier meaning "this one" or "the single [curtain]," distinguishing this specific curtain being measured from the set of curtains mentioned later.
• sheMoneh ve-'esRim ("eight and twenty", H8083 + H6242) — the numeral construction places the units (eight) before the tens (twenty) joined by ve ("and", H9002), a common Hebrew numeral order that Western languages typically invert to "twenty-eight."
• ba-'aMah ("in/by the cubit", H9003 + H0520A) — preposition + definite noun indicating the unit of measure; the repetition of this exact phrase for both length and width creates a parallel structure.
• midDah 'aChat ("one measure", H4060A + H0259) — a feminine singular noun paired with the numeral "one," forming the summary clause that all curtains share this single standard, using kol ("all", H3605) in construct with "the curtains."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built in two parallel clauses, each beginning with a construct noun ('orekh "length of," then rochav "breadth of") followed by the numeral value and the phrase ba-'aMah ("in the cubit"). This construct-chain syntax means the noun "length" or "breadth" is grammatically incomplete without its following noun ("of the curtain"), a typical Biblical Hebrew way of expressing measurement statements without a verb "to be" — the glosses supplied render this as "[will be]" since Hebrew leaves the copula implicit in nominal clauses.

The repeated phrase ha-yeri'ah ha-'aChat / ha-yeri'ah ha-eChat ("the curtain, the one") uses the numeral "one" with the definite article almost adjectivally, marking that the specification applies to a single representative curtain, not the entire set collectively. The final clause shifts to explicit summary language: midDah 'aChat le-khol ha-yeri'ot ("one measure to/for all the curtains"), using the preposition le (H9005) to indicate that this single measurement belongs to or applies toward the totality of curtains, expressed through the construct phrase kol ha-yeri'ot ("all of the curtains").

Differences between versions

The Hebrew numeral order sheMoneh ve-'esRim ("eight and twenty") is reversed in the Vulgate ("viginti octo," twenty-eight) and modern translations, following each language's natural numeral sequencing rather than reflecting a textual variant. The SBLIBRE renders the cubit measurements in metric units ("trece metros," "casi dos metros") rather than transliterating the Hebrew unit 'aMah ("cubit", H0520A) directly, unlike the LXX's πήχεων and the Vulgate's "cubitos," which preserve the cubit as the unit of measure.