Exodus 26:21

Summary

The verse specifies the silver bases supporting the frames of the tabernacle structure: forty bases total, with two bases positioned under each individual frame.

Key words

• 'ar.ba.'Im ("forty", H0705) — cardinal number specifying the total count of bases required for the structure.
• 'ad.nei. ("bases", H0134) — masculine plural construct noun, "bases of," linked to the following possessive suffix Hem ("their").
• Ka.sef ("silver", H3701G) — masculine singular noun functioning here as a material descriptor for the bases.
• she.Nei ("two", H8147) — dual construct form of the cardinal number, appearing twice to introduce each pair of bases.
• Ta.chat ("under", H8478G) — masculine singular construct noun functioning prepositionally, "under," linking the bases to their respective frame.

What the text says

The verse opens with ve ("and", H9002) plus 'ar.ba.'Im ("forty", H0705) attached to 'ad.nei.Hem ("bases their", H0134+H9028), a construct phrase meaning "their forty bases," followed by Ka.sef ("silver", H3701G) as the material. This establishes the total count before the verse details the distribution.

The remainder of the verse repeats a parallel structure twice: she.Nei 'a.da.Nim Ta.chat ha.Ke.resh ha.'e.Chad ("two bases under the frame, the one"). The construct chain she.Nei 'a.da.Nim ("two of bases") uses the dual construct form of "two" governing the plural noun "bases," a common Biblical Hebrew way of expressing a specific pair. The phrase Ta.chat ha.Ke.resh ha.'e.Chad ("under the frame, the one") uses 'e.Chad ("one", H0259) not as a simple numeral but as a demonstrative-like marker meaning "a given/particular" frame — a construction repeated with u.she.Nei 'a.da.Nim Ta.chat ha.Ke.resh ha.'e.Chad ("and two bases under the frame, the other") for the second frame. The repetition of nearly identical clauses, differing only by the connecting u ("and", H9002), grammatically enacts the distributive pattern: each frame, taken individually, receives its own pair of bases.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew literally repeats "two bases under the frame, the one... and two bases under the frame, the one" as two parallel clauses. The LXX condenses this into a single clause, "two bases for the one pillar, for both its sides" (δύο βάσεις τῷ στύλῳ τῷ ἑνὶ εἰς ἀμφότερα τὰ μέρη αὐτοῦ), describing the two bases as serving both sides of one pillar rather than two separate frames. The Vulgate renders it as "two bases will be placed under each plank" (binæ bases singulis tabulis supponentur), using a distributive singular construction that, like the modern translations (BSB, SBLIBRE), summarizes the repeated Hebrew clauses into one generalized statement ("two bases under each frame") rather than preserving the verse's twofold repetition.