Exodus 26:9

Summary

The verse instructs joining the tent-curtains into two separate sets — five curtains in one group and six in another — and then folding the sixth curtain double at the front of the tent. This continues the construction sequence for the tabernacle's covering.

Key words

• chibbarTa ("you will join", H2266) — piel (intensive) verb in sequential perfect, indicating a deliberate, forceful joining action that continues the narrative chain begun by the preceding vav.
• levad ("alone", H905) — appears twice, marking that each group of curtains (five and six) is joined separately from the other, not into a single continuous sheet.
• khafalTa ("you will fold double", H3717) — qal sequential perfect, describing a simple folding action applied specifically to the sixth curtain.
• ha-yeri'ah ha-shishit ("the sixth curtain", H3407 + H8345) — definite noun with ordinal adjective, singling out one specific curtain from the set of six for the folding instruction.
• mul pnei ha-'ohel ("front of the face of the tent", H4136 + H6440 + H168) — a double construct chain (construct + construct) emphasizing the precise location: the forward-facing side of the tent.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built on two sequential-perfect verbs — chibbarTa ("you will join") and khafalTa ("you will fold double") — both continuing a chain of instructions via the narrative vav. The first action splits into two parallel clauses: "five of the curtains, levad ('alone')" and "six of the curtains, levad ('alone')." The repetition of levad is grammatically significant: it is not simply stating that five and six curtains exist, but that each subset must be joined internally while remaining structurally distinct from the other subset — two separate joined pieces rather than one continuous eleven-curtain sheet.

The second clause shifts to a single, specific object: ha-yeri'ah ha-shishit ("the sixth curtain"), marked with the definite article and an ordinal number, isolating one curtain from the six for a distinct treatment — folding it double. The location of this fold is specified through a stacked construct chain, mul pnei ha-'ohel ("the front of the face of the tent"), a phrase that piles up two "of"-relationships (construct forms of mul and pnei) to pinpoint the tent's forward side with more specificity than a single construct noun would allow.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders levad ("alone") as epi to auto ("upon the same/together"), which frames the joining as unification rather than separateness; the Hebrew's repeated levad stresses that the two groups (five and six) remain distinct sets, while the Greek phrase does not carry this same emphasis on separation. The Vulgate's seorsum ("apart") aligns more closely with the Hebrew levad, preserving the sense of separate joining for each group of curtains.