Exodus 27:9

Summary

Exodus 27:9 opens the instructions for the courtyard (chatzar, H2691A) of the tabernacle, specifying the curtains for its south-facing side. The verse gives the material (twisted fine linen) and the length of that one side (one hundred cubits).

Key words

• 'a.Si.ta ("you will make", H6213H) — qal sequential perfect, second-person masculine singular, continuing the chain of instructions begun earlier in the chapter; addressed to a single "you."
• cha.Tzar ("[the] courtyard of", H2691A) — construct form, meaning it must be linked to the following noun ha-mishkan ("the tabernacle", H4908) to form "courtyard of the tabernacle."
• ma.she.Zar ("twisted", H7806) — hophal passive participle, describing shesh ("fine linen", H8336B) as linen that has been (passively) twisted, i.e., the action is done to it, not by it.
• me.'Ah ("[will be] one hundred", H3967) and 'O.rekh ("[the] length", H0753) — the numeral governs the noun "length" together with ba-'ammah ("by the cubit", H0520A), giving the measurement unit explicitly.
• pe.'Ah ha-'echat ("side, the one", H6285 + H0259) — the noun "side" followed by the article and the numeral "one," marking this as the first of what the wider context treats as multiple sides of the courtyard.

What the text says

The verse is built as a single main clause introduced by the narrative vav on ve-'asita ("and you will make"), continuing a sequence of instructions. The direct object is marked by 'et (H0853, untranslated) before chatzar ha-mishkan, a construct chain meaning "courtyard of the tabernacle." The location is specified through a stacked prepositional phrase: li-fe'at negev-teimanah, literally "to/for the side of south-southward," combining two Hebrew terms for "south" (negev, H5045H and teimanah, H8486, the latter carrying the directional -ah he, H9011, "toward"). This doubling of south-terms is a feature of the Hebrew that single-word translations like "south side" do not preserve.

The curtains (qela'im, H7050B, plural) are specified as being shesh mashzar — "fine linen" that is "twisted," using a passive participle (hophal) so the linen itself is described as the product of twisting rather than naming an agent. The measurement clause me'ah ba-'ammah orekh places the numeral "hundred" before the unit "cubit," then adds "length" as the noun being measured, and the closing phrase la-pe'ah ha-'echat ("for the side, the one") explicitly marks this as one specific side among others to be described.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate's australi plaga contra meridiem renders both Hebrew south-terms (negev and teimanah) with two Latin terms, paralleling the Hebrew doubling. The LXX's πρὸς λίβα ("toward the southwest/Libyan wind") uses a single Greek directional term, not preserving the double Hebrew phrasing. The SBLIBRE translation converts the cubit measurement into meters ("cuarenta y cinco metros"), a unit not present in the Hebrew text, which specifies only ba-'ammah ("by the cubit").