Exodus 36:17

Summary

The verse describes attaching fifty loops along the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set of tabernacle curtains, and fifty more loops along the edge of the curtain that forms the joining point of the second set. It is a technical construction detail specifying where the loops for coupling curtain panels were placed.

Key words

• lulaot ("loops", H3924) — feminine plural noun, appears twice, naming the small fabric loops used to join curtain panels.
• qitzonah ("outermost", H7020) — feminine singular adjective modifying yeri'ah ("curtain"), specifying which curtain panel in the first set receives the loops.
• mahberet ("joined set", H4225) — feminine singular noun from the root "to join," naming the assembled unit of curtains as a set.
• choveret ("joined set", H2279) — feminine singular noun, a related but distinct form from the same root as mahberet, describing the second set's joining curtain.
• asah ("he made", H6213H) — qal perfect verb; in the second clause it appears after its object lulaot chamishim, unlike the narrative form vaya'as that opens the verse.

What the text says

The verse contains two parallel clauses describing the same action — making fifty loops — but applied to different curtains. The first clause opens with the narrative verb vaya'as ("and he made", H6213H) followed by the object lulaot and the numeral chamishim ("fifty", H2572), then the location al-sefat ha-yeri'ah ha-qitzonah ba-mahberet ("on the edge of the outermost curtain in the joined set"). The second clause reverses the order: the object chamishim lulaot is placed before the verb asah, which appears in the perfect rather than the narrative form. This fronting of the object may signal a stylistic variation marking the second, parallel action rather than a difference in meaning.

The two location phrases distinguish the curtains using two different but related nouns from the same root ח-ב-ר ("to join"): mahberet for the first set and choveret for the second, both meaning "joined set" but grammatically distinct (a noun form versus a feminine singular form functioning adjectivally with the curtain). The adjective qitzonah ("outermost", H7020) specifies that in the first set, the loops go on the outer edge curtain, while in the second set the ordinal shenit ("second", H8145) identifies which set is meant, without repeating "outermost."

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders both curtains simply as sagi unius ("of one curtain") and sagi alterius ("of the other curtain"), without reproducing the distinct Hebrew terms qitzonah ("outermost") or the two different nouns mahberet/choveret ("joined set"). The Latin also adds an explanatory clause, ut sibi invicem jungerentur ("so that they might be joined to each other"), which has no corresponding wording in the Hebrew text given. The LXX text supplied for this reference describes a woven object set with rows of stones (sardion, topazion, smaragdos) and does not correspond in content to the Hebrew verse about curtain loops.