Exodus 36:26

Summary

This verse specifies the silver bases (sockets) that support the frames of the tabernacle structure. The text states there are forty silver bases total, then describes their placement: two bases under each individual frame, repeating this distribution for two separate frames.

Key words

• 'ar.ba.'im ("forty", H0705) — cardinal number indicating the total count of bases.
• 'ad.nei ("bases", H0134) — masculine plural noun in construct form, meaning "bases of," linking to the following pronominal suffix "their" (referring back to the frames mentioned earlier in context).
• Kesef ("silver", H3701G) — masculine singular noun specifying the material of the bases.
• she.nei ("two", H8147) — dual/common gender cardinal in construct form ("two of"), used twice to introduce each pair of bases.
• Ke.resh ("frame", H7175) — masculine singular noun with definite article, denoting the structural plank under which the bases sit.
• 'e.chad ("one", H0259) — cardinal number functioning here as "the one" / "the other," used twice to distinguish between two separate frames.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the total count — 'ar.ba.'im ("forty", H0705) 'ad.nei ("bases", H0134) Hem ("their", H9028) Kesef ("silver", H3701G) — establishing forty silver bases belonging to the frames discussed in the preceding verses. The syntax then shifts to a distributive breakdown using a repeated construction: she.nei ("two", H8147) 'a.da.nim ("bases", H0134) Tachat ("under", H8478G) ha-Keresh ("the frame", H7175) ha-'echad ("the one", H0259). This exact phrase appears twice, once for each frame, with only the second instance marked by the conjunction u- ("and", H9002) before she.nei.

The repetition of 'echad ("one", H0259) in both clauses is notable: rather than using ordinal terms like "first" and "second," the Hebrew uses the same cardinal number 'echad to mean "the one [frame]" and then, in the second clause, functionally "the other [frame]." This construction (found also in verse 25 for the corresponding southern frames) creates a distributive pattern — two bases per frame — through repetition rather than through a single summarizing distributive term.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate condenses the Hebrew's twofold repetition into a single distributive clause: duas bases per singulas tabulas ("two bases for each single plank"), expressing the same distribution more economically than the Hebrew's repeated she.nei...tachat ha-Keresh ha-'echad structure. The LXX text provided does not correspond to this verse's content, referring instead to shoulder pieces and frontal placement, and cannot be compared directly to the Hebrew wording here.