Exodus 36:32

Summary

The verse describes the crossbars used to reinforce the tabernacle's wooden frames: five bars for the frames on the "second side" (a lateral wall), and five more bars for the frames at the rear, facing west. It is part of the construction account detailing the wooden structure's bracing system.

Key words

bariym ("bars", H1280) — masculine plural noun, referring to the horizontal wooden crossbars used to lock the vertical frames together; appears twice, once per set of five.

qarshei ("frames of", H7175) — masculine plural construct form, meaning it must be followed by a noun it belongs to ("frames of the side," "frames of the tabernacle"); this construct linkage shows the bars are specifically fitted to structural frames, not standalone pieces.

tzela' ("side of", H6763) — feminine singular construct, "side" in construct with "the tabernacle," indicating a specific lateral wall rather than the structure as a whole.

yarkatayim ("innermost parts", H3411) — feminine dual noun, denoting the rear/back section of the tabernacle; the dual form may reflect a paired or two-part architectural feature at the back.

yammah ("west", H3220 + directional he H9011) — the directional suffix -ah attached to "sea/west" (yam) indicates motion or orientation "toward the west," a common Hebrew way of expressing direction without a separate preposition.

What the text says

The verse is built as two parallel clauses joined by va ("and", H9002), each following the pattern: cardinal number + bariym + preposition le ("for", H9005) + construct chain of qarshei with a locational noun. This repetition creates a symmetrical description of two sets of five bars, each assigned to a specific architectural zone.

The construct chains are significant: qarshei tzela'-hamishkan hashenit ("frames of the side of the tabernacle, the second") stacks two construct relationships—frames belong to the side, and the side belongs to the tabernacle—with the ordinal shenit ("second", H8145) modifying "side" to distinguish it from a previously mentioned side (presumably discussed earlier in the same construction unit). The second clause shifts to layarkatayim yammah, using the dual noun yarkatayim plus the directional -ah suffix on "west" to pinpoint the tabernacle's rear-western wall, a construction that conveys spatial orientation morphologically rather than through an explicit preposition like "toward."

Differences between versions

The Septuagint text provided for this reference describes an entirely different subject matter—decorative pomegranates on a priestly garment (the hypodytēs)—rather than tabernacle frame bars. This indicates the LXX's Exodus 36 follows a different sequence of material at this verse number than the Hebrew (MT) and Vulgate, which both align in describing the five bars for the tabernacle's side and rear frames. The Vulgate's quinque alios... ad occidentalem plagam... contra mare ("five others... toward the western region... facing the sea") mirrors the Hebrew's directional yammah by explicitly naming "the sea" as the reference point for "west," reflecting the underlying Hebrew idiom where "sea" (yam) conventionally denotes the western direction.