Numbers 3:26

the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, and the cords—all the service for these items.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The narrator enumerates the maintenance duties assigned to the Gershonite clan for the tabernacle's outer structures. This list follows the preceding verse describing their tasks and immediately precedes the introduction of the Kohathite clans.

The words — The text specifies קַלְעֵי הַחָצֵר (qal‘ê haḥāṣēr, "curtains of the courtyard") and מָסַךְ פֶּתַח הַחָצֵר (māsaḵ peṯaḥ haḥāṣēr, "screen of the entrance to the courtyard"). These terms designate the linen coverings and doorway barriers that the clan was to service.

The thread — The courtyard curtains and entrance screen appear in the tabernacle construction accounts at Exodus 27:9 and Exodus 38:9. The associated tent pegs and ropes for the courtyard are recorded in Exodus 35:18.

Why it lands — The verse defines the practical upkeep required to maintain the sacred enclosure's physical boundaries. It requires the reader to acknowledge that ritual service encompasses the direct handling and care of structural components.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְקַלְעֵ֣יve./kal.'Eiand/ [the] curtains of הֶֽחָצֵ֗רhe./cha.Tzerthe/ courtyard וְאֶת־ve./'Etand/ <obj.>מָסַךְ֙ma.saKh[the] screen of פֶּ֣תַחPe.tach[the] entrance of הֶֽחָצֵ֔רhe./cha.Tzerthe/ courtyard אֲשֶׁ֧ר'a.Sherwhich עַל־'al-[is] at הַמִּשְׁכָּ֛ןha./mish.Kanthe/ tabernacle וְעַל־ve./'al-and/ at הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַha./miz.Be.achthe/ altar סָבִ֑יבsa.Vivall around וְאֵת֙ve./'Etand/ <obj.>מֵֽיתָרָ֔יוmei.ta.Ra/vropes/ its לְכֹ֖לle./Kholfor/ all עֲבֹדָתֽוֹ׃a.vo.da.T/oservice/ its

King James Version

And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof.

Cross-references

Exodus 35:18 the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, along with their ropes;
Exodus 27:9 You are also to make a courtyard for the tabernacle. On the south side of the courtyard make curtains of finely spun linen, a hundred cubits long on one side,
Exodus 38:9 Then he constructed the courtyard. The south side of the courtyard was a hundred cubits long and had curtains of finely spun linen,