Section 119 of 12738:9–20Exodus

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King James VersionExodus 38:9–20

And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits:

Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.

And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.

The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.

And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.

And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.

And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.

And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Exodus 38:9–20

The Courtyard and Gate Are Completed

Hangings, pillars, sockets, and gate are set to measure

The court is made: linen hangings, brass sockets, silver hooks and fillets, the embroidered gate, cords, and pins, matching the earlier outer-boundary design.

The public edge of the sanctuary now exists

Pins and cords are not leftovers. They are how the court stands in wind. The colored gate is the people's honest entrance, not a hidden side door for insiders only.

How this should shape us

Walk the fence you claim is holy. If the gate is shabby and the interior rich, or the pins unpaid, the court is not yet 'as instructed.'

Teach it back

Explain Exodus 38:9–20 in your own words. Include both movements, its place in Exodus, one historical or compositional uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one conclusion the complete context rules out.

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Where do careful interpreters disagree?

Best judgment: Careful interpreters agree that the received text states the following: Hangings, pillars, bases, hooks, gate screen, cords, and pegs establish the outer court exactly as instructed. They disagree over source layers, date, historical recovery, archaeology, Hebrew details, ritual development, legal use, and canonical relationship in different proportions; this study treats the final form directly while marking those alternatives as probable or uncertain rather than settled fact.

How certain? probable

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.

Exodus 38:9–20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.

Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 38:9–20

NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes

Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.

NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 38:9–20

Sinai Study Guide

Supports: Mountain location uncertainty, covenant and treaty comparison, source plurality, mediation, Decalogue, covenant blood, and priestly dwelling instruction.

Yale Bible Study, 'Sinai,' complete study guide pp. 1–6, covenant, Moses and the mountain, Decalogue, Exodus 24, and tabernacle framing; applied to Exodus 38:9–20

The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

Supports: Architectural and ritual comparanda, pattern language, movement, possible historical models, and explicit reconstruction limits.

Homan, 'The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context,' complete article sections on form, furnishings, shown pattern, temple-building parallels, portability, and historical-versus-literary models; applied to Exodus 38:9–20

The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling

Supports: Material-source theology, skilled labor, voluntary gifts, half-shekel assessment, manufactured holiness, and the limits of idealized production language.

Ben-Dov, 'The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling,' complete article sections on Exodus 20 and 25–40, donated and assessed materials, craft, manufactured objects, and divine presence; applied to Exodus 38:9–20

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.

Exact location: Exodus 38:9–20, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 38:9–20

Open source ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12

Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.

Exact location: NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 38:9–20

Open source ↗

open university course study guide

Sinai Study Guide

Joel S. Baden and John J. Collins

Yale Bible Study, 2019 course edition

Supports: Mountain location uncertainty, covenant and treaty comparison, source plurality, mediation, Decalogue, covenant blood, and priestly dwelling instruction.

Exact location: Yale Bible Study, 'Sinai,' complete study guide pp. 1–6, covenant, Moses and the mountain, Decalogue, Exodus 24, and tabernacle framing; applied to Exodus 38:9–20

Open source ↗

ancient near eastern comparative architecture study

The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

Michael M. Homan

TheTorah.com, 2018

Supports: Architectural and ritual comparanda, pattern language, movement, possible historical models, and explicit reconstruction limits.

Exact location: Homan, 'The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context,' complete article sections on form, furnishings, shown pattern, temple-building parallels, portability, and historical-versus-literary models; applied to Exodus 38:9–20

Open source ↗

modern jewish scholarly material and literary study

The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling

Jonathan Ben-Dov

TheTorah.com, 2017

Supports: Material-source theology, skilled labor, voluntary gifts, half-shekel assessment, manufactured holiness, and the limits of idealized production language.

Exact location: Ben-Dov, 'The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling,' complete article sections on Exodus 20 and 25–40, donated and assessed materials, craft, manufactured objects, and divine presence; applied to Exodus 38:9–20

Open source ↗

Exodus 38:9–20, King James Version

Hangings, pillars, sockets, and gate are set to measure

The public edge of the sanctuary now exists

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

Where do careful interpreters disagree?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus

NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes

Sinai Study Guide

The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context

The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling