Exodus 26:12

This tent-cloth was two cubits longer than the inner one, as each piece was 30 cubits long instead of 28; it was also two cubits broader, as it was composed of 11 pieces, the eleventh only reckoning as two cubits, as it was to be laid double. Consequently there was an excess (העדף that which is over) of two cubits each way; and according to Exo 26:12 and Exo 26:13 this was to be disposed of in the following manner: "As for the spreading out of the excess in the tent-cloths, the half of the cloth in excess shall spread out over the back of the dwelling; and the cubit from here and from there in the excess in the length of the tent-cloths (i.e., the cubit over in the length in each of the cloths) shall be spread out on the sides of the dwelling from here and from there to cover it." Now since, according to this, one half of the two cubits of the sixth piece which was laid double was to hang down the back of the tabernacle, there only remained one cubit for the gable of the front. It follows, therefore, that the joining of the two halves with loops and clasps would come a cubit farther back, than the place where the curtain of the holy of holies divided the dwelling. But in consequence of the cloth being a cubit longer in every direction, it nearly reached the ground on all three sides, the thickness of the wooden framework alone preventing it from reaching it altogether.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

For these curtains were two cubits longer than the curtains of the Tabernacle so that they were wider by a cubit on both sides.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(12) The remnant that remaineth.—Even after the doubling back, the goats’-hair covering would be half a breadth wider than the linen one. This half-breadth was to be allowed to hang down at the back of the tent.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. overhanging] The Heb. means loose or free, not necessarily ‘overhanging.’

the half curtain that remaineth] The breadth in front is laid double (v. 9): it is consequently halved in width; and the entire length of the curtain is thus 42 cubits. As the Dwelling Isaiah 30 cubits long and 10 cubits high, it follows that, according to the usual view of v. 9b, 12 cubits will hang down behind, according to Kennedy’s view, 10 cubits will hang down behind. The ‘half-curtain’ (= 2 cubits) overhanging a the back can thus, upon the usual view, be only the 2 cubits in excess of the 10 (so Di.), the whole 12, we may suppose, being stretched out, and pegged to the ground in the manner of a tent: it is not, however, very natural to speak of only the 2 cubits as hanging down loosely behind: we should rather expect the whole 12 to be so spoken of. The difficulty would be removed, if we might suppose the words, ‘the half-curtain that remaineth,’ in v. 12 to be a mistaken gloss, arising out of a hasty reading of v. 9b: if these words are omitted, the length of the part hanging down behind is not specified, and it might, of course, be either the 12 cubits required by the ordinary view of v. 9b, or the 10 cubits required by Kennedy’s view. The latter view does better justice to v. 9b, and also has the advantage of making the goats’ hair curtain hang down symmetrically on the two sides and the back, viz. so a exactly to touch the ground in each case.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And a cubit on the one side, and a cubit on the other side o that which remaineth in the length of the curtains of the tent,.... The curtains of the tent, or the goat hair curtains, were two cubits longer than the other, and these are the two cubits, one on one side and the other on the other, which remained, and by which they were longer than the linen curtains:

it shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle; the north and south sides: on this side:

and on that side, to cover it; and as the above learned doctor observes (o), their length of fifteen yards reached half a yard lower on either side than the other curtains did, and yet they came not to the ground by a quarter of a yard; so that the silver foundations (of which afterwards) were always plain to be seen everywhere but at the west end.

(o) Works, vol. 1. p. 719.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12. The half curtain that remaineth — One half of the sixth curtain was to be doubled or folded in the front, and this would allow another half curtain to hang over the back side of the tabernacle (mishcan) but the exact manner of its adjustment is not described.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The remnant which remaineth, etc. Both this and the next verse presume a very close connection between the fine linen covering of the mishkan and the goats hair tent-cloth which protected it. "The remnant that remaineth" is the half-breadth by which the tent-cloth would overlap the linen covering at the back of the tent, when at the front half of the eleventh breadth had been turned back upon the other half (see comment on ver. 9). This "remnant" was to be "allowed to hang down over the back part of the tabernacle.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues telling Moses what the people must do.

cubit

A cubit is 46 centimeters. (See: Biblical Distance)

dyed red

"colored red"

translationWords

tent

tabernacle

ewe

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

וסרח העדף ביריעת האהל AND THE SURPLUS OF THE CURTAINS OF THE TENT over and above the lower curtains of the Tabernacle [SHALL HANG OVER etc.]. “The curtains of the אהל” were the upper ones made of goats’ hair which Scripture calls אהל, as it states about them, (v. 7) “they shall be an אהל over the dwelling.” The word אהל used in connection with them means only a covering (the word has not its usual meaning of “tent“) because they formed a cover and a screen over the lower ones. They exceeded the lower ones by one half curtain on the west side. For the other half of the eleventh curtain which was in excess of the number of the lower ones was folded over to hang in front of the tent (the Tabernacle) (cf. v. 9). There therefore remained two cubits, — the breadth of the half of it — in excess of the width of the lower curtains (it is this which is here described as חצי היריעה העדפת “the half curtain that exceeded”).

תסרח על אחרי המשכן SHALL HANG OVER THE BACK OF THE TABERNACLE — to cover the two cubits of the boards that were left bare.

אחרי המשכן THE BACK OF THE TABERNACLE — i. e. the west side. This is called “the back” because the entrance was on the east side which was therefore its front. The north and the south are accordingly called the “sides” in the right and the left directions.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.