Exodus 26:18

Twenty of these boards were to be prepared for the side of the dwelling that was turned towards the south, and forty sockets (אדנים foundations, Job 38:6) or bases for the pegs, i.e., to put the pegs of the boards into, that the boards might stand upright; and the same number of boards and sockets for the north side. תּימנה, "southward," is added to נגבּה לפאת in Exo 26:18, to give a clearer definition of negeb, which primarily means the dry, and then the country to the south; an evident proof that at that time negeb was not established as a geographical term for the south, and therefore that it was not written here by a Palestinian, as Knobel supposes, but by Moses in the desert.

The form of the "sockets" is not explained, and even in Exo 38:27, in the summing up of the gifts presented for the work, it is merely stated that a talent of silver (about 93 lb.) was applied to every socket.

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.)

(18) On the south side southward.—Rather, on the south side to the right. The tabernacle faced the east, and was regarded as looking in that direction. Thus its south wall was on the right.

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

18. for the south side southward] lit., with not quite the same tautology as the English, towards (the) Negeb, southward. The ‘Negeb’ (properly, as Aram. shews, meaning dry land) is a geographical term denoting the arid district in the S. of Judah (Gen_12:9 RVm., Jos_15:21, and often); as this district was on the S. of Canaan, it became the most usual word in Heb. for ‘south.’ Its use in the Pent. is an indication that this was written after Israel had lived long enough in Canaan for ‘négeb’ to have acquired this sense. The same pleonasm recurs in Exo_27:9, and in the || ||, Exo_38:9, Exo_36:23, Eze_47:19; Eze_48:28; and there are similar ones in Exo_27:13 (|| Exo_38:13), Num_34:15.

18–25. The number of frames for each side of the Dwelling, and the arrangements for holding them firmly in their place.

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 thou shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards,.... Or bases (s), and which were properly the foundation of the tabernacle, on which it was settled and established; these sockets were the mortises for the two tenons of each board or plank to be placed in, and were as broad as the plank, and, joining each other, made one entire basis for the whole structure; each socket contained a talent of silver, and was made of the silver given at the numbering of the people, Exo 38:25, and a talent of silver, according to Bishop Cumberland, amounted to three hundred and fifty three pounds, eleven shillings and some odd pence of our money: by which may be judged the whole value of this silver foundation, which, with the four sockets of the vail, consisted of one hundred of them, which answer to the one hundred talents of silver collected at the above offering:

two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons; and so in all the twenty boards, which took up the whole forty on the south side.

(s) "bases", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator, Drusius.

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

18. Twenty boards — From this we learn the length of the mishcan or tabernacle of boards, namely, thirty cubits, (45 feet,) since each board was a cubit and a half wide. Exo_26:16.

South side southward — Or, Negebward toward the right. The person is supposed to face the same way as the structure, namely, to the east, in which case the south would be to his right.

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

Twenty boards. Each board being a cubit and a half in width (ver. 16), the length of the chamber was, necessarily, thirty cubits. On the south side southward. Literally, "On the south side, to the right." The Orientals regarded it as natural to look to the east, and spoke of the east as "in front," the west as "behind," the north as "on the left," and the south as "on the right hand."

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

לפאת נגבה תימנה ON THE SOUTH SIDE SOUTHWARD — The word פאה here has not the meaning of “corner” (as e. g., Leviticus 19:9, פאת שדך) but the whole side is called פאה, as the Targum has it: לרוח עבר דרומא.

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.