Exodus 38:18

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) Exodus 38:18 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
Download image
Cite this verse

Exodus 38:18 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/exodus/38/18.

Show BibTeX & RIS
BibTeX
RIS
English Translation
The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, like to the hangings of the court.
World English Bible · Public Domain
Download a study sheet

One document with this verse’s original text, its word-by-word gloss line, the meaning frame, cross-references with their text, attributed commentary, and full source and license credits — printable, and it pastes into notes with its structure intact.

This verse Autodidact and up

Study sheet (.html) Plain text (.txt)

A passage Seminary Student

Up to 50 verses in one chapter. A passage sheet keeps up to 6 commentary sources and 12 cross-references per verse, in the order this page ranks them, and says so on the sheet whenever that leaves anything out. Ask for a single verse and you get the Autodidact verse sheet above.

Everything on this page stays free to read, with no account — the sheet is a download of what is already on screen, not access to it.

Want to remove ads? Support Godless Engineer
Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, like to the hangings of the court.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    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.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And the curtain of the gate of the courtyard work of an embroiderer, blue and purple and worm of scarlet and twisted fine linen. And the length twenty cubits and the height in width five cubits, just as the curtains of the courtyard,

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

3 of 4 selected

Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, like to the hangings of the court.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. It was twenty cubits long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits high,
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. It was twenty cubits long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits high,
  • King James Version Public Domain
    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.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    And the screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, 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.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    And the screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, 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.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    He made also the hanging of the gate of the court of needle worke, blewe silke, and purple, and skarlet, and fine twined linen euen twentie cubites long, and fiue cubites in height and bredth, like the hangings of the court.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    And he made in the entry thereof an embroidered hanging of violet, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, that was twenty cubits long, and five cubits high according to the measure of all the hangings of the court.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    And the covering of the gate of the court `is' the work of an embroiderer, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen; and twenty cubits `is' the length, and the height with the breadth five cubits, over-against the hangings of the court;
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    And the covering of the gate of the court [is] the work of an embroiderer, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen; and twenty cubits [is] the length, and the height with the breadth [is] five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the court;
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    The curtain at the courtyard gate was twenty cubits long. The curtain was made of blue, purple, and scarlet linen, fine twined linen, and was twenty cubits long. It was twenty cubits in length and five cubits in height, like the courtyard curtains.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And the curtain of the gate of the courtyard work of an embroiderer, blue and purple and worm of scarlet and twisted fine linen. And the length twenty cubits and the height in width five cubits, just as the curtains of the courtyard,
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    -- And the curtain of the gate of the court was of embroidery of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus; and the length was twenty cubits, and the height like the breadth, five cubits, just as the hangings of the court;
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height along the width was five cubits, like the hangings of the court.
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    And the hanging for the gate of the court was needle-work, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the hight in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was embroidered with blue, purple, and crimson thread, and finely-spun linen. It was twenty cubits long by five cubits high, the same height as the courtyard curtains.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    And the curtain for the doorway of the open space was of the best linen, with designs of blue and purple and red in needlework; it was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, to go with the hangings round the sides.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    And the screen for the gate of the court was the work of the weaver in colours, 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.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

More ways to search: Search by grammar → Find every occurrence → Compare this word →

Practice this passage: Drill this verse → Learn its vocabulary →

רֹקֵ֔ם
râqam
H7551
“variegating”
Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
Part of Speech
Verb
Stem
Qal
Form
Participle Active
Gender
Masculine
Number
Singular
State
Absolute
Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 2216

to variegate, mix colours - (Qal) variegator (worker in colours) (participle) - (Pual) to be skilfully wrought or woven
  1. וּמָסַ֞ךְ mâçâk H4539 “and · covering of” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  2. שַׁ֤עַר shaʻar H8179 “gate of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  3. הֶחָצֵר֙ châtsêr H2691 “the · court” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute
  4. מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה maʻăseh H4639 “work of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  5. תְּכֵ֧לֶת tᵉkêleth H8504 “violet” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  6. וְאַרְגָּמָ֛ן ʼargâmân H713 “and · purple” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  7. וְתוֹלַ֥עַת tôwlâʻ H8438 “and · worm of” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct
  8. שָׁנִ֖י shânîy H8144 “scarlet” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  9. וְשֵׁ֣שׁ shêsh H8336 “and · fine linen” Conjunction + Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  10. מָשְׁזָ֑ר shâzar H7806 “twisted” Verb, Hophal, Participle Passive, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  11. וְעֶשְׂרִ֤ים ʻesrîym H6242 “and · twenty” Conjunction + Adjective, Cardinal number, Both, Plural, Absolute
  12. אַמָּה֙ ʼammâh H520 “cubit” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  13. אֹ֔רֶךְ ʼôrek H753 “length” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  14. וְקוֹמָ֤ה qôwmâh H6967 “and · height” Conjunction + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  15. בְרֹ֨חַב֙ rôchab H7341 “in/at · breadth” Preposition + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  16. חָמֵ֣שׁ châmêsh H2568 “five” Adjective, Cardinal number, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  17. אַמּ֔וֹת ʼammâh H520 “cubits” Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute
  18. לְעֻמַּ֖ת ʻummâh H5980 “to/for · beside of” Preposition + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct
  19. קַלְעֵ֥י qelaʻ H7050 “slings of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct
  20. הֶחָצֵֽר châtsêr H2691 “the · court” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Both, Singular, Absolute

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

21
words
19
distinct lemmas
Pentateuch
section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is רֹקֵ֔ם to variegate H7551 — appearing just 9 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

רֹקֵ֔ם to variegate H7551 occurs in 9 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

  • 2 verbs
  • 16 nouns
  • 3 adjectives

Verb forms

  • רֹקֵ֔ם Qal · Participle Active
  • מָשְׁזָ֑ר Hophal · Participle Passive

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • הֶחָצֵר֙ court H2691 ×2
  • אַמָּה֙ cubit H520 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 43 words from the Hebrew and 35 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 21 Hebrew tokens and 27 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

1

Topical passages linked to Exodus 38:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • 2 Chronicles 3:14 He made the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and worked cherubim thereon.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Exodus 38:18 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וּמָסַ֞ךְ שַׁ֤עַר הֶחָצֵר֙ מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה רֹקֵ֔ם תְּכֵ֧לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָ֛ן וְתוֹלַ֥עַת שָׁנִ֖י וְשֵׁ֣שׁ מָשְׁזָ֑ר וְעֶשְׂרִ֤ים אַמָּה֙ אֹ֔רֶךְ וְקוֹמָ֤ה בְרֹ֨חַב֙ חָמֵ֣שׁ אַמּ֔וֹת לְעֻמַּ֖ת קַלְעֵ֥י הֶחָצֵֽר

The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. Twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, like to the hangings of the court.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Exodus 38:18 Septuagint · lemma form

οὗτος περιἀργυρόω ὁ στῦλος καί χωνεύω ὁ στῦλος δακτύλιος χρυσοῦς καί χρυσόω ὁ μοχλός χρυσίον καί καταχρυσόω ὁ στῦλος ὁ καταπέτασμα χρυσίον καί ποιέω ὁ ἀγκύλη χρυσοῦς

He overlaid the posts with silver, and cast for each post golden rings, and gilded the bars with gold; and he gilded the posts of the veil with gold, and made the hooks of gold.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

2

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

  1. Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
    וּפְרָסָא דִתְרַע דַרְתָּא עוֹבַד צַיָר תִּכְלָא וְאַרְגְוָנָא וּצְבַע זְהוֹרִי וּבוּץ שְׁזִיר וְעֶסְרִין אַמִין אֻרְכָּא וְרוּמָא בְּפוּתְיָא חֲמֵשׁ אַמִין לָקֳבֵל סְרָדֵי דַרְתָּא:

    (no public-domain English translation for this verse)

    Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

  2. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
    וּפְרָסָא דִתְרַע דָּרְתָא עוֹבַד צִיּוּר מַחְטָא דְתִכְלָא וְאַרְגְּוָונָא וּצְבַע זְהוֹרֵי וּבוּץ שְׁזִיר וְעֶשְרִין אַמִּין אוּרְכָּא וְרוּמֵיהּ בְּפוּתְיָהּ חֲמֵשׁ אַמִּין כָּל קֳבֵיל וִילַוֵי דָרְתָא

    And the hanging for the gate of the court was made of embroidered work in hyacinth, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen twined; and twenty cubits (was) the length, and the height on its breadth five cubits, corresponding with the curtains of the court.

    Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Exodus 38:18 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Hebrew, over against.

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

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

the height in the breadth--or, "in the measure." The sense is that the hangings of the court gate, which was twenty cubits wide, were of the same height as the hangings all round the court [WALL].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

18, 19. The screen for the gate of the Court. V. 18a=Exo_27:16 a; v. 18b (‘the height,’ &c.) inferred from Exo_27:18 (‘answerable to’ = corresponding to; cf. in RV. Eze_40:18; Eze_45:7; Eze_48:13; Eze_48:18; and see DB. s.v. Answer). V. 19a =Exo_27:16 b; v.19b their hooks of silver inferred from Exo_27:17 b; the ‘chapiters’ and ‘fillets’ not mentioned in Exo_27:16 (cf. above, on v. 17), only the silver fillets implied in Exo_27:17 a.

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

The height relates to its standing or hanging upright, and the

breadth relates to the hanging itself, and the height of the hanging was taken in the breadth.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

The height in the breadth was five cubits. The height of the hangings all round the court was required to be five cubits, or seven and a half feet. (Exo_27:18) It appears by the expression here used the breadth that the material was woven of exactly this width.

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

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

לעמת קלעי החצר [AND THE SCREEN…] ANSWERING TO THE HANGINGS OF THE ENCLOSURE — i. e. according to the measure of the height of the hangings of the enclosure.

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.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Exodus, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 21 words (19 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is râqam (“to variegate”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. What does “to variegate” (râqam) contribute to the verse as a whole?
  2. Exodus 26:36 shares the word «to variegate» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
  3. “court” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
  4. These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
  5. The verb «רֹקֵ֔ם» is Qal Participle Active. How does its form color the action?
  6. Reading how Geneva Bible (1599) and Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

Reading settings

Reading text

Shown beneath each verse's original-language words.

Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

Comparing translations? Open the Compare panel on any verse page to stack up to four side by side.