Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 26:26
And thou shalt make bars [of] shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,
26 29. The bars. Five gilt bars of acacia wood, attached to the frames by gold rings, are to run horizontally along the two sides and the back of the Dwelling, to keep the frames in their places. The middle bar in each case ran from end to end: the other bars, it may be inferred, were shorter, perhaps arranged as is here shewn:
It is not stated whether the bars were to be outside or inside the Dwelling: but the former seems the more natural, and is commonly assumed.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
By bars you may understand either,
1. Several rows or orders of bars, one bar beginning at the end of the other, and each containing four cubits in length, and altogether twenty cubits, which was the length of the tabernacle; or,
2. Single bars, which seem truer,
1. Because the word signifies bars, not rows of bars; and why should we go from the proper signification of the word without cause?
2. If bars be put for rows of bars, there must be five rows of bars on a side, there being so many bars said to be on a side. But the abettors of that opinion allow only four rows of bars on a side; and it is apparent the middle bar, which is one of the five, is but one single bar, Exo 26:28, and therefore it may be presumed the rest were so too.
3. The name of the middle bar implies, that of the other four bars, two were above it, and two below it.
Object. But if they were each single bars, reaching the whole length of the building, why is it said peculiarly of the middle bar, that it should reach from end to end, or from extremity to extremity? Exo 26:28.
Answ. This may be peculiarly said of this, either because the other four might want something of the just length of the building, or because the middle bar might stand out beyond the two ends of it, for conveniency of the carriage of the building.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And thou shalt make bars of shittim wood, e.] Which being put into rings or staples of gold, kept the boards tight, close, and firm together:
five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle: for instance, the south side four of these were placed, two at the upper end of the boards, and two at the lower end, and the fifth in the middle, particularly taken notice of, Ex 26:28, how long these bars were it is not said, but it is reasonable to conclude that they reached the length of the tabernacle, which was thirty cubits; and as it was not easy to get bars of such a length, the notion of Josephus u perhaps, may be right, that each two consisted of divers parts which joined one another, the head of one entering into the hollow of the other and as he supposes they were five cubits long, a row of them must have six parts, which went along the sides, north and south, and the west end two, which was but ten cubits.
u Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 3.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 26-30:
The walls were made stable by means of wooden bars of acacia wood, overlaid with gold. Five bars were provided for each side and the end, a total of fifteen bars. The middle bar for each side was to span the entire length of the side wall, or thirty feet. The length of the other four bars for the sides, is not given.
The bars were attached to the walls by means of gold rings set in the boards of the wall. These bars likely were attached on the outside of the structure.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(26) Bars of shittim wood.The object of the bars was to hold the boards together, and prevent there being any aperture between one board and another. They were fifteen in number, five for each of the three sides of the boarded space. The middle bar on each side was to extend from end to end of the tabernacle (Exo. 26:28), the four bars above and below being shorter, each coupling together probably one-half of the boards of its side. The bars were passed through rings attached to the boards (Exo. 26:29), each board having at least one such ring. It is probable that they were placed outside the tabernacle walls.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26-29. Bars The description and design of these are easy to be understood . “They held the whole firmly together,” says Josephus, “and for this reason was all this joined so fast together, that the tabernacle might not be shaken either by the winds or by any other means, but that it might preserve itself quiet and immovable continually . ” These bars of shittim wood, as well as the boards, were overlaid with gold, and were made to pass through gold rings or staples, which were fastened in each board as places (Hebrews, houses) for the bars. They were five in number for each side and for the western end, the middle bar in the midst of the boards on each side reaching from end to end . Whether these bars were to be on the outside or inside of the boards is not stated, and both views have had their advocates . Most probably they were on the outside, as thus, in putting up and taking down the structure, there would be less occasion to invade the holy places. As the middle bar extended the whole length of the wall of boards, it is naturally inferred that the other four did not, and hence the general conclusion that there were but three rows of bars on each side, the upper and lower row consisting of two bars, each running half the length of the middle bar.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Making of the Bars To Hold The Frames Together ( Exo 26:26-29 ).
This may be analysed as follows:
a Five bars were to be made of acacia wood for the frames for each of the south, north and west sides (Exo 26:26-27).
b The middle bar was to pass from end to end right along the frames (Exo 26:28).
c The frames were to be overlaid with gold, they were to attach rings of gold to hold the bars, and the bars were to be overlaid with gold (Exo 26:29).
In ‘a’ we have the description of the making of the five bars for the frames and in the parallel what the bars are to be overlaid with, and how connected to the frames. The middle bar is central.
Exo 26:26-28
“And you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the Dwelling-place, and five bars for the frames on the other side of the Dwelling-place, and five bars for the frames of the side of the Dwelling-place for the rear part westward. And the middle bar in the middle of the frames will pass through from end to end.”
The bars would hold the frames together and be connected to them by rings of gold as then described. The middle bar went all the way along. Possibly each of the two above and below went half way along, one from the rear and one from the front, the shorter bars giving added strength.
Exo 26:29
“And you shall overlay the frames with gold, and make their rings of gold for places for the bars, and you shall overlay the bars with gold.”
Moses did not have to guess or work it out from the instructions, for he had already been shown, while in the Mount, how it was all to be fitted together. The instructions were merely there to remind him of the main plan. No instruction is given as to how the roof is to be supported. It may have been unsupported, in which case it would have sagged in the middle, especially when it rained, but this is very unlikely. It would hardly have remained stable. Or it may have been supported by a kind of lattice work or by bars going across, a method probably already connected in their minds with the kerashim framework and therefore not needing to be explained. Its measurements would be determined by the other measurements.
To sum up. The framework was thirty cubits long by nine to ten wide by ten high. The curtains of forty cubits by twenty eight and forty four cubits by thirty would cover the top and both sides plus the rear, with the overhangs mentioned for the goats’ hair. The inner curtains would not quite reach the floor, for this would have been seen as defiling the Dwellingplace. The front was seemingly open. Thus a screen will be made to cover this opening (Exo 26:36) although the outer coverings of rams’ skins dyed red and dolphin skin may also have been long enough to provide covering.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
bars. Hebrew. beriah, from barah, to pass, or shoot.
side. Hebrew. zela = rib.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Veil and the Screen
Exo 26:26-37
The boards that made the sides and back of the Tabernacle were of wood covered with gold, and set in sockets of silver. They were knit together by the five long bars that passed through the rings, parallel with the ground. The veil typified the separation between man and God, the awful barrier that sin has caused, which shuts out from the enjoyment of God all save those who can enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus. Men had impressed on them their unworthiness to approach God. The cherubic forms woven on the veil reminded them of Gen 3:24. They were led to anticipate the hour when a new and living way would be opened.
The division of the Tabernacle suggests two degrees of nearness to God, or two stages in Christian living. You may know the great brazen altar which is Calvary; and the showbread table and candlestick; but there is something beyond these for those who have learned the meaning of the rent veil and the Cross! See Mat 27:51; Gal 2:20.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
shittim
i.e. acacia.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
bars of shittim wood: Exo 36:31-38, Num 3:36, Num 4:31, Rom 15:1, 1Co 9:19, 1Co 9:20, Gal 6:1, Gal 6:2, Eph 4:16, Col 2:19
Reciprocal: Exo 25:5 – shittim wood Exo 36:32 – the tabernacle
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The bars 26:26-30
These were evidently rods that the priests threaded through the boards, or perhaps through rings attached to the boards, horizontally to give the boards stability and to hold them upright. They may have had significance to the Israelites, which some commentators have speculated upon, or they may have simply served a practical purpose.