Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 26:17
Two tenons [shall there be] in one board, set in order one against another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle.
17. tenons ] lit. hands, used fig. of supports: cf. 1Ki 7:32-33 (EVV. axletrees; rather, diagonal stays under the body of the laver, holding the axles in their places), 35 ( supports of the basin at the top), 36 (corrupt dittography from v. 35: see Skinner’s note in the Century Bible), Exo 10:16 (of the ‘arms’ of a throne). These ‘hands,’ or tenons, as ordinarily understood, were pegs projecting underneath the bottom of the boards, to hold them firm in their sockets ( v. 19).
joined ] the word (only here and in the ||, Exo 36:22) means joined by a cross-piece (cf. the cognate shlabbim, 1Ki 7:28-29 , ‘cross-pieces,’ or ‘cross-rails’ [see Skinner’s note: in EVV. misrendered ledges ], and the post-Bibl. shlbh, the ‘ rung ’ of a ladder), clamped together. The tenons of each board (or frame) were secured in their places by a clamp of metal underneath the bottom of the board.
Kennedy, however (p. 660 a ), understands the ‘hands’ not of tenons, but of the upright sides of the ‘frame’ themselves, and would render vv. 15 17 thus: ‘And thou shalt make the frames for the Dwelling of acacia wood, standing up, 10 cubits the length of a frame, and 1 cubits the breadth of a frame, namely, two uprights for [so rightly, for EVV. in ] each frame, joined one to another by cross-rails [see the illustr.]: thus shalt thou make for all the frames of the Dwelling.’ The translation is quite legitimate (for there is in the Heb. no ‘shall be’ in either v. 16 or v. 17), and the explanation clever: but it is difficult to feel certain that such ‘uprights’ would be called hands in Heb. The sense ‘frames’ for rshim is not dependent upon it; and it is perhaps safer to adhere to the usual rend, ‘tenons.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Two tenons, Heb. hands, i.e. parts of the boards, so cut and framed that like hands they may take hold of and be fastened into the sockets, Exo 26:19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Two tenons shall there be on one board,…. Every board was to be so cut and shaped at the lower end of it, as to have, as it were, “two hands” r, as in the original, to enter into, lay hold on, and fasten in mortises:
set in order one against another; at a proper distance from each other, as the rounds of a ladder:
thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle; everyone was to have two tenons.
r “duae manus”, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Every board was to have two (lit., hands or holders) to hold them upright, pegs therefore; and they were to be “ bound to one another ” ( , from in Chald. to connect, hence in 1Ki 7:28, the corner plates that hold together the four sides of a chest), not “pegged into one another,” but joined together by a fastening dovetailed into the pegs, by which the latter were fastened still more firmly to the boards, and therefore had greater holding power than if each one had been simply sunk into the edge of the board.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(17) Two tenons.By tenons here are meant projections, probably round, from the end of each plank, made to fit into holes prepared for them in the sockets. They were to be set in order one against another: i.e., placed regularly at certain intervals, so that each corresponded in position to its fellow.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Two tenons Small projections from the bottom of each board to set in the sockets mentioned in Exo 26:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
tenons: Heb. hands, Exo 26:19, Exo 36:22, Exo 36:24