Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 26:32
And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim [wood] overlaid with gold: their hooks [shall be of] gold, upon the four sockets of silver.
32. four bases of silver ] such as the frames rested upon, v. 19 ff.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 32. Their hooks shall be of gold] vaveyhem, which we translate their hooks, is rendered , capitals, by the Septuagint, and capita by the Vulgate. As the word vav or vau, plural vavim, occurs only in this book, Ex 26:32, Ex 26:37; Ex 27:10-11, Ex 27:17; Ex 36:36, Ex 36:38; Ex 38:10-12, Ex 38:17, Ex 38:19, Ex 38:28; and is used in these places in reference to the same subject, it is very difficult to ascertain its precise meaning. Most commentators and lexicographers think that the ideal meaning of the word is to connect, attach, join to, hook; and that the letter vau has its name from its hooklike form, and its use as a particle in the Hebrew language, because it serves to connect the words and members of a sentence, and the sentences of a discourse together, and that therefore hook must be the obvious meaning of the word in all the above texts. Calmet thinks this reason of no weight, because the vau of the present Hebrew alphabet is widely dissimilar from the vau of the primitive Hebrew alphabet, as may be seen on the ancient shekels; on these the characters appear as in the word JEHOVAH, Ex 28:36. This form bears no resemblance to a hook; nor does the Samaritan [Samaritan] vau, which appears to have been copied from this ancient character.
Calmet therefore contends, 1. That if Moses does not mean the capitals of the pillars by the vavim of the text, he mentions them nowhere; and it would be strange that while he describes the pillars, their sockets, bases, fillets, c., c., with so much exactness, as will appear on consulting the preceding places, that he should make no mention of the capitals or that pillars, every way so correctly formed, should have been destitute of this very necessary ornament.
2. As Moses was commanded to make the hooks, vavim, of the pillars and their fillets of silver, Ex 27:10-11, and the hooks, vavim, of the pillars of the veil of gold, Ex 36:36; and as one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels were employed in making these hooks, vavim, overlaying their chapiters, rasheyhem, their heads, and filleting them, Ex 38:28; it is more reasonable to suppose that all this is spoken of the capitals of the pillars than of any kind of hooks, especially as hooks are mentioned under the word taches or clasps in other places. On the whole it appears much more reasonable to translate the original by capitals than by hooks.
After this verse the Samaritan Pentateuch introduces the ten first verses of chap. xxx., and this appears to be their proper place. Those ten verses are not repeated in the thirtieth chapter in the Samaritan, the chapter beginning with the 11th verse.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The hooks were fastened to the tops of the pillars, as the veil was fastened to them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood, overlaid with gold,…. For it was ten cubits long, and as many broad; and being of such a stiffness and thickness as it was, required so many pillars to support it: these pillars may signify the deity of Christ, which is the support of his human nature, and in which it has its personal subsistence, and gives all its actions and sufferings virtue and efficacy; and being of “shittim wood”, which is incorruptible, may denote his eternity, and being covered with gold, his glory:
their hooks shall be of gold; which were upon the tops of the pillars on which the vail was hung: and the pillars were
upon the four sockets of silver; which were properly the pedestals or feet of the pillars; and these sockets, into which the pillars were let and placed, and the hooks the vail hung by, may hint to the union of the two natures in Christ, who is God and man in one person, God manifest in the flesh; see So 5:15.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(32) Four pillars.These seem to have been true pillars or columns, and not tent-poles. They were probably of equal height, and equally spaced, and were perhaps connected at the top by a cornice or beam. Together with the vail they formed a screen, which shut off the Holy of Holies from the outer chamber. They were, doubtless, of the same height as the boards, i.e., fifteen feet (Exo. 26:16).
Their hooks.Each pillar was to have a hook near the top, whereto the vail was to be attached.
Upon the four sockets.Heb., upon four sockets.Each pillar was to have its socket, into which it was to be inserted, and which was itself probably to be sunk into the ground.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 26:32. Their hooksof gold upon the four sockets of silver What The LXX render hooks, Houbigant and many others render chapiters, (their chapiters of gold upon four sockets or bases of silver, like those mentioned Exo 26:19.) which is the more likely to be the true version, not only because it is scarcely to be doubted that these pillars had chapiters; but because the hooks for the vail are expressed in the next verse by another word, taches or clasps. The Hebrew, literally, in Exo 26:33, is, and thou shalt give the vail from or by clasps; [i.e. thou shalt cause it to hang by clasps from the pillars] and thou shalt bring in thither, within the vail, the ark, &c. In Heb 9:3 this is called the second vail, which must be understood in reference to the hanging for the door of the tent, mentioned Exo 26:36 which was made of the same stuff with this inner vail, and may properly enough be called the first vail or covering.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
shittim
i.e. acacia.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
pillars of shittim: Exo 26:37, Exo 36:38, Est 1:6
their hooks shall be of gold: The Hebrew waveyhem, which we translate their hooks, is rendered by the LXX , and by the Vulgate, capiata, capitals. Hence Calmet contends:
1. That if Moses does not mean the capitals of the pillars by this word, he mentions them nowhere else; and it would seem strange, that while he describes them with so much exactness, that he should not mention the capitals; or that pillars every way so correctly formed, should have been destitute of this necessary ornament.
2. As Moses was commanded to make the wavim of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver (Exo 27:10-11), and the wavim of the pillars of the vail of gold (Exo 36:36), and that 1,775 shekels were employed in making them, overlaying their chapiters, rasheyhem, their heads, and filleting them (Exo 38:28), it is more reasonable to suppose that all this is spoken of the capitals of pillars, than of any kind of hooks, especially as hooks are mentioned under the word taches or clasps. But as the root wavah seems to signify to connect (for yww, in Arabic, is to marry a wife), and as the letter ww, wav, if it has not its name from its hook-like form, is yet used as a connective particle, it would rather appear to denote hooks, which connected the curtains or vails to the pillars. The LXX also render it , “handles”, and , “rings” or “clasps”.
Reciprocal: Exo 30:1 – General Exo 38:27 – and the sockets Num 3:36 – under the custody and charge 1Ki 6:21 – overlaid
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
26:32 And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim [wood] overlaid with gold: their {k} hooks [shall be of] gold, upon the four sockets of silver.
(k) Some read “heads of the pillars”.