Curtain
Curtain
the rendering in the Auth. Vers. of three Hebrew terms.
1. , yeriah’ (from its tremulous motion, invariably thus translated), the ten curtains of fine linen, etc., each twenty-eight cubits long and four wide, and also the eleven of goats’ hair, which covered the tabernacle of Moses (Exo 26:1-13; Exo 36:8-17). The charge of these curtains and of the other textile fabrics of the tabernacle was laid on the Gershonites (Num 4:25). Having this definite meaning, the word came to be used as a synonym for the tabernacle its transitoriness and slightness and is so employed in the sublime speech of David, 2Sa 7:2 (where curtains should be the curtain), and 1Ch 17:1. In a few later instances the word bears the more geneial meaning of the sides of a tent, as in the beautiful figure of Isa 54:2 (where habitations should be tabernacles, poetic word for tents); Jer 4:20; Jer 10:20 (here tabernacle and tent are both one word, , tent); Psa 104:2 (where stretch, , is the word usually employed for extending a tent). Also specially of nomadic people, Jer 49:29; Hab 3:7 (of the black hair-cloth of which the tents of the real Bedouin are still composed); but Son 1:5 rather refers to the hangings of the palace. SEE TENT.
2. , masak, the hanging for the doorway of the tabernacle (Exo 26:36-37; Exo 35:15; Exo 36:37; Exo 39:38; xl, 5; Num 3:25; Num 4:25); and also for the gate of the court round the tabernacle (Exo 27:16; Exo 35:17; Exo 38:18; Exo 39:40; xl, 33; Num 3:26; Num 4:26). Among these the rendering curtain occurs but once (Num 3:26), while hanging is shared equally between masak and a very different word -, kelai’. SEE HANGING. Besides curtain and hanging, masak is rendered covering in Exo 35:12; Exo 39:34; Exo 40:21; Num 4:5; 2Sa 17:19 : Psa 105:39; Isa 22:8. The idea in the root of masak seems to be of shielding or protecting (, Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 951). If this be so, the object denoted may have been not a curtain or veil, but an awning to shade the entrances a thing natural and common in the fierce sun of the East (see Fergusson’s Nineveh and Persepolis, p. 184). s.v. SEE TABERNACLE. The sacred curtain separating the holy of holies from the sanctuary is designated by an entirely different term, , pero’keth (Exo 26:31 sq.; Lev 16:2; Num 18:7, etc.). SEE VAIL.
3. dok (prop. fineness), fine cloth for a garment, specially a curtain, apparently a tent-covering of superior fineness (Isa 40:22), such as the rich Orientals spread for a screen over their courts in summer (Henderson, in loc.). SEE COURT.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Curtain (2)
(cortina, aukeum, velum; , , , ). Curtains were used in ancient churches for the following purposes:
(1) to hang over the outer doorway of the church;
(2) to close the doorway between the nave of the church and the sanctuary, or perhaps rather to hil the open panels or cancelli of the door, during the time of the consecration of the eucharist;
(3) to fill the space between the pillars of the ciborium, or canopy of the altar;
(4) curtains were also used in baptisteries. Curtchew (Cutchou, or Cowslan) is apparently an early Scottish name for ST. CONSTANTINE SEE CONSTANTINE (q.v.).
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Curtain
(1.) Ten curtains, each twenty-eight cubits long and four wide, made of fine linen, also eleven made of goat’s hair, covered the tabernacle (Ex. 26:1-13; 36:8-17).
(2.) The sacred curtain, separating the holy of holies from the sanctuary, is designated by a different Hebrew word (peroketh). It is described as a “veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work” (Ex. 26:31; Lev. 16:2; Num. 18:7).
(3.) “Stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain” (Isa. 40:22), is an expression used with reference to the veil or awning which Orientals spread for a screen over their courts in summer. According to the prophet, the heavens are spread over our heads as such an awning. Similar expressions are found in Ps. 104:2l; comp. Isa. 44:24; Job 9:8.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Curtain
CURTAIN.See Tabernacle.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Curtain
kurt’n, -ten, -tin: The word ordinarily used for curtain is , yerah. Thus in Exo 26:1; Exo 36:8 of the curtains of the tabernacle (see TABERNACLE); in 2Sa 7:2; Psa 104:2; Son 1:5; Isa 54:2; Jer 4:20; Jer 10:20; Jer 49:29; Hab 3:7.
Figurative: In Isa 40:22 (like Psa 104:2, of the heavens), the word used is , dok, literally, gauze.