Exodus 26:3

The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(3) The five curtains.—It is anomalous that the article should be used here. Probably it has crept in from “the curtains” of the preceding verse. The meaning is that five “breadths” should be sewn together to form one curtain, and five other “breadths” to form another, and then that the two curtains so formed should be joined into one by means of “loops” and “taches.” The object of making two curtains instead of one was clearly portability. The entire covering would have been too heavy and too bulky to be conveniently carried in one piece.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

26:1-6 God manifested his presence among the Israelites in a tabernacle or tent, because of their condition in the wilderness. God suits the tokens of his favour, and the gifts of his grace, to his people's state and wants. The curtains of the tabernacle were to be very rich. They were to be embroidered with cherubim, signifying that the angels of God pitch their tents round about the church, Ps 34:7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Each curtain formed of five breadths (see Exodus 26:1), was 42 feet in length and 30 feet in breadth, taking the cubit at 18 inches.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another, &c.—so as to form two grand divisions, each eleven yards wide.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another,.... Five of the ten curtains were to be sewed together, and make as it were one curtain:

and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another: the other five were to be joined together in like manner, and so made two large pieces of tapestry of fourteen yards long and ten broad, according to the common account of a cubit, but were much longer and broader.

Geneva Study Bible

The five curtains shall be coupled together one to another; and other five curtains shall be coupled one to another.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3. The curtains were to be joined together, so as to form two sets of five, each 28 cubits (42 ft.) long, and 20 cubits (30 ft.) broad. The Dwelling was 30 cubits long, and 10 cubits high and broad: and the curtain was spread over it in such a way that it hung down for the entire height of 10 cubits behind (the front, having a ‘screen’ of its own (v. 36), not needing any curtain), and for 9 cubits on each of the two sides.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - When the ten "breadths" had been woven, five were to be sewn together to form one portion of the awning, and the other five to form another portion, the reason for this being, probably, that if all the ten breadths had been sewn together, the awning would have been too cumbrous to have been readily folded together, or easily conveyed when the people journeyed. Exodus 26:3

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The length of each piece was to be 28 cubits, and the breadth 4 cubits, one measure for all; and five of these pieces were to be "joined together one to another," i.e., joined or sewed together into a piece of 28 cubits in length and 20 in breadth, and the same with the other five.