Exodus 26 · Verse 31

Exodus 26:31

And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:

Exodus 26:31, King James Version

Exodus 26:31 in other translations

BSB	Make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.
WEB	“You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. It shall be the work of a skillful workman.
ASV	And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubim the work of the skilful workman shall it be made:
YLT	‘And thou hast made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen, work of a designer; he maketh it with cherubs;
DARBY	And thou shalt make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined byssus; of artistic work shall it be made, with cherubim.
BBE	And you are to make a veil of the best linen, blue and purple and red, worked with designs of winged ones by a good workman:
Webster	And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of curious work: with cherubim shall it be made.

What does Exodus 26:31 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 31 Thou shalt make a veil - פרכת parocheth, from פרך parach, to break or rend; the inner veil of the tabernacle or temple, (2Chr 3:14), which broke, interrupted, or divided between the holy place and the most holy; the Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was standing. Compare Heb 9:8. The Septuagint constantly render it by καταπετασμα. Does not the Hebrew name פרכת parocheth moreover intimate the typical correspondence of this veil to the body or flesh of Christ? For this καταπετασμα or veil was his flesh, (Heb 10:20), which, being rent, affords us a new and living way into the holiest of all, i.e., into heaven itself. Compare Heb 10:19, Heb 10:20; Heb 9:24. And accordingly when his blessed body was rent upon the cross, this veil also (το καταπετασμα του ἱερου) εσχισθη, was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; Mat 27:51 - See Parkhurst, under the word פרך. The veil in the tabernacle was exceedingly costly; it was made of the same materials with the inner covering, blue, purple, scarlet, fine twined linen, embroidered with cherubim, etc. It served to divide the tabernacle into two parts: one, the outermost, called the holy place; the other, or innermost, called the holy of holies, or the most holy place. In this was deposited the ark of the covenant, and the other things that were laid up by way of memorial. Into this the high priest alone was permitted to enter, and that only once in the year, on the great day of atonement. It was in this inner place that Jehovah manifested himself between the cherubim. The Jews say that this veil was four fingers' breadth in thickness, in order to prevent any person from seeing through it; but for this, as Calmet observes, there was no necessity, as there was no window or place for light in the tabernacle, and consequently the most simple veil would have been sufficient to obstruct the discovery of any thing behind it, which could only be discerned by the light that came in at the door, or by that afforded by the golden candlestick which stood on the outside of this veil.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 26:31-37

A vail, or curtain, separated the holy place from the most holy place. It was hung upon pillars. This vail was for a partition between the holy place and the most holy; which forbade any to look into the holiest of all. The apostle tells what was the meaning of this vail, He 9:8. That the ceremonial law could not make the comers thereunto perfect, nor would the observance of it bring men to heaven; the way into the holiest of all was not made manifest, while the first tabernacle was standing. Life and immortality lay hidden till they were brought to light by the gospel; which was signified by the rending of this vail at the death of Christ, Mt 27:51. We have now boldness to enter into the holiest, in all acts of worship, by the blood of Jesus; yet such as obliges us to holy reverence. Another vail was for the outer door of the tabernacle. This vail was all the defence the tabernacle had. God takes care of his church on earth. A curtain shall be, if God please to make it so, as strong a defence to his house, as gates of brass and bars of iron. With this typical description of Christ and his church before us, what is our judgment of these matters? Do we see any glory in the person of Christ? any excellence in his character? any thing precious in his salvation? or any wisdom in the doctrine of the cross? Will our religion bear examination? and are we more careful to approve our hearts to God than our characters toward men?

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Exodus 26:31 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְעָשִׂ֣יתָve.'a.Si.taand you will makeH6213

פָרֹ֗כֶתfa.Ro.kheta curtainH6532

תְּכֵ֧לֶתte.Khe.letviolet stuffH8504

וְאַרְגָּמָ֛ןve.'ar.ga.Manand purpleH713

וְתוֹלַ֥עַתve.to.La.'atand scarlet stuff ofH8438

שָׁנִ֖יsha.NiscarletH8144

וְשֵׁ֣שׁve.Sheshand fine linenH8336

מָשְׁזָ֑רma.she.ZartwistedH7806

מַעֲשֵׂ֥הma.'a.Seh[the] work ofH4639

חֹשֵׁ֛בcho.Sheva skillful workerH2803

יַעֲשֶׂ֥הya.'a.Sehsomeone will makeH6213

אֹתָ֖הּ'o.Tah<obj.> itH853

כְּרֻבִֽים\׃ke.ru.VimcherubimH3742

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 26:31

Matthew 27:51
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
2 Chronicles 3:14
And he made the vail of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, and wrought cherubims thereon.
Exodus 36:35
And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.
Exodus 36:8
And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.
Leviticus 16:2
And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
Exodus 26:1
Moreover thou shalt make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work shalt thou make them.
Exodus 25:18
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
Exodus 40:21
And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the Lord commanded Moses.
Exodus 35:6
And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,
Psalms 137:5
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
Hebrews 9:3-8
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. …
Exodus 38:23
And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

a vail of.
36:35; 40:3,21; Le 16:2,15; 2Ch 3:14; Mt 27:51; Mr 15:38; Lu 23:45
Eph 2:14; Heb 9:3-8; 10:20,21
blue.
25:4; 35:6,25,35; 36:8
purple.{Argaman,} a very precious colour, extracted from the purpura, or murex, a species of shell-fish; and supposed to be the same with the costly and much celebrated Tyrian purple.
scarlet.Tolaâth; properly the worm whence the scarlet colour was produced; which grew in a coccus, or excrescence, of a shrub of the ilex kind, like the cochineal worm in the Opuntia of America; which is arranged under the same genus as the Arabic {Kermez,} which also denotes this colour.
cunning work.
1; 28:15; 38:23; 2Ch 2:7-13; Ps 137:5; So 7:1
cherubims shall it be made.
25:18

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Exodus 26:30
And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which was shewed thee in the mount.
Exodus 26:31
And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:
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.

Read all of Exodus 26

Exodus 26:31 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y harás también un velo de cárdeno, y púrpura, y carmesí, y de lino torcido: será hecho de primorosa labor, con querubines:
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et tu feras un voile de bleu, et de pourpre, et d’écarlate, et de fin coton retors; on le fera d’ouvrage d’art, avec des chérubins;
German Elberfelder 1871	Und du sollst einen Vorhang machen von blauem und rotem Purpur und Karmesin und gezwirntem Byssus; in Kunstweberarbeit soll man ihn machen, mit Cherubim.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Facies et velum de hyacintho, et purpura, coccoque bis tincto, et bysso retorta, opere plumario et pulchra varietate contextum: