complete verse (Exodus 38:16)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 38:16:

  • Kupsabiny: “All those curtains which were placed/arranged around that compound were woven and very expensive.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The curtains around the courtyard were made of fine linen.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “All the curtains around the yard/courtyard (were) fine linen.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “And they took only good cloths for making that fence.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “Those clothes [which] they hang , they make it with thread be good.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “All the curtains around the courtyard were made from fine white linen.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 38:13 - 38:16

Verses 13-15 repeat almost word for word what is said in 27.13-15, and verse 16 repeats part of 27.18. The word order is different, especially in verse 15, which reads literally “and for the second shoulder, from this and from that to the gate of the court, hangings of fifteen cubits, their pillars three and their bases three.” Good News Translation again combines these verses in order to bring out the meaning more clearly: “On each side of the entrance there were 7½ yards of curtains, with three posts and three bases.” (The British edition has “6.6 metres of curtains.”)

Verse 16 summarizes what was true for all hangings, namely, that they were all made from fine twined linen, literally “fine linen twisted.” (See the comment at 26.1.)

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .