Exodus 28:16 — Word Study
WLCרָב֥וּעַ יִֽהְיֶ֖ה כָּפ֑וּל זֶ֥רֶת אָרְכּ֖וֹ וְזֶ֥רֶת רָחְבּֽוֹ׃
BSAIt must behâyâh▸ [foursquare, perfectly square] ◂squarerâbaʻ when folded over doublekâphal [doubled, repeated] a spanzereth [distance from thumb to little finger, half a cubit] longʼôrek and a spanzereth [same measure, equal width] widerôchab
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| רָב֥וּעַ | square | Verb, Qal, participle (passive) masculine singular |
| יִֽהְיֶ֖ה | it will be | Verb, Qal, imperfect third person masculine singular |
| כָּפ֑וּל | folded double | Verb, Qal, participle (passive) masculine singular |
| זֶ֥רֶת | [will be] a span | Noun common, feminine singular absolute |
| אָרְכּ֖וֹ | length its | Noun common masculine singular construct, suffix |
| וְזֶ֥רֶת | and [will be] a span | Conjunction, noun common feminine singular absolute |
| רָחְבּֽוֹ׃ | breadth its | Noun common masculine singular construct, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | It must be square when folded over double, a span long and a span wide. |
| KJV | Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof. |
| ASV | Foursquare it shall be and double; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof. |
| YLT | it is square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its breadth. |
| WEB | It shall be square and folded double; a span shall be its length, and a span its width. |
| BBE | It is to be square, folded in two, a hand-stretch long and a hand-stretch wide. |
Where they part company is in the rendering of רָב֥וּעַ — see How Translations Differ.
The sentence has one main clause with two measurements following, indicating the dimensions of the breastpiece.
7 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
verbרָבַע
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — Exodus 28:16
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Instructions for the High Priest's Garmentsgenerated
Exodus 28:16 provides specific instructions for the construction of the high priest's breastpiece, emphasizing its square shape and precise measurements. This garment serves not only a functional purpose but also a symbolic one, representing the priest's role in mediating between God and the people. The detailed measurements reflect the significance of order and holiness in worship practices.
Cross References
The Key Word — רָב֥וּעַ, ra.Vu.a'generated
The word רָבַע (raba`) is a participle meaning to square or be squared. It denotes a geometric shape with four equal sides, emphasizing accuracy in design. This word is used in contexts that require precision, such as the construction of sacred objects.
The passive form indicates that the breastpiece is to be made square, highlighting the importance of adhering to God's specifications in the construction process.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses square for רָב֥וּעַ.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The finite verb יִֽהְיֶ֖ה, it will be, governs the entire sentence, with two noun phrases describing the dimensions of the breastpiece. The structure emphasizes the importance of both length and width, presented in a straightforward manner.
The Hebrew word order places the key attributes at the beginning, underscoring the significance of the square shape and the measurements that follow.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
In the Septuagint, the word רָבַע is rendered as τετράγωνον, which also means square. This choice aligns with the geometric precision required in the text.
The translation reflects a consistent understanding of the breastpiece's design, maintaining the emphasis on its square shape.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Exodus 28:16 states that the breastpiece for the high priest must be square when folded double, measuring a span in length and a span in width. This emphasizes the importance of precise measurements in the construction of sacred garments.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Being square means that all four sides of the breastpiece are equal in length, which is significant for its design and function.
A span is a specific unit of measure that indicates the exact dimensions required for the breastpiece, ensuring it fits properly and serves its purpose.
Folding double means that the breastpiece is constructed in such a way that it is layered, adding to its strength and durability.
This verse is part of a larger set of instructions that detail the design and significance of the high priest's garments, emphasizing their sacred nature and the importance of following God's commands.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What significance do precise measurements have in spiritual practices today?
- How can I apply the concept of careful design in my own life?
- In what ways does this verse reflect the importance of order and structure in worship?
- How can understanding the details of sacred objects enhance my appreciation for worship?
Commentators on this verse — 7 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Exodus 28:16 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleFour square it shall be, [being] doubled,.... That is, when it was doubled; for the length of it, according to Maimonides (c), was a cubit, which is two spans, and so, when it was doubled, was but
Read John Gill on Exodus 28 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work; after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make it.
Read Robert Jamieson on Exodus 28 →Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy BibleIt was doubled for greater strength, that it might better support and secure the precious stones which were put into it, and that it might receive the Urim and Thummim, .
Read Matthew Poole on Exodus 28 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(16) Foursquare it shall be.—On the idea of perfection connected with the square, see Note on Exodus 27:1. But for this, twelve gems would probably have been arranged in the shape of an oblong. Doubled.—Symmachus translates khoshen by δόχιον, “a receptacle” or “bag;” and if the Urim and the Thummim, being material objects, were to be “put in” it (Exodus 28:30), such a construction would seem to have been absolutely necessary. Hence the “doubling,” which would not have been needed merely for strength, since linen corselets, stout enough to resist the blow of a sword, were among the manufactures of Egypt, and could no doubt have been produced by the Hebrews. A span.—The “span” was reckoned at…
Read Charles John Ellicott on Exodus 28 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 16. Four-square it shall be] Here we have the exact dimensions of this breastplate, or more properly breast-piece or stomacher. It was a span in length and breadth when doubled, and consequently two spans long one way before it was doubled. Between these doublings, it is supposed, the Urim and Thummim were placed. See Clarke on Exodus 28:30.
Read AdamClarke on Exodus 28 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges16. double] More clearly, doubled, viz. so as to form a bag or pouch. a span] ½ a cubit, or 9 inches. A piece of material, a cubit long and ½ a cubit broad, was to be doubled over, and sewn together, so as to form a pouch ½ a cubit square.
Read Cambridge on Exodus 28 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible16. Foursquare it shall be… doubled — Being a span, that is, half a cubit (about 9.5 inches) in length and breadth, the doubling or folding of it would form a kind of bag, adapted to contain the Urim and Thummim.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Exodus 28 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
It must be square when folded over double, a span long and a span wide.
It shall be square and folded double; a span shall be its length, and a span its width.
It must be square when folded over double, a span long and a span wide.
It is to be square when doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide.
Tyndale line
Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.
Foursquare it shall be and double; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof.
Foursquare it shall be and double; a span shall be the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof.
Foursquare it shall be, being doubled; a span shall be its length, and a span shall be its breadth.
Foure square it shall be and double, an hand bredth long and an hand bredth broade.
Strictly literal
Square shall it be, doubled; a span the length thereof, and a span the breadth thereof.
it is square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its breadth.
it is square, doubled, a span its length, and a span its breadth.
Four-square shall it be, double; a span in length, and a span in breadth.
It is to be square. You must fold the breastpiece double. It must be one span long and one span wide.
From the Latin
It shall be foursquare and doubled: it shall be the measure of a span both in length and in breadth.
Simplified
It has to be square when folded, measuring around nine inches in length and width.
It is to be square, folded in two, a hand-stretch long and a hand-stretch wide.
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Samaritan Pentateuch agree word for word on this verse, affirming the accuracy of the measurements and the description of the breastpiece. The Septuagint matches the Hebrew closely, indicating a strong consensus among ancient witnesses.
רָב֥וּעַ יִֽהְיֶ֖ה כָּפ֑וּל זֶ֥רֶת אָרְכּ֖וֹ וְזֶ֥רֶת רָחְבּֽוֹ׃
7 of the 7 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
רבוע יהיה כפול זרת ארכו וזרת רחבו
Agrees with the Masoretic Text here, word for word.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in Exodus 28:16
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
רָבַע (raba`) is a verb meaning to square or to be squared, derived from a primitive root related to the concept of being four-sided. Its usage is limited to participles in the Qal and Pual forms, indicating a denominative action. The entries emphasize its geometric connotation without significant disagreement among lexicons.
[רָבַע] vb. denom., only Pt. pass. squared, square;—
Qal square
Pu. square
base
H7251 רָבַע vb. denom., only Pt. pass. squared, square
7251 raba` raw-bah'
a primitive root (rather identical with 7250 through the idea
of sprawling "at all fours" (or possibly the reverse is the
order of deriv.); compare 702); properly, to be four (sided);
used only as denominative of 7253; to be
quadrate:--(four-)square(-d).
see HEBREW for 07250
see HEBREW for 0702
see HEBREW for 07253
רָבַע (ra.va) — to square.
1) to square, be squared
1a) (Qal) square (participle)
1b) (Pual) square (participle)
V-Qal-Inf-c — Verb · Qal · participle (passive) masculine singularHVqsmsa
The Hebrew word הָיָה (hayah) is a primitive root meaning to exist or become, and it encompasses a range of meanings including to happen, occur, and come to pass. It is often used in narrative contexts, particularly in phrases like "and it came to pass." The word can also denote a state of being or existence, and it appears frequently in various forms throughout the Old Testament.
הָיָה 3570 vb. fall out, come to pass, become, be
Qal
Fall out, happen
occur, take place, come about, come to pass
esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass
וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)
rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה
less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)
Come into being, become
abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come
sq. prep.
become
sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)
sq. pred. adj.
become like
sq. pred. לְ pers.
sq. לְ pred.
oft. c. לְ pred. לְ pers.
with עַל and לְ
sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of
Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming)
exist, be in existence
abide, remain, continue
with word of locality, be in or at a place, be situated, stand, lie
as copula, joining subj. & pred.
H1961 הָיָה fall out, come to pass, become, be .. . . Fall out, happen
. occur, take place, come about, come to pass
. esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass . . וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)
. rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה
. less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)
. Come into being, become . . abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come
. sq. prep.
. become . sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)
. sq. pred. adj.
. become like
. sq. pred. + לְ pers.
. sq. לְ pred.
. oft. c. לְ pred. + לְ pers.
. with עַל and לְ
. sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of
. Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming) . exist, be in existence
. abide, remain, continue
1961 hayah haw-yaw
a primitive root (compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become,
come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or
auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished,
committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint,
fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit
(one-)self, require, X use.
see HEBREW for 01933
הָיָה (ha.yah) — to be.
1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out
1a) (Qal)
1a1) ---
1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass
1a1b) to come about, come to pass
1a2) to come into being, become
1a2a) to arise, appear, come
1a2b) to become
1a2b1) to become
1a2b2) to become like
1a2b3) to be instituted, be established
1a3) to be
1a3a) to exist, be in existence
1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time)
1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality)
1a3d) to accompany, be with
1b) (Niphal)
1b1) to occur, come to pass, be done, be brought about
1b2) to be done, be finished, be gone
V-Qal-Imperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · imperfect third person masculine singularHVqi3ms
כָּפַל (kaphal) means to double or fold over. It can refer to the action of doubling something, as seen in contexts like curtains or a breast-piece. The verb appears in both Qal and Niphal forms, indicating active and passive senses of doubling.
כָּפַל vb. double, double over (late)
Qal and thou shalt double over the sixth curtain, i.e. prob. use it double; folded double, of the breast-piece
Niph. and let the sword be doubled, but very dub.
base
H3717 כָּפַל double, double over (late)
3717 kaphal kaw-fal'
a primitive root; to fold together; figuratively, to
repeat:--double.
כָּפַל (ka.phal) — to double.
1) to double, fold double, double over
1a) (Qal) to double over
1b) (Niphal) to be doubled
V-Qal-Inf-c — Verb · Qal · participle (passive) masculine singularHVqsmsa
dub'-'-l (shanah, "to repeat," as in counting; kaphal, "to fold over," or "double," as a cloth): A word used quite frequently in the Old Testament. Jacob ordered his sons to take double money in their hands, i.e. twice the necessary amount (Ge 43:12,15). If a thief be caught with a living animal he was to restore double (Ex 22:4); if property be stolen out of the house of one to whom it is entrusted he was to restore double (Ex 22:7,9). The firstborn was to receive a double portion of the inheritance (De 21:17). Likewise also by a beautiful symbol Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit to fall upon him (2Ki…
זֶ֫רֶת (zereth) refers to a span, which is a unit of measure approximately equivalent to half a cubit, or the distance between the thumb and little finger of an outstretched hand. The word is derived from the root meaning to spread fingers, and it appears in contexts related to measurement.
זֶ֫רֶת n.f. span
base
H2239 זֶ֫רֶת span
2239 zereth zeh'-reth
from 2219; the spread of the fingers, i.e. a span:--span.
see HEBREW for 02219
זֶ֫רֶת (ze.ret) — span.
1) span
1a) a unit of measure, approx half-cubit, or the distance from the thumb to the little finger on an outstretched hand
N-fs — Noun common · feminine singular absoluteHNcfsa
אֹ֫רֶךְ (orek) means 'length' and can refer to physical length or duration of time. It also encompasses concepts of forbearance and self-restraint, particularly in the context of patience. The word is derived from a root associated with the idea of length, as noted in Strong's entries.
אֹ֫רֶךְ 94 n.[m.] length
length
of time
forbearance, self-restraint
base
H753 אֹ֫רֶךְ length
753 'orek o'rek'
from 748; length:--+ forever, length, long.
see HEBREW for 0748
אֹ֫רֶךְ (o.rekh) — length.
1) length
1a) physical length
1b) of time
2) forbearance, self-restraint (of patience)
N-ms | Suff — Noun common masculine singular construct · suffixHNcmsc/Sp3ms
זֶ֫רֶת (zereth) refers to a span, which is a unit of measure approximately equivalent to half a cubit, or the distance between the thumb and little finger of an outstretched hand. The word is derived from the root meaning to spread fingers, and it appears in contexts related to measurement.
זֶ֫רֶת n.f. span
base
H2239 זֶ֫רֶת span
2239 zereth zeh'-reth
from 2219; the spread of the fingers, i.e. a span:--span.
see HEBREW for 02219
זֶ֫רֶת (ze.ret) — span.
1) span
1a) a unit of measure, approx half-cubit, or the distance from the thumb to the little finger on an outstretched hand
Conj | N-fs — Conjunction · noun common feminine singular absoluteHC/Ncfsa
רֹ֫חַב (rochab) refers to width or breadth, encompassing both literal and figurative uses. It is derived from the root word meaning to be wide. The term appears in various contexts, indicating expanse or largeness.
רֹ֫חַב 101 n.[m.] breadth, width
base
H7341 רֹ֫חַב breadth, width
7341 rochab ro'-khab
from 7337; width (literally or figuratively):--breadth,
broad, largeness, thickness, wideness.
see HEBREW for 07337
רֹ֫חַב (ro.chav) — width.
breadth, width, expanse
N-ms | Suff — Noun common masculine singular construct · suffixHNcmsc/Sp3ms