Exodus 27:10

And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) And the twenty pillars thereof . . . —Heb., and its pillars, twenty (in number), and their bases, also twenty (shall be) of bronze. Kalisch says that the pillars of the court were “of wood, not plated with metal” (Comment., p. 371); but the present passage, and also Exodus 38:10, rightly translated, contradict this view.

The hooks of the pillars.—Comp. Exodus 26:37. As the pillars were for the support of the “hangings,” they required “hooks,” whereto the “hangings” might be attached.

Their fillets.—Rather, their connecting-rods. The pillars of the court were to be united by rods, which would help to support the “hangings.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

27:9-19 The tabernacle was enclosed in a court, about sixty yards long and thirty broad, formed by curtains hung upon brazen pillars, fixed in brazen sockets. Within this enclosure the priests and Levites offered the sacrifices, and thither the Jewish people were admitted. These distinctions represented the difference between the visible nominal church, and the true spiritual church, which alone has access to God, and communion with him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Sockets - Bases. See Exodus 26:19.

Fillets - Rather, Connecting rods; curtain-rods of silver connecting the heads of the pillars. The hangings were attached to the pillars by the silver hooks; but the length of the space between the pillars would render it most probable that they were also in some way fastened to these rods.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9-19. the court of the tabernacle—The enclosure in which the edifice stood was a rectangular court, extending rather more than fifty yards in length and half that space in breadth, and the enclosing parapet was about three yards or half the height of the tabernacle. That parapet consisted of a connected series of curtains, made of fine twined linen yarn, woven into a kind of network, so that the people could see through; but that large curtain which overhung the entrance was of a different texture, being embroidered and dyed with variegated colors, and it was furnished with cords for pulling it up or drawing it aside when the priests had occasion to enter. The curtains of this enclosure were supported on sixty brazen pillars which stood on pedestals of the same metal, but their capitals and fillets were of silver, and the hooks on which they were suspended were of silver also.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

On the twenty pillars the hangings were fastened by the hooks here mentioned.

Their twenty sockets, or, bases, upon which the pillars stood.

Their fillets, or, hoops, which encompassed the pillars at the top, being placed there, as it seems, for ornament only.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass,.... On these pillars the hangings, rails, or curtains were set, and they were for one side, the south side, in number twenty; and so must stand five cubits, or two yards and a half or more, distant from each other, since the length of the hangings were one hundred cubits: these, according to Philo the Jew (h), were made of cedar, but if of wood, most probably of "shittim wood", as they are by most thought to be; though one would think, according to the plain and express words of the text, they as well as their sockets were of brass: and Josephus (i) expressly says they were of brass, and which seems fittest for the purpose: now though the church of God itself is a pillar, and so is every true member of it, 1 Timothy 3:15 yet ministers of the Gospel may be more especially designed, Proverbs 9:1 who are the principal support of the churches of God, and of the interest of religion; and are set for the defence of the Gospel, and are steadfast in the ministration of it:

the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver; the hooks on the pillars might be somewhat like our tenter hooks, and so Jarchi describes them, as having one end crooked upwards, and the other end fixed in the pillar; and as for the fillets, he says, they were silver threads round about the pillars; but whether they were upon the face or of them all, or on the top, or in the middle of them, he confesses his ignorance; only this he knew, that the word has the signification of girding or binding; and these fillets might not only be for ornament, but for the binding of the hangings to the pillars: and so Ben Gersom says, that they were silver threads, with which the curtains were bound to the pillars, that the wind might not separate them from them; and both the silver hooks and fillets may signify the word and ordinances as administered by the preachers of the Gospel, in which there is an union, conjunction, and communion between them and the churches.

(h) De Vita Mosis, l. 3. p. 667. (i) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 2.

Geneva Study Bible

And the twenty pillars thereof and their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their {d} fillets shall be of silver.

(d) They were certain hoops or circles to beautify the pillar.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. sockets] properly bases: see on Exodus 26:19.

brass] copper or bronze, as always. See also on Exodus 25:3.

the hooks) for attaching the hangings to.

fillets) i.e. bands, or binding-rings (the root in Aram, signifies to bind), surrounding the pillars, probably at the base of the capitals (Exodus 38:17): so Di., Kenn. The Heb. word has also been understood to mean connecting-rods, joining the tops of the pillars, to which the hangings were attached: Exodus 38:19, however, seems to shew that the ḥǎshuḳim were integral parts of the pillars, and the Heb. of Exodus 27:17 (= Exodus 38:17) can hardly mean ‘connected by silver rods.’ ‘Fillet’ (lit. a little thread, from Lat. filum, Fr. fil, dimin. filet) is a word better known formerly than it is now (except in connexion with food), meaning a headband, esp. a ribbon, but also used for any narrow strip of binding material (DB. s.v.), or for strips of metal (Murray, Eng. Dict. s.v.).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - And the twenty pillars thereof, etc. Literally, "And its pillars, twenty (in number), and their sockets, twenty (in number, shall be) of bronze." The hooks of the pillars are loops whereto the curtains were to be attached. See Exodus 26:32. Their fillets. It is now generally agreed that the word used designates "connecting rods," which joined the pillars at the top, and probably helped to support the "hangings." These, and the "hooks," were of solid silver. Exodus 27:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(cf. Exodus 38:9-20). The Court of the dwelling was to consist of קלעים "hangings" of spun byssus, and pillars with brass (copper) sockets, and hooks and fastenings for the pillars of silver. The pillars were of course made of acacia-wood; they were five cubits high, with silvered capitals (Exodus 38:17, Exodus 38:19), and carried the hangings, which were fastened to them by means of the hooks and fastenings. There were twenty of them on both the southern and northern sides, and the length of the drapery on each of these sides was 100 cubits (באמּה מאה, 100 sc., measured by the cubit), so that the court was a hundred cubits long (Exodus 27:18).