StrongerBible

qeres

קֶרֶס

HebrewH7165clasp, hook, ...

Appears 10 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 26:6 (2×)Exo 26:11 (2×)Exo 26:33Exo 35:11Exo 36:13 (2×)Exo 36:18Exo 39:33
Root family
Word studyKEH-resnoun

What qeres means

a clasp: one of the metal fasteners that joined the tabernacle's curtain panels into a single covering

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

This word names one piece of hardware from the tabernacle, and it is used nowhere else in the Bible. Fifty clasps were made in gold to join the ten linen curtains that formed the tabernacle itself, and fifty more in bronze to join the eleven goat hair curtains of the tent spread over it. Each set of curtains was first sewn into two large halves with loops (לֻלָאָה) along the facing edges, and the clasps were passed through those loops so that the two halves hung together.

The purpose of the fitting is stated every time it appears. In Exodus 26:6 the gold clasps join the curtains "and the tabernacle shall be one"; in Exodus 26:11 the bronze clasps join the halves "and it shall be one"; Exodus 36:13 and Exodus 36:18 report the same result once the work is done. The clasp is a small thing that is easy to read past in a long building list, but it is the piece that turns many separate panels into one structure.

Once fitted, the clasps also mark a place inside the finished tent. Exodus 26:33 tells Moses to hang the dividing curtain "under the clasps", so the seam running overhead showed exactly where the Holy Place ended and the Most Holy Place began. In the lists of what was made and delivered, the clasps are simply counted with the rest of the fittings, next to the boards (קֶרֶשׁ), the bars, the pillars and the bases (Exodus 35:11; Exodus 39:33).

Exo 26:6 (2×)Exo 26:11 (2×)Exo 26:33Exo 35:11Exo 36:13 (2×)Exo 36:18Exo 39:33

What scholars say about qeres

BDB, HALOT, and DCH agree on a single sense for קֶרֶס: a hook or clasp, attested only in the tabernacle material of Exodus (26:6, 11, 33; 35:11; 36:13, 18; 39:33), always plural and always of the fittings that couple the two halves of a curtain set. The lexica connect the noun to a root קרס associated with bending, the same root behind the verb קָרַס "to stoop" in Isaiah 46:1, 2, though that derivation is inferential rather than demonstrated. What remains open is the physical object rather than the sense: whether the fitting was a simple hook, an S-shaped coupling, or a ring-and-toggle arrangement is not settled by the text, and critical commentary on the tabernacle account treats it as a reconstruction question.

Sources

  • BDB, s.v. קֶרֶסlexicon
  • HALOT, s.v. קֶרֶסlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. קֶרֶסlexicon
  • William H. C. Propp, Exodus 19-40, Anchor Yale Bible 2Acommentary

All attested forms of קֶרֶס

m p absolute

קְּרָסִים

Exo 26:6, Exo 26:11, Exo 26:33, Exo 36:13

m p construct

קַרְסֵי

Exo 26:6, Exo 26:11, Exo 36:13, Exo 36:18

m p construct

קְרָסָיו

Exo 35:11, Exo 39:33