Hanging, Hangings

HANGING, HANGINGS. The words are not the singular and plural of the same word in the Hebrew, but are translations of quite different words. The "hanging" — literally, "a cover" — is the word for the curtain before the door of the tabernacle, Ex 26:36-37; Ex 39:38, and for the curtain before the entrance of the court. Ex 27:16; Ex 38:18; Num 4:26. The same Hebrew word is several times translated correctly in the expression, "veil of the covering." Ex 35:12; Ex 39:34; Ex 40:21; Num 4:5. The "hangings"—literally, "that which is in motion" — were the coverings upon the walls of the court of the tabernacle. Ex 27:9; Ps 35:17; Ex 38:9; Num 3:26; Song 4:6, Num 4:26. The word "hangings" is used in 2 Kgs 23:7, but the Hebrew word may more properly be translated "tents," such as were used in the impure rites of Ashtoreth.