וְזֶ֛ה מַעֲשֵׂ֥ה הַמְּכוֹנָ֖ה מִסְגְּרֹ֣ת לָהֶ֑ם וּמִסְגְּרֹ֖ת בֵּ֥ין הַשְׁלַבִּֽים׃
И работа баз была такой: у них были границы; и между границами были границы;
Rashi
The frames of the bases. The rows upon which the bases were made,10He removed the bases from the ten basins, and out of contempt, he set the basins on a stone floor.—Radak as it is stated, ”The bases were made in the following manner: They had frames … ”11I Melochim 7:28. 12See I Melochim 7:23-27.
Ramban
MESHULAVOTH ISHAH EL ACHOTHAH’ (SET IN ORDER ONE TO ANOTHER). “Meshulavoth means made like shlivoth (rungs of) a ladder. One to another, this means that they should correspond exactly one to the other, and should be separated from each other, and so planed at their ends that they may be inserted into the hollow of the sockets, just like a rung enters the holes of a ladder’s uprights; further, that the portions cut away [from the boards] in their fronts and backs should be alike, one identical to the other, in order that there should not be two tenons, one of which extends towards the front and the other towards the back in relation to the thickness of the board which was one cubit.” This is Rashi’s language.202It should be noted that the version of Rashi here in Ramban is somewhat different in the order of the phrases from the standard editions of Rashi.
Thus according to Rashi the word meshulavoth refers back to the tenons, that they be planed at their ends so that they enter the hollow of the sockets, and ishah el achothah (one to the other) refers only to the boards, that they be fitted close together. But the Hebrew word krashim (boards) is masculine, and therefore it should have rather said ish el achiv [“one to the other” — in the masculine form]!203And not ishah el achothah — which is in the feminine form. Perhaps [Rashi] will interpret ishah el achothah as meaning that the shlivoth [literally: “the rungs” but here referring to the yadoth, the tenons — a feminine form] correspond exactly one with the other, and the thickness of wood cut away from each of the tenons be exactly alike, for in that way the boards will fit closely together. Now the tenons were not planed in a sloping fashion, for the hollow of the sockets was alike in each of them; they were cut only on their sides in order that the boards fit closely one to another.
But in the Beraitha on the work of the Tabernacle I found the following text: “Two sanin (‘pegs’) [as explained further] projected from the boards, two from each of them, fitting into corresponding holes, for it is said, meshulavoth ishah el achothah. These are the words of Rabbi Nechemyah. For Rabbi Nechemyah says: It should not have said meshulavoth; what does Scripture teach us then by using that word? It is to teach us that he make them like the rungs of an Egyptian ladder.” Now the meaning of the word sanin is similar to the device they make in chests to tighten and hold the boards together, a sort of wooden peg, somewhat like that which we have been taught in the Mishnah of Keilim:204Keilim 10:6. “If [two boards] were fastened together with sanin (pegs) or joints they need not be plastered in the middle.”205Since the pegs or joints hold the boards together tightly they need not be plastered in the middle to afford protection from corpse uncleanness. In the Talmud206Baba Metzia 117a. they likewise speak of “reeds and sanin.” Accordingly it would appear that Scripture is telling us that he is to make a projection on the side of the board, like a sort of “male shafts,”207Succah 12b. and on the opposite side of the board next to it he is to make a corresponding cavity into which the arrow-head is set. The same he is to do on the other board, thus dovetailing each board twice [one on each side]. Meshulavoth ishah el achothah is thus a reference to these shlivoth (pegs) themselves [and not to the tenons as Rashi has it], and is here properly in the feminine form [ishah el achothah, because of the word shlivah which is feminine]. And so did the Sages make mention of this term in the feminine: “The shlivah (rundle) slipped from under him;”208Makkoth 7b. “In a ladder it depends on the material of shlivothav (its steps).”209Shabbath 60a. And if the steps are of metal the whole ladder is susceptible to uncleanness. And even though we find the plural of this word in the masculine form — between ‘hashlabim’ (the stays)210I Kings 7:28. — it is like nashim (women) and pilagshim (concubines) whose plural form is in the masculine.
Thus according to Rashi the word meshulavoth refers back to the tenons, that they be planed at their ends so that they enter the hollow of the sockets, and ishah el achothah (one to the other) refers only to the boards, that they be fitted close together. But the Hebrew word krashim (boards) is masculine, and therefore it should have rather said ish el achiv [“one to the other” — in the masculine form]!203And not ishah el achothah — which is in the feminine form. Perhaps [Rashi] will interpret ishah el achothah as meaning that the shlivoth [literally: “the rungs” but here referring to the yadoth, the tenons — a feminine form] correspond exactly one with the other, and the thickness of wood cut away from each of the tenons be exactly alike, for in that way the boards will fit closely together. Now the tenons were not planed in a sloping fashion, for the hollow of the sockets was alike in each of them; they were cut only on their sides in order that the boards fit closely one to another.
But in the Beraitha on the work of the Tabernacle I found the following text: “Two sanin (‘pegs’) [as explained further] projected from the boards, two from each of them, fitting into corresponding holes, for it is said, meshulavoth ishah el achothah. These are the words of Rabbi Nechemyah. For Rabbi Nechemyah says: It should not have said meshulavoth; what does Scripture teach us then by using that word? It is to teach us that he make them like the rungs of an Egyptian ladder.” Now the meaning of the word sanin is similar to the device they make in chests to tighten and hold the boards together, a sort of wooden peg, somewhat like that which we have been taught in the Mishnah of Keilim:204Keilim 10:6. “If [two boards] were fastened together with sanin (pegs) or joints they need not be plastered in the middle.”205Since the pegs or joints hold the boards together tightly they need not be plastered in the middle to afford protection from corpse uncleanness. In the Talmud206Baba Metzia 117a. they likewise speak of “reeds and sanin.” Accordingly it would appear that Scripture is telling us that he is to make a projection on the side of the board, like a sort of “male shafts,”207Succah 12b. and on the opposite side of the board next to it he is to make a corresponding cavity into which the arrow-head is set. The same he is to do on the other board, thus dovetailing each board twice [one on each side]. Meshulavoth ishah el achothah is thus a reference to these shlivoth (pegs) themselves [and not to the tenons as Rashi has it], and is here properly in the feminine form [ishah el achothah, because of the word shlivah which is feminine]. And so did the Sages make mention of this term in the feminine: “The shlivah (rundle) slipped from under him;”208Makkoth 7b. “In a ladder it depends on the material of shlivothav (its steps).”209Shabbath 60a. And if the steps are of metal the whole ladder is susceptible to uncleanness. And even though we find the plural of this word in the masculine form — between ‘hashlabim’ (the stays)210I Kings 7:28. — it is like nashim (women) and pilagshim (concubines) whose plural form is in the masculine.