What does יְרִיעָה (yĕriyʿāh) mean in the Bible?
A curtain or tent hanging makes a fabric enclosure visible in the biblical descriptions. Exodus specifies the woven curtains of the tabernacle, including their colors, workmanship, and arrangement.
Hebrew · H3407
יְרִיעָה
A curtain or tent hanging makes a fabric enclosure visible in the biblical descriptions. Exodus specifies the woven curtains of the tabernacle, including their colors, workmanship, and arrangement.
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יְרִיעָהH3407
Pronunciationyĕriyʿāh
What does יְרִיעָה (yĕriyʿāh) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for יְרִיעָה (H3407) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H3407?
The BSB source-word alignment has 54 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include curtain (13), curtains (9), - (8), the curtains (6), of the curtains (4).
Where does יְרִיעָה (yĕriyʿāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Exodus 26:1. Its strongest book concentrations include Exodus (44), Jeremiah (3), 1 Chronicles (1), 2 Samuel (1).
What This Word Actually Means
A curtain or tent hanging makes a fabric enclosure visible in the biblical descriptions. Exodus specifies the woven curtains of the tabernacle, including their colors, workmanship, and arrangement. The same vocabulary can serve a poetic comparison: the psalm pictures God stretching out the heavens as a tent, while Isaiah calls a personified Zion to enlarge her dwelling for the restoration God announces.
A material furnishing, creation praise, and prophetic hope are different uses of the tent image. Reading the word carefully keeps fabric, space, and literary purpose together. It can help a teacher explain how an enclosure shelters or marks a dwelling without declaring every curtain a barrier between God and humanity. The Gospel account of the temple veil uses another lexical witness and must be interpreted from its own narrative.
How the Bible Uses It
Tabernacle curtains have specified craftsmanship and arrangement. Creation poetry and restoration prophecy draw on tent imagery for different purposes, using the familiar shape of a dwelling to speak of God's majesty or enlarged communal life.
- Exod.26.1
“You are to construct the tabernacle itself with ten curtains of finely spun linen, each with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and cherubim skillfully worked into them.
The ten curtains are finely woven sanctuary materials with specified colors and worked cherubim, within the instructions for constructing the tabernacle itself.
- Ps.104.2
He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
The tent comparison appears beside light as God's garment, introducing poetic praise of the Creator rather than a literal description of heavenly fabric.
- Isa.54.2
“Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep.
The call to stretch curtains accompanies the promised enlargement of Zion's dwelling, following the address to the desolate woman and anticipating descendants.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itcurtain13×Exodus 26:2, Exodus 26:4, Exodus 26:5, Exodus 26:10
curtains9×Exodus 26:1, Exodus 26:2, Exodus 26:7, Exodus 26:8
-8×Exodus 26:2, Exodus 26:3, Exodus 26:8, Exodus 36:9
the curtains6×Exodus 26:6, Exodus 36:9, Exodus 36:13, Numbers 4:25
of the curtains4×Exodus 26:3, Exodus 26:9, Exodus 36:10, Exodus 36:16
a tent2×2 Samuel 7:2, 1 Chronicles 17:1
my curtains2×Jeremiah 4:20, Jeremiah 10:20
of the corresponding curtain2×Exodus 26:10, Exodus 36:17
and the other1×Exodus 36:16
curtain {over}1×Exodus 26:9
curtains [in all]1×Exodus 26:7
curtains [will be]1×Exodus 26:13
into another1×Exodus 26:9
like a tent1×Psalms 104:2
like the curtains1×Song Of Solomon 1:5
their tent curtains1×Jeremiah 49:29
Show sample aligned rows
Exodus 26:1יְרִיעֹ֑תtocurtainsNoun - feminine pluralExodus 26:2הַיְרִיעָ֣הtocurtainArticle | Noun - feminine singularExodus 26:2הַיְרִיעָ֖הto-Article | Noun - feminine singularExodus 26:2הַיְרִיעֹֽת׃tocurtainsArticle | Noun - feminine pluralExodus 26:3הַיְרִיעֹ֗תtoof the curtainsArticle | Noun - feminine pluralExodus 26:3יְרִיעֹת֙to-Noun - feminine pluralExodus 26:4הַיְרִיעָה֙tocurtainArticle | Noun - feminine singularExodus 26:4הַיְרִיעָ֔הtocurtainArticle | Noun - feminine singularExodus 26:5בַּיְרִיעָ֣הtocurtainPreposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singularExodus 26:5הַיְרִיעָ֔הtocurtainArticle | Noun - feminine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowExodus 26:1
Aligned rows54
Books represented9
Exodus44Numbers12 Samuel11 Chronicles1Psalms1Song Of Solomon1Isaiah1Jeremiah3Habakkuk1
Source forms
הַיְרִיעָ֔ה7xhay·rî·‘āhExodus 26:4, Exodus 26:5, Exodus 26:10, Exodus 36:11
הַיְרִיעָ֣ה6xhay·rî·‘āhExodus 26:2, Exodus 26:8, Exodus 26:9, Exodus 36:9
הַיְרִיעָה֙4xhay·rî·‘āhExodus 26:4, Exodus 26:10, Exodus 26:12, Exodus 36:11
הַיְרִיעָ֖ה3xhay·rî·‘āhExodus 26:2, Exodus 26:8, Exodus 36:9
הַיְרִיעֹ֖ת3xhay·rî·‘ōṯExodus 26:9, Exodus 36:16
יְרִיעֹ֣ת3xyə·rî·‘ōṯExodus 26:7, Exodus 26:13, Exodus 36:14
בַּיְרִיעָ֣ה2xbay·rî·‘āhExodus 26:5, Exodus 36:12
הַיְרִיעֹֽת׃2xhay·rî·‘ōṯExodus 26:2, Exodus 36:9
Parsing patterns
Article | Noun - feminine singular21xExodus 26:2, Exodus 26:4, Exodus 26:5, Exodus 26:8
Article | Noun - feminine plural10xExodus 26:2, Exodus 26:3, Exodus 26:6, Exodus 26:9
Noun - feminine plural9xExodus 26:1, Exodus 26:3, Exodus 26:7, Exodus 26:8
Noun - feminine plural construct5xExodus 26:7, Exodus 26:13, Exodus 36:14, Numbers 4:25
Noun - feminine plural construct | first person common singular2xJeremiah 4:20, Jeremiah 10:20
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular2xExodus 26:5, Exodus 36:12
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural construct1xIsaiah 54:2
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural1xJeremiah 49:29
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Let communal hope encourage patience without promising a particular reproductive or financial outcome.
- Use fabric illustrations to clarify spatial imagery rather than conceal the differences between the passages.
Avoid claiming...
- Isaiah's expanded tent does not guarantee conception to every person who experiences infertility.
- The Hebrew curtain noun does not make every fabric enclosure the same redemptive symbol.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Curtain or hanging fabric that trembles—used for tabernacle veils separating sacred from profane space
Source Gloss
a hanging (as tremulous )
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Curtain or hanging fabric that trembles—used for tabernacle veils separating sacred from profane space
a hanging (as tremulous) BDB: curtain Usage: curtain.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
יְרִיעָה is built from this root:
יָרַעH3415
For the Preacher and Teacher
A tent hanging can make space understandable without carrying the same theological role everywhere. Exodus gives the reader fabric, color, and workmanship in a commanded sanctuary. Psalm 104 borrows the familiarity of a stretched tent to praise the One who orders the heavens. Isaiah's invitation to enlarge the dwelling looks toward Zion's restoration after desolation.
None of these passages requires a teacher to discover an identical spiritual code behind the fabric. Their distinct movements deserve to be heard before an illustration is offered. In particular, the collective hope addressed to Zion should not become a promise that a grieving individual will conceive a child or that a congregation must expand its premises. The passage's audience and promised action govern the use of the image.
Anchor passage
Exod.26.1
Doctrinal connections
- Exodus 26 connects beautiful workmanship with the sanctuary construction God commands.
- Psalm 104 uses dwelling imagery to direct praise toward the Creator's majesty.
- Isaiah 54 places expanded dwelling space within the restoration of desolate Zion.
- Second Samuel 7 contrasts David's cedar house with the tent housing the ark.
- Numbers 4 assigns sanctuary hangings to concrete carrying and service responsibilities.
- Hebrews 9 distinguishes sanctuary curtains by their location within its argument about access.
The Hebrew comparison supports curtain or tent hanging. The material referent can be literal, while poetic comparisons require attention to genre; shared fabric vocabulary alone does not identify the inner veil or establish a fixed symbol.
From Old to New Testament
Hebrews discusses a sanctuary curtain within the priestly account of access to God. That subject can be compared with the tabernacle's fabric enclosure, but its specific inner curtain must remain distinct from every hanging, cosmic tent comparison, or restoration image in the Hebrew passages.