Strong's Lookups — Raw Output¶

Word Traces¶

H6532 paroketh — ALL occurrences¶

25 total, 4 unique translations: "the vail" (21), "a vail" (2), "of the vail" (1), "vail" (1).

All 21 "the vail" occurrences: Exo 26:33(x3), 26:35, 27:21, 30:6, 35:12, 39:34, 40:3, 40:21, 40:22, 40:26, Lev 4:6, 4:17, 16:2, 16:12, 16:15, 21:23, 24:3, Num 18:7, 2 Chr 3:14.

Finding: 100% refer to the inner curtain dividing Holy Place from Most Holy Place. Zero refer to the entrance curtain.

H4539 macak — ALL occurrences¶

25 total, 11 unique translations: "the hanging" (9), "an hanging" (3), "of the covering" (3), etc.

Finding: Designates the entrance screen (tabernacle door, court gate) and protective coverings. Never the inner dividing veil.

LXX Mapping: H6532 paroketh¶

Top Greek translations: - G2665 katapetasma — 22 co-occurrences, PMI 9.45 (primary) - G3142 martyrion — 11 co-occ (contextual: "testimony" language) - G2787 kibotos — 7 co-occ (contextual: "ark" language)

G2362 thronos — fresh lookup¶

61 occurrences, "throne" 77%. Hebrews uses: 1:8; 4:16; 8:1; 12:2.

H3547 kahan — fresh lookup¶

23 occurrences, verb "to officiate as priest." Key: Exo 28:1,3,4,41; 29:1,44; 40:13,15; Lev 16:32.

Ballenger Claim Verification¶

Claim: Paroketh in the Hebrew OT invariably refers to the inner (MHP) veil, never the first apartment.

Verification result: CONFIRMED. All 25 occurrences of H6532 paroketh designate the inner curtain between Holy Place and Most Holy Place. The first curtain/screen at the tabernacle entrance is called H4539 macak ("hanging/screen"), never paroketh.

However: The LXX translates BOTH paroketh AND macak as katapetasma (G2665). This means the NT's katapetasma is linguistically ambiguous in Greek — it could refer to either curtain. Heb 9:3's "the second katapetasma" implies the author recognized this ambiguity and specified which veil.

Uriah Smith's counter-argument: Smith argues both apartments were closed with a veil. This is TRUE physically — both had fabric coverings. But Smith's argument conflates the physical arrangement with the biblical terminology. The Hebrew text always distinguishes: poreketh = inner divider; macak = outer screen. Smith is reasoning from architecture, not from terminology.

Lookups completed: 2026-05-14