pillars of shittim

Exodus 26:37 And you shall make for the hanging five pillars of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, and their hooks shall be of gold...

Exodus 36:38 And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold...

Esther 1:6 Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble...

their hooks shall be of gold. The Hebrew waaveyhem, which we translate their hooks, is rendered by the LXX, and by the Vulgate. Hence Calmet contends That is Moses does not mean the capitals of the pillars by this word, he mentions them nowhere else; and it would seem strange, that while he describes them with so much exactness, that he should not mention the capitals; or that pillars every way so correctly formed, should have been destitute of this necessary ornament. As Moses was commanded to make the wavim of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver, and the wavim of the pillars of the vail of gold and that

1775 shekels were employed in making them, overlaying their chapiters, rasheyhem, their heads, and filleting them, it is more reasonable to suppose that all this is spoken of the capitals of pillars, than of any kind of hooks, especially as hooks are mentioned under the word taches or clasps. But as the root wavah seems to signify to connect, if it has not its name from its hook-like form, is yet used as a connective particle, it would rather appear to denote hooks, which connected the curtains or vails to the pillars.