FILLET (חָשׁוּק, H3122). A band or ring binding the pillars of the Tabernacle, prob. close to the capitals (Exod 36:38). The fillets for the pillars of the court were overlaid with silver (38:10-12, 17, 19), while those for the door pillars were of gold (36:38). The root חשׁק is obscure, although Aram. חֲשַׁק does mean “to bind, saddle (an ass).” In 1 Kings 7:33 the cognate chišûq means “spokes of a wheel.” Some contend that the fillets were in reality rods connecting the tops of the pillars, which supplied greater stability and from which the curtains were suspended. The denominative verb חָשַׁק֮, H3138, does not decide the issue, meaning “to furnish with fillets (or rings?).” Where Exodus 27:17 says that the pillars were “filleted with silver,” the LXX has “cased with silver.” There is no solid evidence that rods instead of bands are intended. Exodus 26:32, 37 says nothing about the curtains hanging from rods, whereas hooks are explicitly mentioned. If “bind” or “clasp,” rather than “connect,” is indeed the basic idea, the “ring” concept is more suitable. Perhaps the hooks were attached to the fillets on the pillars.

חוּט, H2562, is rendered “fillet” by KJV in Jeremiah 52:21 (RSV “circumference”). It clearly means a “line, thread, cord,” which could sometimes be broken easily (Judg 16:12). In this case, it refers to a line used to measure the circumference of the pillars.

Bibliography M. Noth, Exodus (1962), 217.