[Avodah] Compass directions

[Akiva Miller]

.
Many times, the Torah refers to a direction with a single word, such as
"negbah" in Shemos 40:24, or "teimanah" in Shemos 26:35. Other times, the
Torah uses two words; for example, Shemos 36:23 has the phrase "negev
teimana".

On the one hand, these two words are synonyms, meaning "south". On the
other hand, for the etymologically inclined, they are derived from
different concepts. "Negev" means "the dry area", which is south of Eretz
Yisrael. And "teiman" means "on the right side" of a map which is oriented
[pun unavoidable] with east on top.

My question is why the Torah would use an extra word, apparently for no
reason. Is there some need for emphasis in this context? I  doubt it would
be to eliminate confusion; they're building the Mishkan locally, not in the
Negev, so it obviously means "south", right?

And a related question is what distinguishes the many cases where the Torah
uses one word, from the many cases where it uses two. Is there a pattern
that I haven't noticed?

And also, when the Torah uses only one word, is there a pattern to when one
is used over the other?

Thanks!
Akiva Miller
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