Exodus 20:25
וְאִם־מִזְבַּח אֲבָנִים תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־לִּי לֹֽא־תִבְנֶה אֶתְהֶן גָּזִית כִּי חַרְבְּךָ הֵנַפְתָּ עָלֶיהָ וַתְּחַֽלְלֶֽהָ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְאִם־מִזְבַּ֤ח אֲבָנִים֙ תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־לִּ֔י לֹֽא־תִבְנֶ֥ה אֶתְהֶ֖ן גָּזִ֑ית כִּ֧י חַרְבְּךָ֛ הֵנַ֥פְתָּ עָלֶ֖יהָ וַתְּחַֽלְלֶֽהָ׃
ἐὰν δὲ θυσιαστήριον ἐκ λίθων ποιῇς μοι, οὐκ οἰκοδομήσεις αὐτοὺς τμητούς· τὸ γὰρ ἐνχειρίδιόν σου ἐπιβέβληκας ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς καὶ μεμίανται.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Quod si altare lapideum feceris mihi, non ædificabis illud de sectis lapidibus: si enim levaveris cultrum super eo, polluetur.
Si me construyen un altar de piedra, no usen piedras labradas; porque al usar herramientas sobre la piedra, la profanan.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y si me hicieres altar de piedras, no las labres de cantería; porque si alzares tu pico sobre él, tú lo profanarás.
Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Exodus 20:25 gives a conditional instruction about altar construction: if an altar of stones is made, it must not be built with hewn stones, because using a cutting tool on the stones profanes them. The verse links the physical treatment of the stone (untouched by tools) to the concept of ritual purity or fitness of the altar.
Key words
- miz.Bach ("altar of", H4196) — construct form, meaning it is grammatically bound to the following noun avanim ("stones"), forming the phrase "altar of stones."
- ga.Zit ("hewn [stone]", H1496) — feminine singular noun describing the forbidden state of the stones; it functions as a predicate complement to the object "them" ('et-hen), specifying how they must not be built.
- he.Naf.ta ("you have wielded", H5130B) — Hiphil perfect, a causative completed action: the subject caused the tool to swing/move over the stone, marking a decisive, finished act rather than an ongoing one.
- te.Cha.Le ("you have profaned", H2490H) — Piel verb in narrative sequence (vav-consecutive), intensive stem indicating a resulting or effected state of profanation following directly from the prior action.
- 'im- ("if", H0518A) — introduces the conditional clause governing the whole verse's structure.
What the text says
The verse is built as a conditional-causal chain: an initial condition ('im + imperfect ta'aseh, "if you make"), a prohibition (lo + imperfect tivneh, "you shall not build"), and a causal clause (ki + perfect henafta + vav-consecutive techalleha, "for you have wielded... and so you have profaned"). The shift from imperfect verbs (describing potential/future action) to perfect and narrative-sequential verbs in the ki-clause marks a move from hypothetical instruction to a stated consequence treated as already accomplished in logic, even though the whole scenario remains conditional in context.
The object marker 'et-hen ("them", referring back to avanim, "stones") takes gazit as a complement, so the Hebrew literally states "you shall not build them [as] hewn [stone]" — the prohibition targets the finished quality of the stones, not the act of building per se.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders 'im with ἐὰν δὲ ("but if"), adding a contrastive particle (δὲ) not present in the Hebrew ve-'im. For charbekha ("your sword/tool", H2719), the LXX uses ἐνχειρίδιον ("dagger/hand-tool"), the Vulgate uses cultrum ("knife"), and the BSB renders it "chisel" — each version specifying a different concrete instrument where the Hebrew term is broader. The Vulgate adds the phrase "de sectis lapidibus" ("from cut stones"), employing a prepositional construction absent from the Hebrew's direct object structure ('et-hen gazit).
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.