Exodus 25:12

Summary

Exodus 25:12 instructs the casting of four gold rings to be attached to the four feet (or corners) of an object — understood from context as the ark — with two rings placed on each of its two sides. The verse uses paired construct chains to specify quantity, material, and placement with precision.

Key words

• yatzaqta ("you will cast", H3332) — qal sequential perfect, continuing a chain of instructions begun earlier in the passage; expresses a future/injunctive action performed by the addressee.
• tabbe'ot ("rings of", H2885) — feminine plural noun in construct state, linking to zahav ("gold", H2091) to form "rings of gold."
• pa'amotav ("its feet", H6471) — feminine plural construct with 3rd person suffix; the base sense "feet" is used here for the supporting corners/legs of the object.
• tzal'o ("its side", H6763) — feminine singular construct with suffix, repeated twice (once for "the one side," once for "the second side") to mark symmetrical placement.
• shtei ("two of", H8147) — feminine dual construct, used before tabba'ot ("rings") each time two rings are specified per side.

What the text says

The verse is built on two sequential perfect verbs — yatzaqta ("you will cast") and natattah ("you will put") — which carry the force of successive commands, typical of the instructional style found throughout this section of Exodus. The first clause specifies the object to be cast: arba tabbe'ot zahav, "four rings of gold," using a construct chain where "four" governs "rings," which in turn governs "gold." The second clause states where these rings go: al arba pa'amotav, "on its four feet," again a construct chain quantifying the feet.

The final two clauses repeat the same construct pattern (shtei tabba'ot, "two rings") each tied to a tzal'o, "its side" — one marked ha'echat ("the one," H0259) and the other hashenit ("the second," H8145). This grammatical repetition produces a mirrored structure in the Hebrew that visually and syntactically reinforces the symmetry of the placement — two rings per side, on two opposite sides — without needing additional descriptive vocabulary.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text of this verse addresses gold rings and their placement on four feet and two sides. The LXX text provided (ποιήσεις δὲ ἀναφορεῖς ξύλα ἄσηπτα, καὶ καταχρυσώσεις αὐτὰ χρυσίῳ — "you shall make acacia wood poles and gild them with gold") describes a different content, concerning poles of incorruptible wood and their gilding, which does not correspond to the Hebrew of this verse. The Vulgate (et quatuor circulos aureos... duo circuli sint in latere uno, et duo in altero) closely follows the Hebrew's content regarding four gold rings and two per side.