Exodus 25:26

Summary

Exodus 25:26 instructs the maker of the table to produce four gold rings and to attach them to the four corners of the table, at the point where its four legs are located. The verse continues a sequence of construction instructions using consecutive verb forms.

Key words

• 'a.Si.ta ("you will make", H6213H) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine; continues the chain of instructions begun earlier in the passage, addressed directly to "you."
• ta.be.'Ot ("rings of", H2885) — feminine plural construct noun, linking to za.Hav ("gold", H2091) to form the phrase "rings of gold."
• na.ta.Ta ("you will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect, same form-type as 'a.Si.ta, marking the next action in the sequence: placing the rings.
• pe.'Ot ("corners", H6285) — feminine plural noun, designating the four corners of the table where the rings are set.
• rag.La ("feet", H7272) — feminine dual construct noun with pronominal suffix ו ("its"), indicating the table's own four legs, dual form marking pairs.

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel sequential-perfect verbs, 'a.Si.ta ("you will make") and na.ta.Ta ("you will put"), both second-person masculine forms that continue a narrative chain begun with a preceding vav (ve, H9001). This grammatical pattern presents the instructions as a continuous sequence of actions rather than isolated commands: first the rings of gold are made, then they are placed.

The object of the first verb is 'ar.Ba' taBe'ot zaHav — literally "four rings of gold," using construct chains ('ar.Ba', H0702, in construct with taBe'ot) to express quantity and material. The second clause specifies location using the preposition 'al ("on", H5921A) plus 'ar.Ba' hape'ot ("the four corners"), followed by a relative clause introduced by 'aSher ("which", H0834A) and the preposition le ("[belong] to") governing 'ar.Ba' ragLav ("four of its feet"). The dual form of ragLa ("feet", H7272) reflects the paired nature of legs, and the attached possessive suffix ties the legs explicitly to the table object referenced earlier in the chapter. The relative clause thus clarifies that the four corners in question are specifically those located at the four legs, not merely the four corners of the tabletop surface in general.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text of this verse concerns making and placing four gold rings at the table's corners near its legs. The Vulgate (Quatuor quoque circulos aureos præparabis, et pones eis in quatuor angulis ejusdem mensæ per singulos pedes) follows this content closely, rendering pe'ot as "angulis" ("corners") and ragLayv as "pedes" ("feet"). The LXX text supplied here, however, describes something different: it speaks of rings serving as sockets for carrying-poles ("εἰς θήκας τοῖς ἀναφορεῦσιν... αἴρειν... τὴν τράπεζαν"), a content matching a different part of the table instructions rather than the placement-at-the-corners statement found in the Hebrew of this verse.