Exodus 26:1

Summary

Exodus 26:1 instructs the construction of the mishkan ("tabernacle", H4908) using ten ye'riot ("curtains", H3407) made of twisted fine linen combined with violet, purple, and scarlet materials. The curtains are to include keruvim ("cherubim", H3742) made by the work of a choshev ("skillful worker", H2803G).

Key words

• mishkan ("tabernacle", H4908) — definite noun marked by ha ("the", H9009) and the object marker 'et (H0853), identifying it as the specific object of the command.
• ta'aseh ("you will make", H6213H) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular; appears twice in the verse (positions 5 and 20), framing the instructions with the same verb form directed at a single addressee.
• mashezar ("twisted", H7806) — hophal passive participle, indicating the linen has undergone a twisting process rather than performing an action itself.
• ma'aseh choshev ("work of a skillful worker", H4639G + H2803G) — construct chain combining a noun in construct state with a qal participle, describing the keruvim as products of a particular craft technique rather than through a finite verb.
• 'otam ("them", H0853 + H9038) — object marker with third person masculine plural suffix, referring back grammatically to the curtains (ye'riot, feminine plural) despite the masculine suffix form.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence structure places the object mishkan before the verb ta'aseh, a common fronting pattern for emphasis on the item being constructed. The verb ta'aseh is repeated at both the beginning and end of the verse (positions 5 and 20), creating an inclusio that brackets the list of materials and craftsmanship details between two identical imperfect verb forms addressed to a singular "you."

The materials are listed using construct and absolute noun forms: shesh mashezar ("fine linen, twisted") describes the linen's processing state through a passive participle rather than a finite verb, indicating the linen arrives already twisted. The phrase ma'aseh choshev uses a construct noun (ma'aseh, "work of") governing a participle (choshev, "the one working/skillful worker"), a construction that names a category of craftsmanship associated with the keruvim figures, though the text does not specify through a finite verb how the cherubim are produced — the participle choshev functions substantively as "a skillful worker" or "the work of a skilled craftsman."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders keruvim ("cherubim", H3742) with the transliterated Greek χερουβείμ, mirroring the Hebrew term directly, while specifying ergasia hyphantou ("work of a weaver"), which frames the craftsmanship as weaving specifically, where the Hebrew choshev denotes a "skillful worker" without specifying weaving. The Vulgate similarly interprets this craftsmanship as opere plumario ("embroidered work"), a different technique than weaving. The Hebrew term choshev itself does not specify the exact craft (weaving, embroidery, or other skilled work), leaving this detail to translational interpretation across the LXX and Vulgate.