Exodus 26:32

Summary

The verse instructs that the veil (referred to by the pronominal suffix "it") is to be hung upon four acacia-wood pillars overlaid with gold, fitted with gold hooks, and set upon four silver bases.

Key words

• na.ta.Tah ("you will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine singular; continues a chain of instructions begun earlier, giving the sense "and you shall put/hang."
• 'a.mu.Dei ("pillars of", H5982G) — masculine plural construct, linking the pillars to the material that follows, shi.Tim ("acacia", H7848).
• me.tzu.Pim ("overlaid", H6823) — pual passive participle, masculine plural; describes the pillars as having been covered (with gold) by an unnamed agent, consistent with a passive process rather than an action the addressee performs directly.
• va.vei.Hem ("hooks of their", H2053 + H9028) — masculine plural construct with a third person masculine plural suffix, meaning "their hooks," i.e., the hooks belonging to the pillars.
• 'ad.nei- ("bases of", H0134) — masculine plural construct, joined to Kha.sef ("silver", H3701G) to form "bases of silver."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with the narrative ve ("and", H9001) attached to the sequential perfect na.ta.Tah ("you will put", H5414H), continuing a series of second-person instructions from the surrounding context. The direct object marker 'o.Ta ("", H0853) with the suffix h ("it", H9034) refers back to an antecedent object (grammatically feminine) not present in this verse itself, meaning the referent must be established from context.

The sentence structure places two prepositional phrases beginning with 'al- ("on", H5921A), each governing a construct chain: first "on four pillars of acacia" ('ar.ba.'Ah 'a.mu.Dei shi.Tim), and later "on four bases of silver" ('ar.ba.'Ah 'ad.nei-Kha.sef). Between these two phrases, the text specifies the pillars' condition using the passive participle me.tzu.Pim ("overlaid", H6823) followed by za.Hav ("gold", H2091), and then notes their hooks (va.vei.Hem, "hooks of their") are also za.Hav ("gold", H2091). The repetition of za.Hav for both the overlay and the hooks, without a verb, gives a terse, list-like quality in Hebrew — the material state is asserted rather than described with an active verb.

Differences between versions

The LXX (SWETE) omits explicit mention of the pillars and acacia wood material, stating only "you shall place gold heads (κεφαλίδες) upon them, and their bases (αἱ βάσεις) four, silver" — a more condensed rendering than the Hebrew's construct chains. The Vulgate (CLEM) adds interpretive clarification not present in the Hebrew construct structure, explicitly stating the pillars "will be gilded" (deauratae erunt) and "will have golden heads" (habebunt capita aurea), converting the Hebrew's participial description into finite future-tense verbs.