Exodus 26:35

Summary

The verse instructs where two furnishings of the tabernacle are to be placed: the table outside the curtain, and the lampstand opposite it on the south side, while the table itself is assigned to the north side. The sentence uses two different Hebrew verbs meaning "to put," and repeats the table's placement with added spatial precision.

Key words

• sam.Ta ("you will put", H7760A) — qal sequential perfect from the root sim, continuing the narrative chain of instructions; used for the first placement (table outside the curtain, lampstand opposite it).
• titen ("you will put", H5414H) — qal imperfect from the root natan ("to give"), a different verb from sam.Ta, used for the second, clarifying statement about the table's side.
• nokach ("opposite to", H5227) — construct form meaning "opposite of," linking the lampstand's position directly to the table.
• tzela' ("side of", H6763) — construct noun appearing twice, each time governing a different cardinal direction (south, then north).
• teimana ("southward", H8486) — noun with the directional he suffix (H9011), marking motion or orientation toward the south.

What the text says

The verse is built as two linked instructions. The first, introduced by sam.Ta ("you will put", H7760A), places the shulchan ("table", H7979) outside the parokhet ("curtain", H6532) and the menorah ("lampstand", H4501) nokach ("opposite to", H5227) the table, on the tzela' ("side of", H6763) the mishkan ("tabernacle", H4908) toward teimana ("southward", H8486). The second instruction repeats the subject ha-shulchan ("the table", H7979) but uses a different verb, titen ("you will put", H5414H, from the root "to give"), assigning it to the tzela' ("side of", H6763) tzafon ("north", H6828G). The shift from the root sim to the root natan for the same basic action ("to place") is not reflected in most translations, which render both simply as "put" or "place," flattening a lexical variation present in the Hebrew.

Differences between versions

The LXX uses the same verb family for both placements — θήσεις ("you will place") and ἐπιθήσεις ("you will place upon") — smoothing over the Hebrew's use of two distinct roots (sim and natan). The Vulgate renders the second clause not as a command but as a declarative statement, "mensa enim stabit" ("for the table will stand"), converting the imperfect titen ("you will put", H5414H) into a description of resulting position rather than an instruction to place it. The BSB reorganizes the verse's clause order, stating the table's north-side location before mentioning the lampstand's south-side position, whereas the Hebrew states the lampstand's south position first and the table's north position last.