Exodus 26:36

Summary

The verse instructs the making of a masakh ("screen", H4539) for the entrance of the tent, specifying the materials to be used: violet, purple, and scarlet threads combined with twisted fine linen, worked by an embroiderer.

Key words

• 'a.Si.ta ("you will make", H6213H) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine singular; continues a chain of instructions given directly to the addressee (Moses), indicating a future/consequential action within a sequence of commands.
• ma.soKh ("a screen", H4539) — masculine singular noun, the object to be constructed; distinct from the paroket used elsewhere in the tabernacle instructions.
• Fe.tach ("[the] entrance of", H6607) — construct form, meaning it must be linked to the following noun ha'Ohel, forming the phrase "entrance of the tent."
• ma.she.Zar ("twisted", H7806) — hophal passive participle, masculine singular; describes the linen as having been twisted by an outside agent, a passive causative sense not always visible in translation.
• ro.Kem ("a worker in colors", H7551) — qal active participle, masculine singular; functions as a noun denoting a craftsman, in construct with ma'aSeh ("work of", H4639G) to form "work of an embroiderer."

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative ve ("and", H9001) attached to a sequential perfect verb, 'a.Si.ta ("you will make", H6213H), continuing a series of construction commands addressed in the second person singular. The direct object is ma.soKh ("a screen", H4539), qualified by the construct chain le.Fe.tach ha.'Ohel ("for the entrance of the tent", H9005+H6607+H9009+H0168G), which syntactically binds "entrance" tightly to "tent" as a single unit meaning "the tent's entrance."

The materials follow in a list joined by repeated ve ("and", H9002): te.Khe.let ("violet stuff", H8504), 'ar.ga.Man ("purple", H0713), to.La.'at sha.Ni ("scarlet stuff of scarlet", H8438B+H8144, a construct pair naming the scarlet dye-material), and Shesh ("fine linen", H8336B) modified by the participle ma.she.Zar ("twisted", H7806). This participle is hophal, marking the linen as having undergone the twisting process, a grammatical passive that some translations render simply as an adjective ("twisted linen") without preserving the causative-passive nuance.

The final phrase, ma.'a.Seh ro.Kem ("work of a worker in colors", H4639G+H7551), is a construct pair where ro.Kem functions substantivally, naming the craftsman's role rather than describing an action in progress.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders masakh with ἐπίσπαρτρον, a term for a hung covering, while the Vulgate uses tentorium ("hanging" or "curtain"), both broadly matching the Hebrew "screen" without specifying its distinctive construct usage tied to "entrance." The Hebrew construct to.La.'at sha.Ni ("scarlet stuff of scarlet") appears in the LXX simply as κοκκίνου ("scarlet") and in the Vulgate as coccoque bis tincto ("scarlet twice-dyed"), an expansion not directly present in the Hebrew wording.