Exodus 27:17
כָּל־עַמּוּדֵי הֶֽחָצֵר סָבִיב מְחֻשָּׁקִים כֶּסֶף וָוֵיהֶם כָּסֶף וְאַדְנֵיהֶם נְחֹֽשֶׁת׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
כָּל־עַמּוּדֵ֨י הֶֽחָצֵ֤ר סָבִיב֙ מְחֻשָּׁקִ֣ים כֶּ֔סֶף וָוֵיהֶ֖ם כָּ֑סֶף וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֖ם נְחֹֽשֶׁת׃
πάντες οἱ στύλοι τῆς αὐλῆς κύκλῳ κατηργυρωμένοι ἀργυρίῳ, καὶ αἱ κεφαλίδες αὐτῶν ἀργυραἱ, καὶ αἱ βάσεις αὐτῶν χαλκαῖ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Omnes columnæ atrii per circuitum vestitæ erunt argenteis laminis, capitibus argenteis, et basibus æneis.
Todos los postes alrededor del patio estarán unidos con barras de plata; sus ganchos serán de plata y sus bases de bronce.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Todas las columnas del atrio en derredor serán ceñidas de plata; sus capiteles de plata, y sus basas de metal.
All the posts around the courtyard shall have silver bands, silver hooks, and bronze bases.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse specifies the materials for finishing the pillars surrounding the courtyard: the pillars themselves are banded with silver, their hooks are silver, and their bases are bronze.
Key words
- 'a.mu.Dei ("pillars of", H5982G) — masculine plural construct, linking the pillars directly to "the courtyard" that follows.
- me.chu.sha.Kim ("furnished with bands", H2836B) — pual (intensive passive) participle, masculine plural, describing the pillars as being made to have bands/fillets attached to them, agreeing in number with "pillars."
- va.vei. ("hooks of", H2053) — masculine plural construct, joined to the suffix Hem ("their," H9028) to mean "their hooks."
- 'ad.nei. ("bases of", H0134) — masculine plural construct, likewise joined to Hem to mean "their bases."
- ne.Cho.shet ("bronze", H5178A) — feminine singular noun functioning predicatively, stating the material of the bases.
What the text says
The sentence opens with kol- ("all of", H3605) governing 'a.mu.Dei he.cha.Tzer ("pillars of the courtyard"), followed by sa.Viv ("all around", H5439G), which specifies that this applies to the entire perimeter of the courtyard, not just one section. The main clause uses the passive participle me.chu.sha.Kim with the noun Ke.sef ("silver", H3701G) functioning as an accusative of material — literally "banded [with] silver" — describing an action done to the pillars rather than simply naming a property.
The next two clauses are verbless (nominal) sentences, a common construction in Biblical Hebrew for stating identity or material composition without an explicit "to be" verb. va.vei.Hem Ka.sef reads literally "their hooks, silver," and ve.'ad.nei.Hem ne.Cho.shet reads "and their bases, bronze." The construct chains va.vei. + Hem and 'ad.nei. + Hem attach the pronominal suffix "their" to "hooks" and "bases" respectively, tying both features back to the pillars named at the start of the verse. The shift from a passive participle (for the banding) to bare nominal predication (for hooks and bases) reflects different grammatical strategies within the same verse for describing material composition.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders me.chu.sha.Kim ("furnished with bands") with κατηργυρωμένοι ("overlaid/plated with silver"), a participle emphasizing silver-plating rather than banding. It also translates va.vei. ("hooks") as κεφαλίδες ("capitals/heads"), differing from the Hebrew's specific term for hooks. The Vulgate similarly reads "capitibus argenteis" ("with silver heads/capitals") for this term, matching the LXX's "capitals" sense rather than the Hebrew's "hooks."
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.