Exodus 27:7
וְהוּבָא אֶת־בַּדָּיו בַּטַּבָּעֹת וְהָיוּ הַבַּדִּים עַל־שְׁתֵּי צַלְעֹת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ בִּשְׂאֵת אֹתֽוֹ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְהוּבָ֥א אֶת־בַּדָּ֖יו בַּטַּבָּעֹ֑ת וְהָי֣וּ הַבַּדִּ֗ים עַל־שְׁתֵּ֛י צַלְעֹ֥ת הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ בִּשְׂאֵ֥ת אֹתֽוֹ׃
καὶ εἰσάξεις τοὺς φορεῖς εἰς τοὺς δακτυλίους· καὶ ἔστωσαν οἱ φορεῖς κατὰ πλευρὰ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ἐν τῷ αἴρειν αὐτό.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
et induces per circulos, eruntque ex utroque latere altaris ad portandum.
Estas varas se meterán por las argollas a los dos lados del altar para poder transportarlo.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y sus varas se meterán por los anillos: y estarán aquellas varas á ambos lados del altar, cuando hubiere de ser llevado.
The poles are to be inserted into the rings so that the poles are on two sides of the altar when it is carried.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse specifies how the altar's carrying poles are to function: they are to be brought into the rings, and positioned along the two sides of the altar so that it can be carried.
Key words
- hu.Va' ("it will be put/brought", H0935P) — hophal (causative passive) form, sequential perfect: something is caused to enter, but the agent doing the bringing is not named, only the result.
- baDai ("its poles", H0905G) — masculine plural construct with pronominal suffix "its," referring back to the altar mentioned later in the sentence.
- taba'Ot ("rings", H2885) — feminine plural, the fixed receptacles into which the poles are inserted.
- tzal'Ot ("sides of", H6763) — feminine plural construct, "sides of," grammatically linked to mizBeach ("altar", H4196) that follows.
- s.'Et ("carry", H5375H) — qal infinitive construct, functioning here as a purpose/circumstance clause ("in the carrying of it" / "when it is carried").
What the text says
The sentence opens with a narrative vav on hu.Va' ("it will be put", H0935P), a hophal form — the passive/causative stem — meaning the poles are the object being brought in, without the text stating who performs the action. The direct object marker 'et (H0853) introduces baDai ("its poles", H0905G), plural construct with a 3rd person suffix "its," which anticipates the altar named later. These poles are to go ba- ("in the", H9003+article) taba'Ot ("rings", H2885), plural fixed structures.
The second clause, joined again by narrative vav on ha.Yu ("they will be", H1961, qal sequential perfect), states where the poles must remain: 'al ("on", H5921A) sh'tei ("two", H8147, dual construct) tzal'ot ("sides of", H6763, plural construct) ha-mizbeach ("the altar", H4196). The dual form of "two" combined with the construct chain "sides of the altar" specifies a paired, symmetrical placement — one pole-side per side of the altar structure.
The final phrase, bi-s'et 'oto ("when carrying it", H5375H infinitive + suffix), uses the preposition bi- ("when/in", H9003) with a qal infinitive construct, a common Hebrew construction expressing simultaneity or purpose: the placement of poles on both sides serves the function of carrying the altar.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the passive/causative Hebrew hu.Va' ("it will be put", H0935P) with an active second-person verb, εἰσάξεις ("you shall bring in"), introducing an explicit addressee absent in the Hebrew's impersonal passive construction. The Vulgate's induces similarly shifts to an active second-person form. The Hebrew construct phrase sh'tei tzal'ot ("two sides of", H8147+H6763) is rendered by the LXX as κατὰ πλευρὰ ("according to the sides"), without explicitly marking the numeral "two," while the Vulgate's ex utroque latere ("from each side") preserves the paired sense through "utroque" ("each of two").
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.