Exodus 28:33
וְעָשִׂיתָ עַל־שׁוּלָיו רִמֹּנֵי תְּכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי עַל־שׁוּלָיו סָבִיב וּפַעֲמֹנֵי זָהָב בְּתוֹכָם סָבִֽיב׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְעָשִׂ֣יתָ עַל־שׁוּלָ֗יו רִמֹּנֵי֙ תְּכֵ֤לֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן֙ וְתוֹלַ֣עַת שָׁנִ֔י עַל־שׁוּלָ֖יו סָבִ֑יב וּפַעֲמֹנֵ֥י זָהָ֛ב בְּתוֹכָ֖ם סָבִֽיב׃
καὶ ἐπιθήσεις αὐτὸ ἐπὶ ὑακίνθου κεκλωσμένης, καὶ ἔσται ἐπὶ τῆς μίτρας· κατὰ πρόσωπον τῆς μίτρας ἔσται.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Deorsum vero, ad pedes ejusdem tunicæ, per circuitum, quasi mala punica facies, ex hyacintho, et purpura, et cocco bis tincto, mistis in medio tintinnabulis,
En todo el borde inferior del manto bordarás granadas de hilo azul, púrpura y escarlata, e intercalarás campanitas de oro entre ellas.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y abajo en sus orillas harás granadas de jacinto, y púrpura, y carmesí, por sus bordes alrededor; y entre ellas campanillas de oro alrededor:
Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn all the way around the lower hem, with gold bells between them,
✦ What the text says
Summary
Exodus 28:33 instructs that pomegranates made of violet, purple, and scarlet material be placed all around the lower hem of the garment, alternating with gold bells positioned between them.
Key words
- shuLav ("its skirt/hem", H7757) — masculine plural construct with 3rd person suffix, appearing twice (positions 4 and 14), marking the lower edge of the garment as the location for both the pomegranates and the surrounding pattern.
- rimoNei ("pomegranates of", H7416) — masculine plural construct, grammatically linking the pomegranate shapes to the three materials that follow (violet, purple, scarlet).
- sa.Viv ("all around", H5439G) — common gender singular, repeated twice (positions 16 and 23), framing both halves of the verse and emphasizing the encircling arrangement around the hem.
- fa.'a.mo.Nei ("bells of", H6472) — masculine plural construct, introduces the gold bells as a distinct element paired with the pomegranates.
- to.Kha ("between", H8432) — masculine singular construct with 3rd person plural suffix (toKham, "between them"), specifying the spatial relationship of the bells relative to the pomegranates.
What the text says
The verse opens with the sequential perfect 'aSita ("you will make", H6213H), continuing a chain of instructions from the preceding verses. The syntax places the object of the pomegranates first: they are to be made of teKhelet ("violet stuff", H8504), 'argaMan ("purple", H0713), and toLa'at shaNi ("scarlet stuff of scarlet", H8438B + H8144) — three textile-color terms in construct/apposition, without a separate word meaning "yarn" or "cloth" explicitly stated beyond the construct chain itself.
The phrase 'al-shuLav ("on its skirt", H5921A + H7757) appears twice, framing two halves of the verse: first introducing the pomegranates, then reintroducing the hem before adding saViv ("all around", H5439G). This repetition in the Hebrew creates a structural symmetry — pomegranates on the hem, then hem all around — that is often condensed in translation into a single spatial clause ("all the way around the lower hem").
The second half introduces pa'amoNei zaHav ("bells of gold", H6472 + H2091), with beToKham ("in their midst / between them", H9003 + H8432 + H9028) specifying that the bells sit among the pomegranates. The final saViv ("all around") closes the verse, echoing the earlier occurrence and reinforcing the circular arrangement around the entire hem.
Differences between versions
The LXX text given (Exodus 28:33 in Swete numbering) diverges significantly in content, referring to "it" placed "upon the spun-blue" and connected to "the mitre," which does not correspond to the Hebrew's pomegranates-and-bells description — this reflects a different verse alignment or textual tradition at this point in the LXX. The Vulgate (mistis in medio tintinnabulis, "with bells mixed in the middle") matches the Hebrew's beToKham ("between them") more closely than the LXX text shown.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.