Exodus 28:34

Summary

The verse lists the repeating pattern of gold bells and pomegranates that decorate the lower hem of the priestly robe. It specifies two full pairs of "bell of gold and pomegranate" and then locates this pattern on the skirts of the robe, going all the way around.

Key words

• pa'amon ("a bell of", H6472) — masculine singular construct, appearing twice, meaning it is bound to the following word zahav ("gold") to form the phrase "a bell of gold."
• zahav ("gold", H2091) — masculine singular noun, the material specified for each bell, repeated identically after each pa'amon.
• rimmon ("a pomegranate", H7416) — masculine singular noun, alternating with pa'amon...zahav to form the repeating pair.
• shulei ("skirts of", H7757) — masculine plural construct, governing ha-me'il ("the robe"), indicating the lower edge/hem area where the pattern is placed.
• sabiv ("all around", H5439G) — common gender singular noun functioning adverbially, indicating the pattern encircles the entire hem rather than occupying one section.

What the text says

The Hebrew verse has no finite verb of its own; it continues syntactically from the instruction given in the preceding verse, listing objects rather than issuing a new command. The core content is a doubled sequence: pa'amon zahav ve-rimmon ("a bell of gold and a pomegranate") is stated, then repeated verbatim — pa'amon zahav ve-rimmon again. This doubling in the Hebrew text itself (rather than a plural noun or a numeral) is what conveys the idea of repetition or alternation along the hem; the Hebrew does not use a word meaning "alternating" but achieves the sense through literal repetition of the same word pair twice.

The final clause, 'al-shulei ha-me'il saviv ("on the skirts of the robe, all around"), uses the construct chain shulei ha-me'il ("skirts of the robe") to specify location, followed by saviv ("all around") to indicate the pattern's distribution around the entire lower edge, not just a portion of it.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (ita ut tintinnabulum sit aureum et malum punicum: rursumque tintinnabulum aliud aureum et malum punicum) mirrors the Hebrew's doubling structure closely, using rursumque ("and again") to mark the repetition explicitly, where the Hebrew simply repeats the phrase without a connecting word for "again."

The LXX text supplied here does not correspond to this Hebrew verse; it instead describes the plate on Aaron's forehead and the bearing of Israel's sins (content matching Exodus 28:38), so no direct comparison with the Hebrew of 28:34 can be made from the data given.