Exodus 28:40

Summary

The verse instructs that tunics, sashes, and headdresses be made for Aaron's sons, garments whose stated purpose is kavod ("glory", H3519) and tif'eret ("beauty", H8597). The sentence alternates between imperfect and sequential perfect verb forms to organize three items of priestly clothing into a single continuous instruction.

Key words

• v.Nei ("sons of", H1121A) — construct plural, linking "sons" directly to Aharon ("Aaron", H0175); the construct chain identifies the recipients of the garments as Aaron's male descendants collectively.
• ta'aseh ("you will make", H6213H) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular, used twice (for tunics and headdresses), marking these as instructions addressed to a single "you" (grammatically singular, though the referent in context is the craftsman/Moses).
• 'asita ("you will make", H6213H) — qal sequential perfect (vav-consecutive), continuing the same instruction chain as the surrounding imperfects; Biblical Hebrew often alternates imperfect and converted perfect within one command sequence without changing the sense of futurity.
• kavod ("glory", H3519) and tif'eret ("beauty", H8597) — both nouns follow the preposition le ("for", H9005), forming a double purpose clause: the garments are made "for glory and for beauty."

What the text says

The verse names three garments — khutonot ("tunics", H3801), avnetim ("sashes", H0073), and migba'ot ("headdresses", H4021) — each governed by a verb of making. The Hebrew alternates grammatical forms: ta'aseh (imperfect) for tunics, 'asita (sequential perfect) for sashes, then ta'aseh (imperfect) again for headdresses. This alternation is a feature of Hebrew narrative and instructional syntax, where the vav-consecutive perfect can continue a chain begun by an imperfect verb without introducing a difference in tense or command force; all three verbs function as "you shall make."

The final phrase, le-khavod u-le-tif'eret ("for glory and for beauty"), attaches to the making of the headdresses in the immediate clause but by extension characterizes the purpose of the entire set of garments described in the verse. Both nouns are singular abstract nouns, each introduced by its own le preposition, giving two parallel purposes rather than one compound expression.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders khutonot ("tunics", H3801) as "tunicas lineas" ("linen tunics"), adding the material "linen," which is not specified by the Hebrew word itself in this verse. The Vulgate and RV1909 translate migba'ot ("headdresses", H4021) as "tiaras"/"chapeos," while BSB uses "headbands" and SBLIBRE uses "gorros" ("caps"), showing variation in how the specific headgear term is rendered across translations. The purpose clause le-khavod u-le-tif'eret appears in Vulgate as "in gloriam et decorem," in BSB as "to give them glory and splendor," and in SBLIBRE as "para que se vean honrosos y hermosos" ("so that they appear honorable and beautiful"), the latter shifting the noun phrase into a result clause with an implied verb of appearance not present in the Hebrew.