Exodus 28:42

Summary

The verse instructs that linen undergarments be made for the priests, extending from the hips to the thighs, in order to cover the flesh of nakedness. It is a command directed to the one addressed (Moses, in the wider context of the chapter), specifying both the material and the bodily extent of these garments.

Key words

• 'a.Seh ("make", H6213H) — qal imperative, second person masculine singular, a direct command to perform the action of making.
• mikh.ne.sei- ("undergarments of", H4370) — masculine plural construct noun, linked to Vad to specify "undergarments of linen."
• kha.Sot ("cover", H3680) — piel infinitive, expressing purpose ("in order to cover"), with the piel stem giving an intensive or thorough sense to the covering action.
• 'er.Vah ("nakedness", H6172) — feminine singular noun in construct with be.Sar ("flesh of"), forming the phrase "flesh of nakedness."
• yih.Yu ("they will be", H1961) — qal imperfect, third person masculine plural, describing the ongoing state or future existence of the garments' extent.

What the text says

The verse opens with the imperative 'a.Seh ("make") combined with the prepositional phrase la.Hem ("for them"), establishing that the command concerns garments made for the priests collectively. The object of the command is mikh.ne.sei- Vad, a construct phrase meaning "undergarments of linen" — the construct chain ties the noun for the garment directly to its material.

The purpose of these garments is given through the piel infinitive kha.Sot ("to cover"), governing the construct phrase be.Sar 'er.Vah ("flesh of nakedness"). This construct pairing joins "flesh" and "nakedness" into a single expression referring to the body that is to be covered, rather than treating them as two separate covered items.

The final clause specifies spatial extent using two paired prepositions: mi- ("from") with ma.te.Na.yim ("the hips," dual form) and ve-'ad ("and to") with ye.re.Kha.yim ("the thighs," also dual). Both nouns appear in the dual grammatical number, marking them as paired body parts. The clause closes with yih.Yu ("they will be"), a qal imperfect verb agreeing in the plural with the garments, indicating that the undergarments are to extend continuously across this bodily range.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew construct phrase be.Sar 'er.Vah ("flesh of nakedness") is rendered by the Vulgate as carnem turpitudinis suæ ("the flesh of their shame/turpitude"), introducing the term "turpitudo," which carries a connotation of shamefulness not explicitly present in the Hebrew noun 'er.Vah ("nakedness") alone. The SBLIBRE Spanish version adds an explanatory clause, "para que no se les vea el cuerpo desnudo" ("so that the naked body is not seen"), which is not present as a separate clause in the Hebrew text but represents an interpretive expansion of the purpose stated by kha.Sot ("to cover").