Exodus 30:1

Summary

The verse instructs the construction of an altar specifically for burning incense, made of acacia wood. The Hebrew states the command twice using two different verb forms of the same root, first naming the altar's purpose, then specifying the material and closing with a pronoun referring back to the altar.

Key words

• mizbeach ("an altar", H4196) — masculine singular noun, the object being commanded into existence.
• miqtar ("a place of smoke of", H4729) — construct form linking the altar to its function; construct chains in Hebrew join two nouns where the first depends grammatically on the second.
• qetoret ("incense", H7004) — feminine singular noun, completing the construct chain miqtar qetoret, "a place-of-smoke of incense."
• 'atsei ("woods of", H6086G) — masculine plural construct, beginning a second construct chain that specifies the material.
• shittim ("acacia", H7848) — masculine plural noun, naming the tree species.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built around two occurrences of the verb 'asah ("to make", H6213H): first as ve'asita ("and you will make"), a sequential perfect that continues a narrative chain of commands, and later as ta'aseh ("you will make"), an imperfect form. Between these two verbs, the sentence names first the object (mizbeach miqtar qetoret, "an altar, a place-of-smoke of incense") and then the material ('atsei shittim, "woods of acacia"). The sentence closes with 'oto ("it"), the direct object marker 'et (H0853) plus a third-person masculine suffix, which grammatically refers back to mizbeach, the altar named at the start.

This structure — verb, object, [description], material, verb again, pronoun — places the object and its qualifying phrases between two verbs of the same root. The repetition of 'asah is not additional information but a grammatical framing device: the sentence opens and closes on "you will make," with the altar's purpose and material inserted in between. The pronoun 'oto at the end confirms that everything stated — the altar for incense-smoke, made of acacia wood — refers to a single object.

Differences between versions

The LXX (ποιήσεις θυσιαστήριον θυμιάματος ἐκ ξύλων ἀσήπτων) uses a single verb ποιήσεις where the Hebrew has two occurrences of 'asah; the second Hebrew verb and its pronoun object are not separately rendered. The LXX also translates shittim as ἀσήπτων ("incorruptible/imperishable"), describing a quality of the wood rather than naming the acacia species. The Vulgate (de lignis setim) instead transliterates shittim as "setim," treating it as a proper name for the wood rather than translating it.