Exodus 30:18

Summary

Exodus 30:18 instructs the construction of a bronze kiyor ("laver of", H3595) with its own bronze ken ("base of", H3653), designated for washing. The verse also specifies its placement between the tent of meeting and the altar, and commands that water be put into it.

Key words

• kiyor ("a laver of", H3595) — masculine singular noun in construct state, linking directly to nechoshet ("bronze", H5178A) to form "a laver of bronze."
• khano ("base of", H3653) — masculine singular construct noun with the pronominal suffix -o ("its"), producing "its base," syntactically parallel to kiyor and likewise joined to a second occurrence of nechoshet ("bronze", H5178A).
• rachtzah ("washing", H7364) — qal infinitive, introduced by the preposition le- ("for", H9005), expressing purpose: "for washing."
• natata ("you will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine singular, appearing twice (positions 12 and 23) to continue the narrative chain of instructions begun with ve-'asita ("and you will make", H6213H).
• beyn...beyn ("between...between", H0996G) — construct form repeated to frame the spatial relation "between the tent of meeting and the altar."

What the text says

The verse is built on a chain of sequential perfect verbs (ve-'asita, ve-natata, ve-natata) linked by the narrative vav (H9001), a structure typical of legal/instructional sequences in this section of Exodus: each verb continues the directive begun by the previous one, producing a series of commands rather than isolated statements. The object being constructed is described through two parallel construct phrases: kiyor nechoshet ("laver of bronze") and khano nechoshet ("its base of bronze"), each ending in the same word nechoshet (H5178A), which ties the vessel and its stand together as a single bronze assembly.

The purpose clause le-rachtzah ("for washing") uses an infinitive after the preposition le-, a common Hebrew construction for expressing the function of an object, here rendered without a specified subject — the text does not state who washes, only that the vessel exists "for washing." The placement is marked by the doubled construct beyn...beyn ("between...between"), locating the object relative to two fixed points, 'ohel mo'ed ("tent of meeting", H0168G/H4150I) and ha-mizbeach ("the altar", H4196). The final clause returns to the sequential perfect ve-natata with the adverb shammah ("there", H8033G) marked by a directional he (H9011), and the plural noun mayim ("water", H4325G), instructing that water be placed "there," referring back to the vessel just described.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the Hebrew sequential perfects as an imperative (Ποίησον, "make") and future indicatives (θήσεις, ἐκχεεῖς), shifting the verbal aspect from the Hebrew's narrative chain to a more direct command-then-future structure. The LXX also renders the purpose clause le-rachtzah as a result clause, ὥστε νίπτεσθαι ("so as to wash"), rather than the Hebrew's simple infinitival "for washing." The Vulgate's ad lavandum ("for washing") parallels the Hebrew le-rachtzah more closely in function than the LXX's construction.