Exodus 30:27

Summary

This verse lists cultic objects to be anointed with sacred oil: the table with all its utensils, the lampstand with its utensils, and the altar of incense. Each item is introduced by the direct object marker, forming a chain of accusatives governed by a verb outside this verse (the command to anoint, from the preceding context).

Key words

• shulChan ("table", H7979) — masculine singular noun, definite by the preceding article ha (H9009), referring to a specific known table (the table of the Presence in the sanctuary).
• kelay ("articles/vessels", H3627) — masculine plural construct form, meaning "vessels of...", bound to the following pronominal suffix.
• ve ("its", H9023) — third person masculine singular pronominal suffix attached to kelay, "its [the table's] vessels."
• menoRah ("lampstand", H4501) — feminine singular noun, definite, naming the lampstand as a distinct object in the list.
• mizBach ("altar of", H4196) — masculine singular construct noun, meaning "altar of...", directly bound to ha-qeToret ("the incense", H7004) to form "altar of the incense."

What the text says

The verse is built as a series of coordinated direct objects, each marked by 'et (H0853), the untranslatable marker signaling that a noun is the object of a verb. Because H0853 appears five times, the Hebrew syntax makes clear that all five items — table, its vessels, lampstand, its vessels, altar of incense — are objects of the same governing verb located earlier in the passage (the command concerning anointing, not shown in this verse). The repeated conjunction ve ("and", H9002) at the start of nearly every phrase creates a paratactic list structure typical of Biblical Hebrew inventories, where each element is added serially rather than subordinated grammatically.

Two construct chains appear: kol-kelay-ve ("all articles-of-it", H3605+H3627+H9023) for the table's vessels, and kelei-ha ("articles-of-it", H3627+H9024) for the lampstand's vessels — note the suffix on the table's vessels is masculine (-o, referring back to shulChan, a masculine noun), while the suffix on the lampstand's vessels is feminine (-ah, referring back to menoRah, a feminine noun). This grammatical agreement in gender across the suffixes is a feature of the Hebrew that is not visible in English translations, which render both simply as "its."

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) text given here shows a different word order than the Hebrew: it opens with "the lampstand and all its vessels" before "the tent of testimony and all its vessels," inserting an item (the tent of testimony) not present in this Hebrew verse's word list, and it lacks a rendering corresponding to the table (shulChan, H7979) in the segment quoted. The Vulgate (VULCLEM) follows the Hebrew order more closely, listing the table with its vessels, then the candelabrum with its utensils, then the altar of incense, matching the Hebrew sequence.