Exodus 30:3

Summary

The verse instructs that a specific object (referred to by masculine singular suffixes) be overlaid with pure gold on its top, its sides all around, and its horns, and that a gold molding be made for it all around.

Key words

• tzi.pi.Ta ("you will overlay", H6823) — piel sequential perfect; the piel stem gives an intensive/factitive sense ("cause to be overlaid"), and the sequential perfect links this action to a preceding instruction in the narrative chain.
• za.Hav ("gold", H2091) with ta.Hor ("pure", H2889) — the noun-adjective pair specifies the material without a verb of its own; it functions adverbially, describing the substance used for tzi.pi.Ta.
• ga.G ("top", H1406) — masculine singular construct with the suffix -o ("its"), naming the first part of the object to be covered.
• ki.ro.Ta ("sides", H7023) — feminine plural construct with suffix, followed by sa.Viv ("all around", H5439G), indicating the sides are covered on every face, not just one.
• zer ("a molding of", H2213) — masculine singular construct, forming a bound phrase with za.Hav ("gold") to specify the decorative gold rim added after the overlay.

What the text says

The verse is built on two sequential perfect verbs, tzi.pi.Ta ("you will overlay") and 'a.Si.ta ("you will make"), both continuing a chain of instructions begun earlier in the passage (marked by the narrative ve- prefix, H9001). Between these two verbs, three anatomical parts of the object are listed, each introduced by the direct object marker 'et (H0853, untranslated) and each bearing a third-person masculine singular suffix ("its"): ga.G ("top"), ki.ro.Ta ("sides"), and kar.no.Ta ("horns"). The repetition of the object marker before each part, rather than a single marker covering all three, gives the list a paratactic, itemized structure — each element is treated as a discrete unit to be overlaid, even though all fall under the single verb tzi.pi.Ta.

The word sa.Viv ("all around", H5439G) appears twice, first modifying "sides" and again at the very end modifying the gold molding made by 'a.Si.ta. This repetition ties the spatial scope ("all around") to both the overlay of the sides and the placement of the molding, marking the completeness of coverage in each case. The final clause introduces zer ("a molding of", H2213) in construct with za.Hav ("gold"), a distinct addition beyond the overlay — a separate manufactured element attached "for it" (lo, from le- + suffix, H9005/H9033).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ga.G ("top") as escharan ("grate/hearth-grating"), a more specific architectural term than the Hebrew "top," and translates tzi.pi.Ta with katachrysōseis ("you will gild"). The Vulgate uses craticulam ("small grating") for the same word, aligning with the LXX's grating imagery rather than a generic "top." Both LXX and Vulgate use plural/collective forms (auta, illud) for the object being overlaid, while the Hebrew suffixes are consistently third-person masculine singular.