Exodus 30:6

Summary

The verse specifies the placement of an object (referring back to the incense altar mentioned earlier) before the curtain that hangs in front of the ark of the testimony, specifically before the kapporet that covers the testimony — identified as the place where the speaker will meet with the addressee.

Key words

• na.ta.Tah ("you will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect, continuing a chain of instructions begun in a previous verse; the object marker oto ("it", H0853+H9033) refers back without naming the item explicitly in this verse.
• pa.Ro.khet ("curtain", H6532) — feminine singular noun; the curtain is further qualified by a relative clause ('a.Sher, "which", H0834A) locating it "on" ('al, H5921A) the ark.
• ka.Po.ret ("atonement cover", H3727) — feminine singular noun; parallels paroket in the sentence structure, each introduced by li.f.Nei ("before", H6440G construct), creating two nested spatial markers.
• 'i.va.'Ed ("I will meet", H3259) — niphal imperfect, first person; the niphal stem here carries a reflexive/reciprocal sense of mutual meeting rather than a simple active "meet."
• Sha.ma(h) ("there", H8033G + directional he, H9011) — adverb with directional suffix, reinforcing spatial focus ("to that very place").

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of prepositional and relative clauses stacked around a single sequential-perfect verb, nataTah. The object marker oto ("it") lacks an explicit noun in this verse; it depends grammatically on material preceding it, meaning the Hebrew clause itself does not restate what is being placed — this must be supplied from context. Two parallel construct phrases follow: lifnei ha-paroket ("before the curtain") and lifnei ha-kapporet ("before the atonement cover"), each further specified by a relative clause using 'asher... 'al ("which is on") to anchor the curtain and the kapporet to the aron ha-'edut ("ark of the testimony") and ha-'edut ("the testimony") respectively. This creates a layered spatial description: curtain → ark/testimony → cover → testimony, culminating in a final relative clause marking the location as the site of meeting.

The final verb, 'ivva'ed, is a niphal imperfect from the root y-'-d (H3259), which in this stem denotes an event of mutual encounter — the speaker "will meet" the addressee at that place. This is reinforced by lekha ("to you") and shammah ("there," with directional he), which doubles down on location, emphasizing "there, to that exact place" rather than a general vicinity.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the final clause with γνωσθήσομαί σοι ("I will be known to you"), where the Hebrew 'ivva'ed denotes "I will meet." The Vulgate uses loquar tibi ("I will speak to you"), diverging from both the Hebrew "meet" and the LXX "be known." The RV1909 similarly shifts to "te testificaré de mí" ("I will testify of myself to you"), while the BSB and SBLIBRE render the verb as "meet," aligning more closely with the Hebrew niphal sense of encounter.