Exodus 31:10

Summary

The verse lists items belonging to the tabernacle furnishings inventory: the woven garments, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons, specifying their purpose as priestly service. It is part of a longer enumeration of objects that skilled craftsmen are to produce.

Key words

• big.Dei ("garments of", H0899B) — masculine plural construct, appearing three times, each time governing a following noun ("garments of the woven material", "garments of holiness", "garments of his sons"), linking each set of clothing to its category or owner.
• se.Rad ("woven material", H8278) — masculine singular noun with the definite article ha- ("the"), designating a specific type of textile work, the object of the first construct phrase.
• Ko.desh ("holiness", H6944G) — masculine singular noun with the definite article, forming the construct phrase "garments of the holiness," i.e., garments associated with sanctity, distinct from the se.Rad garments mentioned first.
• ko.Hen ("priest", H3548) — masculine singular noun in apposition to 'a.ha.Ron ("Aaron", H0175), identifying Aaron by his office.
• kha.Hen ("serve as priests", H3547) — Piel infinitive, an intensive verbal form indicating the purpose or function ("to act as priest/to minister") for which the garments of the sons are designated.

What the text says

The verse is built on three parallel construct chains, each introduced by the direct object marker 'Et (H0853) and the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002): "the garments of the se.Rad," "the garments of the qodesh," and "the garments of his sons." This repetitive construct structure (big.Dei + noun) creates a list format typical of inventory or instruction texts, where each item is grammatically dependent on an implied verb of making or bringing (supplied earlier in the wider passage, not present in this verse itself).

The first two phrases are attached to two different nouns, se.Rad ("woven material") and qodesh ("holiness"), suggesting the Hebrew distinguishes two categories of garments — though the exact relationship between "garments of the se.Rad" and "garments of the holiness" is not further defined within this verse. The third phrase, "garments of his sons," is followed by the preposition le- ("to/for", H9005) plus the Piel infinitive kha.Hen ("to serve as priests"), which expresses the functional purpose of those specific garments — they are for the sons' priestly activity, using an infinitive construction rather than a finite verb.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the first phrase as τὰς στολὰς τὰς λειτουργικάς ("the liturgical/ministerial garments") and does not translate ha-qodesh ("the holiness") as a separate item tied to Aaron; instead it moves directly from "liturgical garments" to "of Aaron," omitting a distinct rendering of qodesh found in the Hebrew's second construct phrase. The Vulgate similarly renders the phrases as "vestes sanctas in ministerio Aaron sacerdoti" ("holy garments in the ministry of Aaron the priest"), merging the se.Rad and qodesh elements into one description ("holy... in ministry") rather than keeping them as two separate construct phrases as in the Hebrew. The LXX also adds "μοι" ("to me"), a first-person reference not present in the Hebrew text at this point.