Exodus 31:4

Summary

The verse describes a capacity given to a craftsman: to conceive designs and to execute work in three metals — gold, silver, and bronze. It presents two paired infinitive actions (planning and executing) followed by the materials on which that work is performed.

Key words

• ch.Sho ("design", H2803G) — qal infinitive with the preposition la ("to"), expressing purpose: "to design/devise."
• machashaVot ("designs", H4284) — feminine plural noun, the direct object of the infinitive, indicating multiple or varied plans/devisings, not a single design.
• 'aSot ("work", H6213A) — qal infinitive with la, paired with the first infinitive; expresses a second purpose: "to make/execute."
• zaHav ("gold", H2091) — masculine singular noun with the preposition ba ("in the"), marking the material worked in.
• neChoshet ("bronze", H5178A) — feminine singular noun, last in the sequence of three metals, each joined by the conjunction u ("and").

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built on two parallel infinitive constructions, both introduced by the preposition la ("to"): lachShov ("to design") and la'aSot ("to work/make"). The first infinitive takes a direct object, machashaVot ("designs"), a feminine plural noun sharing the same root (ח־שׂ־ב) as the infinitive itself — a construction sometimes called a cognate object, where the verb and its object come from the same root, intensifying or specifying the action as "devising devisings" or "planning plans." This grammatical doubling emphasizes the conceptual, inventive side of the craftsman's activity before the text moves to physical execution.

The second infinitive, la'aSot ("to work"), governs a list of three materials, each introduced by the preposition ba ("in the") and linked by the conjunction u ("and"): zaHav ("gold"), Kesef ("silver"), and neChoshet ("bronze"). The repeated preposition before each noun (rather than a single preposition governing all three) gives each material its own grammatical weight, listing them as discrete domains of work rather than a single combined substance. The structure thus separates the mental/design phase (lachShov machashaVot) from the executive/material phase (la'aSot ba-...), with the materials appearing only in the second half.

Differences between versions

The LXX expands the two Hebrew infinitives into three Greek verbs (διανοεῖσθαι, "to conceive," ἀρχιτεκτονῆσαι, "to be a master-builder," and ἐργάζεσθαι, "to work"), where the Hebrew has only two (lachShov and la'aSot). The LXX also adds materials not present in this Hebrew clause — ὑάκινθον ("blue/hyacinth material"), πορφύραν ("purple"), and κόκκινον ("scarlet") — extending the list beyond the three metals given in the Hebrew text. The Vulgate renders the two-infinitive structure as a single clause, "ad excogitandum quidquid fabrefieri potest" ("to devise whatever can be crafted"), collapsing the distinction between the "designing" and "working" infinitives into one overarching purpose clause.