Exodus 31:8

Summary

Exodus 31:8 continues a list of tabernacle furnishings that Bezalel and Oholiab are commissioned to make: the table with its accessories, the pure lampstand with all its accessories, and the incense altar. Each item is introduced by the direct object marker, showing these are objects of a verb from the preceding context (not present in this verse itself).

Key words

• shulChan ("table", H7979) — masculine singular noun, referring to the table associated with the tabernacle's sacred furniture.
• kelav ("its articles", H3627 + suffix) — masculine plural construct noun with a 3rd person masculine singular suffix ("his/its"), meaning "its vessels/utensils," attached to shulchan.
• menoRah ("lampstand", H4501) — feminine singular noun, modified by the following adjective.
• tehoRah ("pure", H2889) — feminine singular adjective agreeing with menorah, describing the lampstand's quality.
• kelei-ha ("its articles", H3627 + H9024) — masculine plural construct noun with a 3rd person feminine singular suffix ("her/its"), referring back to the feminine menorah, preceded by kol ("all", H3605) in construct, giving "all the articles of it."

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of four coordinated noun phrases, each marked by the untranslatable direct object marker 'et (H0853) and joined by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002). This grammatical structure signals that these nouns are all direct objects of a verb governing the whole list, which appears earlier in the passage (outside this verse). The repetition of 'et before each item is a feature of Biblical Hebrew syntax marking definite direct objects, and it has no semantic content of its own — it simply flags grammatical function.

Two items receive possessive suffixes agreeing in gender with their referent: kelav uses a masculine suffix agreeing with the masculine shulchan ("its articles" = the table's), while kelei-ha uses a feminine suffix agreeing with the feminine menorah ("its articles" = the lampstand's, this time qualified by kol, "all"). This gender agreement in Hebrew grammar cannot be reproduced by English "its" in both cases, though the target languages do not distinguish them either. The adjective tehorah ("pure") modifies menorah directly, both being feminine singular, describing the lampstand's material quality rather than a separate object.

Differences between versions

The LXX text supplied opens with καὶ τὰ θυσιαστήρια ("and the altars"), an item not present in the Hebrew of this verse, which begins directly with "the table" (shulchan). The Vulgate and Hebrew agree in listing table → lampstand → incense altar in that order, while the LXX as given places "the altars" before the table, suggesting a different arrangement or inclusion of material not reflected in the Masoretic sequence for this verse. The Vulgate's candelabrum purissimum ("most pure lampstand") intensifies the Hebrew tehorah ("pure") into a superlative form not present in the Hebrew adjective itself.