Exodus 31:9

Summary

Exodus 31:9 continues a list of tabernacle furnishings that skilled workers are commissioned to build. It names the mizbach ("altar of", H4196) of the burnt offering with all its utensils, and the kiyor ("laver", H3595) with its base.

Key words

• mizbach ("altar of", H4196) — masculine singular construct, meaning it must be followed by another noun to complete its sense; here it links to 'olah ("burnt offering", H5930A), giving "altar of the burnt offering."
• 'olah ("burnt offering", H5930A) — feminine singular, carries the definite article ha ("the", H9009), specifying a particular offering-altar rather than a general one.
• keli ("articles", H3627) — masculine plural construct, preceded by kol ("all", H3605) in construct state, forming "all of the articles/utensils of," and bearing a third-person pronominal suffix ("its").
• kiyor ("laver", H3595) — masculine singular, marked with the definite article, identifying the wash-basin among the tabernacle vessels.
• kan ("base", H3653) — masculine singular construct with pronominal suffix ("its"), indicating the stand belonging to the laver.

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of four items, each introduced by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002) followed by the untranslated direct object marker 'et (H0853), which signals that each noun phrase is a direct object of a verb stated earlier in the passage (not present in this verse itself). The first item is a construct phrase, mizbach ha-'olah, "altar of the burnt offering," where mizbach in construct form cannot stand alone and requires 'olah to complete its meaning. This is followed by kol-kelav, "all its utensils," where kol is itself in construct with keli, and the plural noun keli carries a singular pronominal suffix referring back to the altar just mentioned. The second pair follows the same pattern: ha-kiyor, "the laver," a definite noun, and kano, "its base," another construct noun with a singular suffix pointing back to the laver. The repeated ve-'et structure creates a rhythmic listing style typical of inventory-like passages, where each object is grammatically dependent on an implied prior verb of construction or specification.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint text given (Swete) contains only "καὶ τὸν λουτῆρα καὶ τὴν βόσιν αὐτοῦ" ("and the laver and its base"), omitting any Greek equivalent for the altar of burnt offering and its utensils found in the Hebrew. The Vulgate renders the utensils' suffix as plural, "omnia vasa eorum" ("all their vessels"), where the Hebrew kelav carries a singular suffix ("its," referring to the altar alone).