Exodus 35:14

Summary

Exodus 35:14 lists components needed for the tabernacle's lighting system: the lampstand itself, its accessories, its lamps, and the oil to fuel it. The verse is structured as a series of four items joined by repeated direct object markers, each introduced by "and."

Key words

• menorat ("[the] lampstand of", H4501) — construct form of "lampstand," grammatically bound to the following noun, yielding "lampstand of the light."
• ha-maor ("the light", H3974) — appears twice (lines 5 and 18), each time with the definite article, naming the item's function: what gives light.
• keley-ha ("equipment/vessels of + her", H3627 + H9024) — construct plural noun with a feminine pronominal suffix ("her/its"), referring back to the feminine noun menorah ("lampstand").
• nerotey-ha ("lamps of + her", H5216A + H9024) — plural construct with the same feminine suffix, again pointing back to the lampstand as the possessor.
• shemen ("[the] oil of", H8081) — construct singular, bound to ha-maor ("the light"), forming "oil of the light," i.e., oil designated for the light-source.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of four objects, each preceded by the untranslated direct object marker 'et (H0853) and joined by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002). This repetitive ve-'et pattern creates a list rhythm typical of inventory-style Hebrew prose, marking each item as a distinct object of an implied verb (supplied earlier in the chapter's syntax, not present in this fragment).

Two grammatical construct chains use the same head noun, ha-maor ("the light," H3974): first menorat ha-maor ("lampstand of the light," lines 3–5), then shemen ha-maor ("oil of the light," lines 16–18). This repetition frames the lampstand and its oil as functionally paired items, both defined by their relation to "the light" itself rather than by structural terms alone.

The two intervening items, keley-ha ("its equipment," H3627) and nerotey-ha ("its lamps," H5216A), each carry a third-person feminine singular pronominal suffix, glossed as "her" (H9024). This suffix grammatically agrees with menorah ("lampstand"), a feminine noun, confirming that the "equipment" and "lamps" belong specifically to the lampstand mentioned first, not to the tabernacle generally.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text lists lampstand, its equipment, its lamps, and oil for the light. The Vulgate follows this closely: candelabrum... vasa illius et lucernas, et oleum. The LXX text supplied for this reference instead reads to thymiama ("the incense") and to elaion tou chrismatos ("the oil of anointing"), containing no equivalent to menorah, keley, or nerotey. This LXX rendering corresponds to different content than the Hebrew verse given here, indicating a divergence in what material this LXX line covers relative to the Masoretic verse.