Exodus 35:29

Summary

Exodus 35:29 describes how every man and woman among the Israelites whose heart moved them contributed materials for the work that Yehovah had commanded through Moses. The verse closes by stating that the children of Israel brought this contribution as a freewill offering to Yehovah.

Key words

• nadav ("it impelled", H5068) — qal perfect verb; describes the heart's action as a completed impulse that moved individuals to act.
• libam ("their heart", H3820A) — construct noun with pronominal suffix; the subject that "impelled," here grammatically singular ("heart") though referring to many people.
• havi' ("bring", H0935P) — hiphil infinitive; the causative form indicates causing something to come/be brought, not simply arriving oneself.
• tzivah ("he had commanded", H6680) — piel perfect; the intensive stem marks a formal, authoritative command, completed before the narrated action.
• nedavah ("a freewill offering", H5071) — feminine singular noun; names the category of gift as voluntary, distinct from an obligatory offering.

What the text says

The verse opens with kol-'ish ve'ishah ("every man and woman", H3605/H0376G/H0802G), introduced by the relative particle 'asher ("whom", H0834A), which is grammatically the subject of the verb nadav ("it impelled", H5068) — literally "whom their heart impelled them." This opening clause functions as a long extended subject, describing the motivation (the heart's impulse) before the main verb of the sentence appears. The main verb only arrives at word 25: hevi'u ("they brought", H0935P), whose explicit subject is benei Yisra'el ("the people of Israel", H1121G/H3478). This creates a resumptive structure: the initial description of "every man and woman whose heart impelled" is picked up and completed grammatically by "the children of Israel... brought."

Between these two points, the infinitive le-havi' ("to bring", H0935P, hiphil infinitive) explains the purpose of the heart's impulse — bringing material le-khol-hamelakhah ("for all the work", H3605/H4399), the work that Yehovah tzivah ("had commanded", H6680, piel perfect) through Moses. The piel stem of tzivah marks an intensive, formal act of commanding, already completed prior to the freewill giving. The verse ends with nedavah ("a freewill offering", H5071), a feminine noun naming the category of gift as voluntary, offered la-Yehovah ("to Yehovah").

Differences between versions

The LXX renders libam ("their heart", H3820A) with ἡ διάνοια αὐτῶν ("their mind/intention"), shifting the semantic field slightly from "heart" as organ of will toward "mind" as faculty of intention. The Vulgate uses mente devota ("with devoted mind"), similarly shifting from the Hebrew's bodily/volitional "heart" language toward a mental/attitudinal expression. The Hebrew's resumptive subject structure ("every man and woman... the children of Israel brought") is smoothed in the Vulgate into a single flowing subject, Omnes viri et mulieres, without the intervening relative clause construction visible in the Hebrew syntax.