Exodus 35:6

Summary

Exodus 35:6 continues a list of materials that Moses requests from the Israelite community as contributions for the construction of the sanctuary. The verse names five items: violet-blue material, purple, scarlet material, fine linen, and goat hair.

Key words

• techelet ("violet stuff", H8504) — feminine singular noun, referring to a blue-violet dyed material or thread.
• 'argaman ("purple", H0713) — masculine singular noun in construct form ("of..."), though here it functions as an item in the list of colored materials.
• tola'at ("scarlet stuff of", H8438B) — feminine singular construct form, meaning "worm/scarlet-stuff of," grammatically bound to the following word shani.
• shani ("scarlet", H8144) — masculine singular noun, completing the construct phrase with tola'at to denote "scarlet material" (literally "stuff of the scarlet worm").
• 'izzim ("goat hair", H5795) — masculine plural noun, referring to goats or goat hair, closing the list.

What the text says

The Hebrew presents a simple asyndetic-turned-polysyndetic list: each item is joined by the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002), repeated before nearly every noun (u-techelet, ve-'argaman, ve-tola'at shani, ve-shesh, ve-'izzim). This repeated "and" structure gives the list a cumulative, enumerative rhythm typical of inventory texts in Biblical Hebrew.

Grammatically notable is the construct chain tola'at shani ("worm/stuff of scarlet"), where tola'at (H8438B) stands in construct state before shani (H8144), producing a compound expression for a specific red dye material rather than two separate items. The word shesh ("fine linen", H8336B) is also marked as construct, though in this list it functions as a substantive item rather than governing a following noun—an example of a construct form used within a list context.

The final term, 'izzim (H5795), is a plural noun literally meaning "goats," but in this material list it functions as a shorthand for "goat hair," the fiber taken from the animal rather than the animal itself.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew presents tola'at shani as a construct phrase ("worm-stuff of scarlet"), while the LXX renders this as κόκκινον διπλοῦν διανενησμένον ("scarlet, doubled, spun"), adding descriptive terms not explicit in the Hebrew construct itself. The Vulgate's coccumque bis tinctum ("scarlet twice-dyed") similarly expands the phrase with the detail "twice-dyed," which is not present in the Hebrew wording of this verse. The Hebrew 'izzim ("goats") is translated by the LXX as τρίχας αἰγίας ("hairs of goats") and by the Vulgate as pilos caprarum ("hairs of goats"), both making explicit the "hair" sense that the Hebrew plural noun leaves implicit.