Exodus 36:35

Summary

The verse describes the making of the parokhet ("curtain", H6532), the veil woven from blue, purple, and scarlet materials together with twisted fine linen. It specifies that this textile was produced by a skilled craftsman and that cherubim were incorporated into its design.

Key words

• parokhet ("curtain", H6532) — feminine singular noun naming the specific veil being fabricated; it is the direct object of the first verb.
• tekhelet ("violet stuff", H8504) — feminine singular noun, the first of four materials listed asyndetically with the object, describing the dye/thread type used.
• toLa'at ("scarlet stuff of", H8438B) — construct form linking to shani ("scarlet", H8144); together they denote a specific scarlet dye-material, the construct chain indicating a compound material name rather than two separate items.
• mashzar ("twisted", H7806) — hophal passive participle describing shesh ("fine linen", H8336B); the passive form indicates the linen has undergone a twisting process, not that it twists itself.
• choshev ("a skillful worker", H2803G) — qal participle in construct with ma'aseh ("work of", H4639G), forming the phrase "work of a skillful worker," a technical description of craftsmanship rather than a named individual.

What the text says

The sentence opens with the narrative verb va-ya'as ("and he made", H6213H), whose subject is unspecified in this clause but continues the narrative chain from the preceding context. The direct object is marked by 'et (H0853) before ha-parokhet ("the curtain", H6532+H9009), establishing the curtain as the item fabricated. Following the object, four materials are listed without repeated verbs: tekhelet, argaman ("purple", H0713), tola'at shani, and shesh mashzar. The construct chain tola'at shani treats "scarlet" as a modifier of "worm/scarlet-stuff," a fixed technical term for the dye-material rather than two independent items, similar to how ma'aseh choshev fixes "work" to "the one who devises/skillfully works" as a technical phrase for embroidered or woven design.

The clause closes with a second verb, asah ("he made", H6213H) in the qal perfect, taking 'otah ("it", H0853+H9034) — a feminine singular suffix referring back to ha-parokhet — as its object, followed by kerubim ("cherubim", H3742) in apposition, indicating what was made into or upon the curtain.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew, Vulgate, and Spanish translations (RV1909, SBLIBRE) all describe the fabrication of the veil/curtain (parokhet/velum) with its four materials and cherubim design, consistent with the word-by-word data. The LXX (Swete) text supplied here instead describes linen tunics (chitōnas byssinous) made for Aaron and his sons — a different subject matter not matching the Hebrew verse's content on the curtain and cherubim, reflecting a divergence in the passage referenced rather than a translation variant of the same Hebrew clause.