Exodus 37:29

Summary

The verse states that he made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of spices, both described as the work of a perfumer. The sentence uses a single narrative verb governing two parallel direct objects, each defined by a construct chain.

Key words

• va-Ya'as ("and he made", H6213H) — qal narrative verb marking the next action in the sequence of construction reports.
• Shemen ("oil of", H8081) — masculine singular construct noun, linked to what follows it rather than standing as an independent word.
• mishchah ("anointing", H4888A) — feminine singular noun completing the construct phrase "oil of anointing."
• qodesh ("a holy thing", H6944G) — masculine singular noun functioning here as a qualifier, "holy," attached to the oil.
• roqeach ("a perfumer", H7543) — qal participle, masculine singular, meaning literally "one who compounds/mixes," used as an agent noun for a craftsman of aromatic substances.

What the text says

The clause opens with the narrative verb va-Ya'as ("and he made", H6213H), which carries the entire verse and connects it to the preceding sequence of manufacturing reports in Exodus 37. This single verb governs two objects, each introduced by the object marker 'et (H0853): first shemen ha-mishchah qodesh ("the oil of the anointing, a holy thing"), and second qetoret ha-sammim tahor ("the incense of the perfumes, pure"). Both objects are built as construct chains — shemen ("oil of", H8081) governs mishchah ("anointing", H4888A), and qetoret ("incense of", H7004) governs sammim ("perfumes", H5561) — meaning the first noun in each pair is grammatically bound to and defined by the second.

The adjectives qodesh ("a holy thing", H6944G) and tahor ("pure", H2889) follow their respective construct phrases, qualifying "oil" and "incense" respectively. The verse closes with ma'aseh roqeach ("the work of a perfumer", H4639G + H7543), itself another construct chain: ma'aseh ("work of") governs the participle roqeach ("a perfumer"), which functions as a noun describing the craftsman's profession rather than a finite action. This closing phrase applies to both the oil and the incense, attributing their preparation to the specialized process of a roqeach, one who compounds aromatic substances.