Exodus 37:8

Summary

The verse describes two cherubim placed on the kapporet ("atonement cover"), one on each end, and states that they were made from the same piece of material as the cover itself, extending from its two ends.

Key words

• keruv ("a cherub", H3742) — masculine singular, appears twice (lines 1 and 8) to name each of the two figures individually before they are referred to together as keruvim ("cherubim", H3742 plural) in line 20.
• 'echad ("one", H0259) — cardinal number, repeated with each keruv to mark them as two distinct singular units ("one cherub... one cherub..."), a common Hebrew way of expressing "one on each side."
• qatzah ("an end", H7098) — feminine singular noun, used twice with the preposition mi- ("from") to locate each cherub at a specific end; it reappears in construct plural form qetzot ("ends") in line 23.
• kapporet ("atonement cover", H3727) — definite feminine singular noun; the phrase min-hakkapporet ("from the atonement cover") indicates the material source from which the cherubim were formed, not a separate attachment.
• 'asah ("he made", H6213) — qal perfect verb, third person, indicating a completed act of craftsmanship attributed to a single unnamed maker (implied from context to be the craftsman executing the instructions).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence structure places the two cherubim in parallel clauses: keruv 'echad miqqatzah mizzeh ("one cherub from an end, from this") and ukeruv 'echad miqqatzah mizzeh ("and one cherub from an end, from this"), using the demonstrative zeh ("this", H2088) twice to distinguish "this side" from the implied other side. This repetitive, almost formulaic phrasing gives a spatial description of placement without needing directional terms like "right" or "left."

The clause min-hakkapporet 'asah 'et-hakkeruvim ("from the atonement cover he made the cherubim") uses the preposition min- ("from", H4480A) to indicate that the cherubim were not separate pieces fastened onto the cover, but were formed out of the same material continuum as the kapporet itself. This is reinforced by the closing phrase mishenei qetzotav ("from its two ends"), where the construct plural qetzot ("ends", H7098) with the third-person suffix -av ("its") ties the cherubim's origin points directly back to the kapporet as a single worked object.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (duos cherubim in singulis summitatibus propitiatorii) and the Spanish and English translations align closely with the Hebrew, expressing the same spatial arrangement and the idea of one continuous piece ("formaban una sola pieza," "made from one piece of gold"). The LXX text supplied here (καὶ οἱ στῦλοι αὐτῶν εἴκοσι, καὶ αἱ βάσεις αὐτῶν εἴκοσι — "and their pillars were twenty, and their bases were twenty") does not correspond in content to the Hebrew verse; it describes pillars and bases rather than cherubim, reflecting a different portion of text at this position in the Greek Exodus tradition, which follows a different internal ordering of the tabernacle construction material.