Exodus 38:1

Summary

The verse reports the construction of the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood, giving its precise measurements: five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high. The subject of the action is not named in this verse itself, but implied from the surrounding narrative.

Key words

• va-yaas ("and he made", H6213H) — qal narrative verb, third-person masculine singular; the sentence's grammatical subject ("he") is not overtly named here, unlike the LXX which supplies a proper name.
• mizbach ("altar of", H4196) — construct noun, linking to ha-olah to form "altar of the burnt offering," specifying the altar's function rather than a generic altar.
• atzei shittim ("wood[s] of acacia", H6086G + H7848) — construct chain naming the material; masculine plural construct followed by the plural noun for the wood type.
• ravua ("square", H7251) — qal passive participle, masculine singular, describing the shape resulting from the equal length and width measurements just given.
• -o ("his/its", H9023) — pronominal suffix repeated three times (on orko, rachbo, komato), each time attaching the measurement noun to the altar being described, creating a rhythmic listing of dimensions.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with a narrative vav plus the verb va-yaas ("and he made"), a standard construction-account formula. The direct object is marked by 'et, and the object itself is a construct chain: mizbach ha-olah ("altar of the burnt offering"), naming the altar by its ritual function. This is followed by another construct pair, atzei shittim ("wood of acacia"), stating the material without a separate verb — the noun phrase functions appositionally to describe what the altar was made from.

The three dimensions are given in parallel constructions: a cardinal number (chamesh, "five"), the noun ammot ("cubits"), a construct noun for the dimension (orko, rachbo, komato — "its length," "its breadth," "its height"), each carrying the third-person singular suffix -o referring back to the altar. The participle ravua ("square") is inserted after the breadth measurement, describing the resulting shape formed by matching length and width (five by five cubits), before the height (three cubits) is added. This word-by-word listing, without additional verbs, produces a terse, technical inventory style typical of construction reports in this text.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew and the Vulgate agree closely: both describe the making of the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood with the same measurements. The LXX (Swete) diverges substantially at this verse, stating instead "Καὶ ἐποίησεν Βεσελεὴλ τὴν κιβωτόν" ("And Bezeleel made the ark"), naming a maker (Bezeleel) not present in this Hebrew clause and referring to the ark rather than the altar of burnt offering. The BSB and RV1909 translations also insert the name "Bezalel" as the subject, drawing it from broader context rather than from the Hebrew of this specific verse, where the subject is only the pronoun "he."