Exodus 38:27

Summary

The verse records that one hundred talents of silver were used to cast the bases (sockets) for the sanctuary structure and for the curtain, specifying a ratio of one talent of silver per base. It closes the account of silver used in the Tabernacle construction with a precise distributive calculation.

Key words

• me'at ("[the] one hundred", H3967) — feminine singular construct number, chaining to kikar to form "hundred of talent," i.e., "a hundred talents."
• kikar ("talent[s] of", H3603) — construct form, the unit of weight; repeated later in absolute form to mark the distributive ratio.
• latzeqet ("to cast", H3332) — qal infinitive construct with prefixed la, expressing purpose: "in order to cast."
• 'admei / 'adanim ("bases of / bases", H0134) — appears four times in different grammatical states (construct plural, absolute plural, absolute singular), tracking the objects being counted and then distributed.
• parokhet ("curtain", H6532) — feminine singular absolute, naming the second location receiving cast bases.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative formula va-yehi ("and it was", H1961/H9001), introducing a quantity: me'at kikar ha-kesef, "the hundred talent(s) of the silver" — a construct chain where me'at governs kikar, which in turn governs ha-kesef. This quantity becomes the subject of the infinitive latzeqet ("to cast"), governing two objects marked by the untranslated direct-object particle 'et (H0853): 'admei ha-qodesh ("bases of the holy place") and 'admei ha-parokhet ("bases of the curtain").

The second half of the verse restates the same material using a distributive construction: me'at 'adanim limə'at ha-kikar, kikar la-'aden — literally "a hundred bases for the hundred talent(s), a talent for the base." Here the preposition la (H9005) attached to both me'at and 'aden signals distribution ("for each," "per"), producing the ratio of one talent per base without any arithmetic operator — the grammar itself carries the calculation.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew, Vulgate ("Centum bases factae sunt de talentis centum, singulis talentis per bases singulas supputatis"), and English translations align closely on content: a hundred bases from a hundred talents, one talent each. The Septuagint text supplied for this reference (Exodus 38:27 LXX numbering) instead describes the bronze laver and its use by Moses, Aaron, and his sons for washing hands and feet before entering the tent of meeting — content that does not correspond to the silver-bases material found in the Hebrew verse. This reflects a difference in verse alignment/content between the Greek and Hebrew textual traditions at this point in Exodus 38, rather than a translation choice within the same verse.