Exodus 38:31

Summary

This verse continues the inventory of bronze items used in the tabernacle's construction, listing the bases ('adnei, H0134) for the courtyard and its gate, along with the tent pegs (yitdot, H3489) for both the tabernacle structure and the surrounding courtyard. It closes the section detailing bronze materials used by the craftsmen.

Key words

• 'adnei ("bases of", H0134) — masculine plural construct, appearing twice to link the bases to two distinct locations: the courtyard in general and specifically its gate.
• chatzer ("courtyard", H2691A) — common gender singular, repeated three times, each time governed by the construct noun preceding it, anchoring the objects to the courtyard space.
• saviv ("all around", H5439G) — common gender singular, functioning adverbially to indicate the surrounding perimeter, used twice to describe both the courtyard's bases and its pegs.
• yitdot ("tent pegs of", H3489) — feminine plural construct, appearing twice, each time governed by kol ("all", H3605), emphasizing totality of the pegs for two separate structures.
• mishkan ("tabernacle", H4908) — masculine singular, the structure distinct from the chatzer ("courtyard"), showing the text differentiates the two architectural units requiring pegs.

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of four direct-object phrases, each introduced by the object marker 'et (H0853) and joined by the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002). This construction signals that all four items are objects of a verb stated earlier in the chapter (the enumeration of Bezalel's bronze work), not independent clauses. Each phrase uses construct chains: 'adnei ha-chatzer ("bases of the courtyard") and 'adnei sha'ar ha-chatzer ("bases of the gate of the courtyard") distinguish the general courtyard perimeter from its specific entrance point, both marked by the definite article ha- (H9009) attached to chatzer.

The second half shifts to yitdot ("tent pegs"), each instance preceded by kol ("all", H3605) in construct form, producing "all the tent pegs of the tabernacle" and "all the tent pegs of the courtyard." The repetition of saviv ("all around", H5439G) at the end of both the bases-list and the pegs-list frames the courtyard's boundary as a continuous perimeter requiring both types of fittings. The grammar thus distinguishes two structures (mishkan and chatzer) and two types of bronze fittings ('adnei and yitdot) through parallel construct chains, without any finite verb appearing in this verse itself — the verb governing the whole list stands elsewhere in the passage.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders sha'ar ha-chatzer ("gate of the courtyard") as "in ingressu ejus" ("at its entrance"), shifting from the Hebrew's noun-based construct phrase to a prepositional phrase. The BSB and SBLIBRE similarly paraphrase the twice-repeated saviv ("all around") as "surrounding," folding it into an adjectival function rather than preserving its separate adverbial placement as in the Hebrew structure.