Exodus 39:15

Summary

The verse describes the making of chains for the breastpiece (choshen), specified as twisted work resembling cordage, made of pure gold. The sentence names the object worked on, the item produced, and its material and technique.

Key words

• shar.she.Rot ("chains of", H8333) — feminine plural construct noun; grammatically bound to what follows, indicating chains defined by a quality rather than standing alone.
• gav.Lut ("twisting", H1383) — feminine singular noun describing the technique applied to the chains; a rare term specifying a braided or twisted structure.
• ma.'a.Seh ("a work of", H4639G) — masculine singular construct noun, introducing a second descriptive phrase that further qualifies the chains' manufacture.
• 'a.Vot ("cordage", H5688) — feminine singular noun; paired with ma'aseh, it likens the chains' form to twisted rope or cord.
• ta.Hor ("pure", H2889) — masculine singular adjective modifying zahav ("gold", H2091), specifying the material's quality.

What the text says

The clause opens with the narrative verb va-ya'aSu ("and they made", H6213H), followed by the prepositional phrase 'al-ha-choshen ("on/for the breastpiece", H5921A + H2833), which identifies the object for which the chains are made. The direct object, shar.she.Rot ("chains of", H8333), is in construct form, meaning it cannot stand alone grammatically — it requires a following noun to complete its meaning. That noun is gav.Lut ("twisting", H1383), a term that appears to describe a specific braiding or twisting technique.

The sentence then adds a second construct phrase, ma.'a.Seh 'a.Vot ("a work of cordage", H4639G + H5688), which functions in apposition to the first description. This doubling — gavlut and ma'aseh 'avot — gives two angles on the same technique: one noun names the twisting itself, the other compares the result to cord-work. The material, zahav ta.Hor ("pure gold", H2091 + H2889), closes the verse, with the adjective tahor specifying the gold's refined quality rather than merely naming the metal.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the technique as "catenulas sibi invicem cohærentes" ("little chains clinging to one another"), emphasizing interlocking rather than the twisting/cordage imagery of the Hebrew gavlut and 'avot. The Septuagint text supplied here ("the ark of the covenant and its poles") corresponds to different content than the Hebrew verse, describing the ark rather than the breastpiece chains; the data given does not show a LXX rendering parallel to this specific Hebrew clause.