Exodus 39:21
וַיִּרְכְּסוּ אֶת־הַחֹשֶׁן מִטַּבְּעֹתָיו אֶל־טַבְּעֹת הָאֵפֹד בִּפְתִיל תְּכֵלֶת לִֽהְיֹת עַל־חֵשֶׁב הָאֵפֹד וְלֹֽא־יִזַּח הַחֹשֶׁן מֵעַל הָאֵפֹד כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיִּרְכְּס֣וּ אֶת־הַחֹ֡שֶׁן מִטַּבְּעֹתָיו֩ אֶל־טַבְּעֹ֨ת הָאֵפֹ֜ד בִּפְתִ֣יל תְּכֵ֗לֶת לִֽהְיֹת֙ עַל־חֵ֣שֶׁב הָאֵפֹ֔ד וְלֹֽא־יִזַּ֣ח הַחֹ֔שֶׁן מֵעַ֖ל הָאֵפֹ֑ד כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃
καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη τῆς σκηνῆς καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐργαλεῖα αὐτῆς, (34) καὶ τὰς διφθέρας δέρματα ἠρυθροδανωμένα καὶ τὰ καλύμματα δέρματα ὑακίνθινα καὶ λοιπῶν τὰ ἐπικαλύμματα, (40) καὶ τοὺς πασσάλους καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐργαλεῖα τὰ εἰς τὰ ἔργα τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
et capitium in superiori parte contra medium, oramque per gyrum capitii textilem:
Amarraron las argollas del pectoral a las argollas del efod con un cordón azul, para que el pectoral quedara ajustado por encima del cinturón y no se separara del efod, tal como Yehová se lo había ordenado a Moisés.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y ataron el racional de sus anillos á los anillos del ephod con un cordón de jacinto, para que estuviese sobre el cinto del mismo ephod, y no se apartase el racional del ephod; como Jehová lo había mandado á Moisés.
Then they tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece was above the waistband of the ephod and would not swing out from the ephod, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Additional Priestly Garments (Exodus 28:31–43)
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse describes how the khoshen ("breastpiece", H2833) was physically secured to the 'ephod ("ephod", H0646) using a blue cord, so that it would sit fixed above the ephod's girdle and not shift loose. The final clause attributes this construction detail to a command Yehovah gave to Moses.
Key words
- va-yyirkeSu ("they bound", H7405) — qal narrative verb, plural subject (the craftsmen), continuing the account of assembly actions in sequence.
- tekhelet ("violet stuff", H8504) — feminine singular noun naming the dyed material of the cord; it stands in construct with petil ("cord of", H6616), so together they mean "a cord of blue/violet material."
- lihyot ("to be", H1961) — qal infinitive with prefixed li ("to"), expressing purpose: "in order that it be" positioned on the girdle.
- yizzach ("it was displaced", H2118) — niphal imperfect, a passive/reflexive form denoting an action happening to the subject (the breastpiece) rather than performed by it; here negated by lo' ("not", H3808) to state a durative prohibition against slipping.
- tzivvah ("he had commanded", H6680) — piel perfect, marking a completed, intensive act of command, anchoring the whole construction procedure to a prior divine instruction.
What the text says
The sentence is built as a chain of narrative verbs typical of Hebrew procedural narration: va-yyirkeSu ("and they bound") opens the clause, followed by two prepositional phrases specifying the mechanism — mi-tabbe'otav ("from its rings", H2885) and 'el-tabbe'ot ha-'ephod ("to the rings of the ephod", H2885), both using the same noun in construct form to describe the paired rings on each garment. The instrumental phrase bi-fetil tekhelet ("with a cord of violet stuff") specifies the material used to join them.
The purpose clause introduced by lihyot ("to be") describes the intended spatial outcome — that the breastpiece remain positioned 'al-cheshev ha-'ephod ("on the girdle of the ephod", H2805), using another construct noun for the ephod's band. The negated niphal verb yizzach ("it was displaced") does not specify who might displace it; the niphal form leaves the actor unstated, focusing only on the breastpiece's fixed condition. The closing formula ka'asher tzivvah Yehovah 'et-Mosheh ("just as Yehovah had commanded Moses") uses the piel perfect tzivvah, marking the command as a completed act that precedes and governs the narrated construction.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew text of this verse concerns the cord fastening the breastpiece to the ephod. The Vulgate segment provided (about a capitium, "headband," and its woven border) and the LXX (Swete) segment provided (listing tabernacle vessels, skins, and pegs) do not correspond in content to this Hebrew verse; they reflect different material from the surrounding sections of Exodus 36–39, where the Greek and Latin versions follow a different verse arrangement than the Masoretic tradition.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.